GRanDMA-OnLine Occasional Newsletter.
Ken Ratzlaff, Winter, 2025-2026
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A New Year's lesson from GRanDMA OnLine
Each new year offers an opportunity
to reflect on why we turn to this growing GRanDMA database. Perhaps we search simply to extend an ancestry chart.
But it may also be a way to understand more deeply our heritage—ethnic and spiritual—as it traveled
through Prussia and Russia and on to wherever in the world we now live.
Through history, Low German Mennonites have been a migrating people,
seeking places where they could practice their faith and build stable, productive communities.
In the 20th century, they experienced times of horrific suffering in Russia and were often turned away from
North American shores when seeking safety.
In today's time of cruelty toward immigrants—especially in the United States—we
are reminded that Low German Mennonites not only were migrants but were followers of Jesus,
who himself was part of a migrant family and emphasized love for the stranger. Our heritage can
foster a particular empathy for those on the move among us.
That is a lesson my ancestry chart continues to teach me.
Ken Ratzlaff
Lawrence, Kansas, January, 2026
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Saving Copies of GMOL Reports
Over 40 types of Reports are available in GRanDMA OnLine. When you want a permanent copy of the
report, there usually are options, selected by buttons near the top.
Print/PDF. The first option in most cases is to use your browser's Printer support. That support also includes a
Print to PDF option where the browser, instead of sending the output to print on paper, sends it to a PDF file.
Nearly every report in GMOL has been optimized both for printing and for creating a PDF copy.
In the upper-right part of the screen, find a Print/pdf button. When printing these pages, the interactive links
are hidden from the printer. Other parts may be hidden or formatted for printing as well.
Word-compatible files In some cases, you will find a .doc file download button. You can save a copy of
the report that is compatible with Microsoft Word and with several other editors like Google Docs. If you want
to be able to edit the content or the format, this is the way to go.
Spreadsheet files Some lists and tables can be saved as spreadsheets in .csv format. Open with
Excel, Google Sheets (use the import function), etc. Or with any text editor.
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Funding for projects that support GRanDMA's mission
Mennonite Genealogy, Inc. has funding available for projects that support its mission.
Topics could include acquisition of relevant documents from Poland/Ukraine/Russia, digitization of relevant
publications, or hosting a supporting conference. Read details here.
Feel free to email a grant committee member to discuss your plan: Glenn Penner, Ken Ratzlaff, Richard Thiessen:
[email protected].
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Your Submissions are Important. But They Need Citations
We users submit a lot of valuable new information for inclusion into GRanDMA, but we haven't always been careful
about providing a source. Last fall, a separate field was added to the
online Submission Form
for that information. It must contain source information for the submission to complete.
Sources can be newspapers, historical documents, etc., that can be consulted later, but sometimes it
will be information from a particular family member, labeled as a "Private Communication." Please make
the GRanDMA data a more useful and reliable record.
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Number of GMOL users goes over 5000
The number of users with access to
GRanDMA OnLine steadily increases, and on October 31, we went over 5,000! And the number continues
to increase with no end in sight (red lines.)
The blue curves show how much GMOL is being used: the number of users who have logged
in over the last 30 days.
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