Skip to main content

Wandering Volhynians

A Quarterly Magazine for the descendants of Germans from Volhynia and Congress Poland.
(Ceased Publication in 1999. Back issues may still be available.)

Wandering Volhynians is a quarterly publication dedicated to serving the genealogical, historical and heritage interests of descendants of Germans who migrated to or through Congress Poland and Volhynia. Regular features include a surname data base, a query column, obituary listings, and a problem corner. Interspersed with these regular features are maps, book reports, translations of old German material, reports on research and tourist trips to east Europe, personal successes, documents, pedigrees, photographs or drawings, and so on. Each issue contains 24 pages.

Wandering Volhynians Newsletter had its beginnings in 1987 as a home made, photocopied newsletter for Germans from Volhynia. Ron Neuman of Edmonton, Canada was the editor and there were 18 subscribers. Word spread quickly and the subscription list grew rapidly.

In 1989, Ron met Ewald Wuschke of Vancouver, Canada. Ewald has done decades of personal and general research in both Poland and Volhynia. He also happens to own a printing firm so it did not take long to put the two together into a very high quality publication. Ewald took over editing and publication duties.

Other volunteers assisted with the surname list, subscriptions, and contributing articles. It was also decided to include Congress Poland research as part of the mandate as over 75 per of Volhynian Germans originated there. As of mid 1996, there were over 600 subscribers.

In 1999, Wandering Volhynians has ceased publication, due to the illness of its editor Ewald Wuschke.

The newsletter inspired a genealogy society, also called Wandering Volhynians, that had its first organizational meeting in Calgary on 24 July 1994. The society did not get off the ground, and several of the early organizers later set up the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe.