Media Release
April 30, 2008

Miller to lead tour group to Ukraine and Germany

Michael M. Miller, director and bibliographer of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at NDSU, will lead the 14th Journey to the Homeland Tour group to Ukraine and Germany May 20-30. The tour includes visiting Odessa, Ukraine; the former Bessarabian and Black Sea German villages; Stuttgart, Germany; and Alsace, France.

Julie Burgum Opp from Casselton, N.D., and NDSU graduate, will participate in the tour with her mother, two aunts, sister and cousins.

“I grew up on a farm 15 miles from Napoleon, N.D. My parents are Reinhold and Esther (Mertz) Opp. I didn’t realize that I came from a unique environment until I left home,” says Bergum Opp.

“My parents still spoke German amongst the adults in the area and we had specialty foods that were traditional for Germans from Russia such as borscht, headcheese, halupsie and knefla soup.

“After moving to Fargo, I took a Germans from Russia class, taught by Timothy Kloberdanz in 1983, which opened my eyes to how amazing it was that my ancestors clung to their traditions from Germany through Russia and finally to the plains of North Dakota.

“I was aware of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at NDSU and met Michael Miller who talked about the annual trip to our ancestral home in Germany and the Ukraine. I wanted to take my parents and talked about it for years so finally we will take the trip in 2008.”

While in Germany, Miller also will be a featured speaker at the national gathering of the Bessarabian Germans at Ludwigsburg. More than 6,000 people are expected to attend.

For more information, visit library.ndsu.edu/grhc/outreach and click on the “Journey to the Homeland” link.