Genealogy and history go hand in hand. It is hard to learn one's family history without learning something of historical value. Today us the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Today however my family was not involved (ok maybe some distant cousins might have been there).
On this day, in 1917, Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin led revolutionaries in a coup d'État against Russia's Government. A new government was formed with Lenin as its head. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), as it would come to be called, was the world's first Marxist state.
My four paternal grandparents had left Russia/Ukraine/Poland in between 1904 and 1913. So I (thankfully) have no family stories of the Revolution or even of the last days under Tsar Nicholas. My family was already here for World War I. I obviously have no stories of my family having suffered the Holodomor at the hands of the USSR in 1932-22.
Likewise, while I have found people with the same last name (specifically Matys) who were sent to the concentration camps during WWII, I do not know of any direct relation who suffered such. I did have several uncles who fought in the War - as Americans.
For all intents and purposes though, today as we recall the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, I am thankful that Daddy's family lines immigrated early.
Thankful Thursday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers.
Photo: Dreamstime
On this day, in 1917, Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin led revolutionaries in a coup d'État against Russia's Government. A new government was formed with Lenin as its head. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), as it would come to be called, was the world's first Marxist state.
My four paternal grandparents had left Russia/Ukraine/Poland in between 1904 and 1913. So I (thankfully) have no family stories of the Revolution or even of the last days under Tsar Nicholas. My family was already here for World War I. I obviously have no stories of my family having suffered the Holodomor at the hands of the USSR in 1932-22.
Likewise, while I have found people with the same last name (specifically Matys) who were sent to the concentration camps during WWII, I do not know of any direct relation who suffered such. I did have several uncles who fought in the War - as Americans.
For all intents and purposes though, today as we recall the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, I am thankful that Daddy's family lines immigrated early.
Thankful Thursday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers.
Photo: Dreamstime
