GGD Family Book Frequently Asked Questions

1. Q: How big are these books?

   A: A couple of hundred to over 1000 pages inside up to a 3 MB .docx file
   
   

2. Q: What will I see inside each book?

   A: A list of hundreds of "Husband of the family", in alphabetical order, together with his wife, their children, with each date/place referenced with a superscript number referring to the source in the Quellen at the end of that family. Click HERE for a sample family.  At the end of the book, there are several indices giving the family number where each item is listed:  Index of Diseases, Index of villages mentioned, index of all men, index of all women.
   
   

3. Q: What if I cannot read .docx files?

   A: Upon request, we can send .doc or .PDF files.  Beware, the .pdf files are very large and may need us to use a file transfer service like WeTransfer.com
   
   

4. Q: What sources are used?

   A: The main sources are the parish record books recording the births, marriages, and deaths in the German villages.  Manfred has painstakingly gone page by page through these books recording the participants, locations, dates, and witnesses.  Beside church records, the Hilfskomitee has a huge collection of private family documents, pedigrees,  lists of inhabitants of the Galizien German settlements   etc. etc.. The total number of data is probably more than several thousand. These sources are not publicly available, neither online nor at libraries.  Unfortunately, the Hilfkomitee does not have the resources to dig out a copy of a given source for purchasers of the family books.
   
   

5. Q: What if I do not get my family book?

   A: Email us at  Please do not file a PayPal complaint until you have checked your SPAM folder and emailed us at least twice, once at the FamilyBook email and once at the secretary's email, .
   
   

6. Q: My family members are mentioned in more than one book.  Do I need to order all of them?

   A: No.  Look for the book with the greatest number of members.  Manfred's program repeats individuals who lived in, or were mentioned, in parish records.
   
   

7. Q: What do I do when the information in a Family Book is different than what I have from other documents?

   A: Please keep in mind that Manfred does not accept changes from individuals since he is transcribing what is in original documents.  However, no process is foolproof.  First, attempt to get a copy of the document his information is sourced from.  If you read that source and believe he made a transcription error, email us. If you cannot obtain a copy of the source document, you just have to accept his information as another tidbit of information that you have to manage with all the other information you have about your ancestor.  Some sources are more reliable than others.  For example, GGD resettlement records were taken from microfilms of carbon paper (not originals) which themselves were typed in a noisy room with immigrants giving their information verbally to the officers, often from their memory.  Church parish records are usually reliable, but even there, the minister can make a mistake.  Information taken from family created ancestral trees is in between, depending on how dedicated the author was.
   
   

8. Q: If the Hilfkomitee should cease to exist, will these Family Books still be available?

   A: As long as GGD exists, we will be able to supply the latest copy.  In any event, all copies are placed in the archives at Galiziendeutsches Heimatarchiv which is located in the Martin-Opitz Bibliothek in Herne, North-Rhine Westphalia.
   
   

9. Q: Do Family Books get updated?

   A: Yes, about every 2 years Manfred uses his computer program to generate a new set of village family books.  Visit our website to see if a new version exists and whether it is a significant change or only a minor update.
   
   

10. Q: If a Family Book is revised after I purchase a copy, can I get an updated copy for free?

    A:  If a new version of a book is issued within 30 days of your purchase, please ask us for the revised copy. 
    
    

11. Q: How does the Family Book surname search work?

    A: Not very well! As you might imagine, the volume of search data is very large, more than GGD can handle.  We thus take advantage of Google's search engine to look through all our surname listings. Unfortunately, Google only scans such large collections infrequently.  Thus for the first few weeks after a new update, you will get search results for the old family book which no longer exists.  Even after that, Google seems to ignore some villages. However, if you copy the name of the village, you can look at the current surname list on GGD's website at: https://www.galiziengermandescendants.org/Data/Daum_Surnames/index.htm
    
    

12. Q: Do Family Books include non-Germans in the village?

    A: Generally not unless they married a German.  Manfred uses Location (among other Germans), Religion (Germans in the area with the same religion - most notable with Protestants in a Roman or Orthodox Catholic city), Marriage - married to a German, Church recorded - same church as other Germans, Surname - is it a German surname.