In 2015, Maria Lotsmanova embarked on a search taken by millions: information about her family history. But genealogy in Russia has a particular character. Often it’s not just about identifying one’s family tree. It is also about learning about the fate of relatives, particularly if they were repressed during the Soviet period. And Maria’s goal was quite specific–information about her great-grandfather, Jacob Jansen, a German Mennonite living in Crimea. Jansen was dekulakized, exiled, arrested and shot in the Stalinist 1930s. His life and fate were one of those “black spots” found in many families in the former Soviet Union. So who was Jacob Jansen? What did Maria find? In this interview, we discussed Maria’s genealogical research, her family history, and how it’s reshaped her life.
Guest:
Maria Lotsmanova previously worked at Moscow’s GULAG History Museum (The Museum of Soviet Repressions), where she headed the Documentation Center. The staff there consult visitors on finding information in archives about people prosecuted and convicted during the mass repressions in the USSR. Her own research focuses on the history of her repressed Mennonite ancestors, which was interrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In August 2022, Maria moved to Pittsburgh to reconcile with her wife, who is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh.
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