Christian Koberstein Family Locations
Christian / Waclaw Family Locations also
Click on Chelm in the map below to link to information on Karl Koberstein who immigrated from this area to the Canada.
The Galizien German Descendants 1939 Resettlement records have been extracted from documents stored in the Berlin Document Center which were captured by the US government at the end of World War II. These records were created by ethnic Germans applying to resettle in German controlled areas from former German areas of Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and France in 1939. At that time Russia and Germany had divided Poland roughly along the Warthe river as part of the the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and many ethnic Germans either did not want to live in the Russian contolled territories or were forced to emigrate to Germany.
The Berlin Document Center records contain much more than just these resettlement records but these Einwandererzentralstelle (EWZ) (literally Immigration Center) records contain very valuable information about German families in 1939. The EWZ records are divided into the E/G Kartei (index by family surname), Stamblätter (family pedigrees) and Antraege (applications). Microfilms of the E/G Kartei and Stammblatter records are currently available at local Family History Centers (FHC) of the LDS church and at the US National Archives The US Archives also has microfilms of the Antraege records. Here is an example of one of the EWZ Stamblätter documents showing the record for a Daniel Hermann born Oct 3, 1921. Further information about the EWZ records can be found at Dave Obee's Family History Page.
The GGD 1939 Resettlement records database is only a partial extraction of these EWZ records so if you cannot find your ancestor in our database they may still be found in the full collection. The full collection is only available as microfilms from LDS FHC or the US Archives but the E/G Kartei index makes searching tolerable.
You start by searching on the Family History Center Library Catalog . Click on the "Keyword search" and search on "EWZ" (no quotes). The index is found in "Einwandererkartei, 1939-1945". If you click on that link and then on the "View Film notes" button you will then be able to browse through the 1,966 films that make up the index to find the one that may contain your ancestor (the title of each film is the starting name on that film). Alternately, we have a PDF format document with this index available here. If you find your ancestor on one of these films record the case number given for that individual.
To find the original record for an individual if you have a case number or you found them in the GGD Resettlement database (the "Reference :" number is the case number) go to the Family History Center Library Catalog and search on the "EWZ" keyword. The Film Notes on the "Stammblätter, 1939-1945" and "Stammblätter, 1940-1941" links are organized by case number and will enable you to find the film with the original record you want. Order the film with your case number through your local FHC to view the microfilm.