New "KET" Regional Interest Group Formed

In October 2006 the GRHS Board of Directors announced the formation of a new GRHS regional interest group (RIG) chapter for researchers who have an interest in the German Russians who lived in the Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, and Taurida Provinces in Ukraine. This RIG will be known as the Kherson/ Ekaterinoslav/Taurida (KET) Regional Interest Group. The RIG was formed after discussions by Tim Janzen, Debbie Beick, Curt Renz, Dale Wahl, and others at the 2006 GRHS Convention held in Portland, Oregon. There were nineteen people who initially expressed interest in starting this new RIG and currently there are 34 members in the RIG.

The area covered by the KET RIG includes the Ekaterinoslav Province, the portion of the Taurida (Taurien) Province located north of Crimea, and the portion of the Kherson Province located east of the Ingul River. The KET RIG's western border abuts the eastern border of the Beresan RIG. The KET RIG also includes Alt Danzig.

An electronic mailing list for the KET RIG was activated in November 2006. The e-mail list will allow researchers to receive updates about new information pertaining to this area and to share ideas, data, and information with other KET researchers. I am serving as the spokesman for the RIG and Deb Beick is serving as the webmaster. A web page for the new RIG will be created in the near future. Over time. Deb and I would like to see source material pertaining to German Russians who lived in the Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, and Taurida Provinces added to the KET RIG web pages. At this time there are no plans for a KET RIG newsletter, unless someone volunteers to write one.