Since Prussia doesn’t exist anymore... Im sorta confused what my ethnic background is. I found out my family was from Pomerania and Silesia and I was wondering what type of people lived in those areas... what is the background? What ethnic background would people living in those areas have in 1700's and up... like were they more German? Polish? Russian? Dutch? etc....
2007-10-15 06:03:47 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
oh ya and the last name was Zausch and then changed to Zoschke for some reason
2007-10-15 06:08:11 · update #1
For all practical purposes, your ancestors were probably Germans.
Pomerania, Silesia, East Prussia and Poland are all in an area of Europe where the Germanic and Slavic worlds come together. The people who live there have varying degrees of both Germanic and Slavic ancestry and probably some Finno-Lappic and Celtic remnants too. German surnames ending in -ke are usually Slavonic or partly Slavonic in origin.
Only DNA testing would provide the most accurate clues to your ancestry as it would for all of us, but I don't think most people want to go that route.
2007-10-15 07:59:43 · answer #1 · answered by Brennus 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They may be considered now as the Germans.
Zausch is a German surname.
Zoschke has Polish origins.
2007-10-15 07:28:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋