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BLITZ
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What Our Clients Say
About Blitz Services
to Genealogists
© copyright 2004 by Blitz.
All rights reseved
A client since 1999 (written Sep
2004):
To Whom It May Concern:
I feel that I have an obligation
to share my experiences with any future patrons of the genealogic research
services available from Blitz and its primary research associate Elena
Tsvetkova in St. Petersburg.
I am doing this totally voluntarily as a token of my appreciation for
the assistance provided for me.
I first contacted Blitz in late
1998 via traditional mail services.
Soon thereafter, we switched to the usage of email to expedite
communications between us. My
knowledge of my Russian ancestry was then limited to only six people, my two
grandparents and 4 of my great-grandparents, and various aunts &
uncles. Now, over these last
five years of collaboration, I know fifty direct ancestors and countless
hundreds of aunts/uncles/cousins!
This is well beyond my expectations. Further, our research continues to this date.
Our projects have taken us to
the large state archives in Moscow and St Petersburg. We have also visited multiple
libraries; read old newspapers from the 1820s to 1920; consulted Geographic
Services for their reports; and visited additional archives that were remote
from the home base in St Petersburg when only on-site research would hold the
information that we needed. When
I thought that there were no further avenues for search, Elena would make
suggestions as to where other possibilities for further search existed. The diligence of Blitz in the pursuit
of my family research was only limited by the guidelines that I placed. The projects were undertaken promptly
and reported equally as promptly in concise and usable form.
I have often requested that
Elena search for tiny & remote pieces of information that have,
collectively, given an identity and reality to the individual people that
were initially identified by name from church registers, Nobility files and
military records. Later, on a
larger scale, information has been gathered to help me to understand the
beginnings of the Cossack 'nation' as recorded from the perspective of their
own written records in 1878. We
have discovered written accounts of professional soldier's own life stories
and copied them to help me to understand the passion with which this group of
people wished to preserve their own way of life and sustain their devotion to
Mother Russia.
In summation, while the premise
of my research was to see if I could find any information about my family,
the resourcefulness of the research staff has found many many people in such
as fashion that I have been able to gain some insight into their own life and
times. While no one would be
able to guarantee being able to duplicate the considerable research
achievements that have been fortunately provided for me, I feel most able to
assure anyone that the quality of effort and the consummate knowledge of the
Russian historical resources available would not be duplicated by any other
research group other than BLITZ.
BLITZ in general, and ELENA TSVETOVA
in particular, with her associate OLGA, have provided me with a gift of
family heritage that I could have never dreamed able to be discovered. My family and I will be in their debt
for what they have provided to us.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Mary Dorosheff
A client
since 1998:
"I
have been using Blitz to research the history of my family in Russia for the
past three years. Their researchers in Russia have done a fabulous job in
helping me trace the life of my grandmother and her brothers and sisters between
1890 - 1922, including obtaining details of three military careers during
World War I and the Civil War, and three sets of university records.
They have
pointed to many other potential sources of information, which have yielded
fruit, and conducted other research in Russian archives (reading local
newspapers, etc.), which have enabled me to put my family's life in context.
A source of first rate, reliable research."
Stephanie
Williams [London. England], author of 'Olga's Story', forthcoming from
Penguin(UK) and Doubleday, June 2004'
A
client with Blitz since 1997, working on a book with another Blitz client.
These men were shipmates on the USS Renshaw DDE-499 during 1950 & 1951.
Together, they researched an incident that involved their ship and five
others in protecting the USS Sicily & HMS Glory on July 28, 1951:
"The people of BLITZ, especially Yelena and Natasha, were tremendously
helpful in finding and arranging for me to interview the two outstanding
people I met with in St. Petersburg, in 1997, at the BLITZ offices. Without
Natasha and Yelena's translations, I would have been lost."
"Additionally, Yelena went out of her way to help me both professionally
and personally(she assisted me in purchasing a present for my wife) while at
their offices. The novel that I am working on is oriented about much of the
information I obtained during my interviews. Thank you BLITZ."
Sincerely,
- Donald C. McElfresh
Co-author of Submarine or Phantom Target
http://www.ussrenshawmysterytarget.com
A client researching family, writing a book and
traveling to Russia. Using Blitz services since 1996 and continues today:
"I have been very pleased with the work that Blitz - USA and Blitz - St.
Petersburg have provided for me. I have taken Blitz outside of the operating
boundaries; i.e., after 1917 and away from the Romanov family. My request was
into the KGB files with the delivery of files for a relative from Tula,
Russia and from St. Petersburg, Russia, and files from Estonia.
This research has encouraged me to learn Russian, to visit places I would not
have thought were possible, and to meet some very nice people. The research
has enlightened me on the history of Russia, its penal system, and the
vastness of the penal system. The research does require a lot of researching
and asking to get to the bottom of a person's life in Russia.
I have already been able to help others and direct them to the Blitz
organization. One case in point, the person had a birth certificate of his
grandfather. I translated it for him. Showed him the structure of the Russian
Name. And, he was able to locate the name in Ellis Island records. Now, he
has a name of the town in Russia and can request the help of Blitz.
Blitz has been very willing to help a person in the research and to meet
persons in the system of Russia. I found this to be very helpful. I
anticipate several more trips to Russia to do the research, to practice the
Russian language, and to meet the people...."
-Edward Perdue
A
client from 1993 and again in 2002:
I first engaged Blitz in July of 1993 and continued to use their services
through 1996 and obtained quality information & service on several
families at that time, mostly from the archives in St. Petersburg. The time
frame ranges from before 1810 to the Revolution, and the various sources were
mostly official "service records" both civil & military. This
year I learned that access had been obtained to a certain archive in Moscow
so I re-engaged Blitz to research another family which another firm had totally
failed with. Within a few months a quantity of information had been received
and I am going to continue the search. Both the cost and the turn around time
is reasonable, and all the more so considering the substandard conditions
that the archivists must contend with.
-Craig M. Hamilton
Glendora, California
A client researching family with Blitz since 1997:
"A first-rate resource for anyone interested in tracing their Russian
roots, Blitz provides excellent archival and genealogical knowledge and skills,
and at reasonable cost. I cannot speak too highly of their services."
Best wishes
Tania, Scotland, UK
A book author who used Blitz services starting in
1995 wrote:
"I wholeheartedly recommend the research services provided by BLITZ.
Their staff is efficient, knowledgeable and always courteous. Thanks to
BLITZ, I was able to make dramatic progress in my research. You won't be
disappointed!"
Ben Weinstock
co-author of The Road From Letichev
http://www.roadfromletichev.com
Clients from Western Australia write:
"At all times we have found your work to be attentive, helpful and
rigorous in research techniques. The Stepanov book just published and sent to
15 members of the family acknowledges the help of BLITZ, especially Elena
Tsvetkova, in the introduction and in the final section gives future
directions for other generations to follow. Hopefully a younger generation
will be in contact with BLITZ in the future and find our old friends and
research colleagues, without whom the genealogy so far of the family would be
so much the poorer."
Dr. Klazina Easton-Stepanov
Two Rocks, Western Australia
BLITZ
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