Who were our ancestors? Where did they come from? Who did not wonder about these questions, especially as you become aware of your own mortality? W hen I started the Andres family tree, I had a vision of what a family tree is supposed to look like: some kind of a fancy graphical representation of a tree with little boxes dangling from limbs and branches, reading "grand-mother", "great-grand-father" and so on. Well, it did not turn out that way. The family tree has become something with a life on its own, and in some ways, has taken over my own. Through the research, I have learned so many things, about family, countries, war, language, met so many people, related or not, renewed old friendships and developed new ones. For this, I am grateful to all who have shared their information, their knowledge, and to those who have showed such appreciation for what I have been able to share in turn. While the family tree is, almost by definition, full of dead people