I remember as a child growing up in Los Angeles, my grandmother Sophie
(a very stoic woman) was always so adament that they were "German"
presumably because she and her older siblings were born in Riga or
Libau ("Kurland" or "Germany") on the US census). I remember the
phrase "high German" being tossed about. The interesting thing is,
both of her parents and her older siblings were born in Plunge,
Lithuania, where the REST family had reportedly lived since the mid
1600s or early 1700s. They did not move to Riga until 1882 or
thereabouts.

Elaine Bush
Pleasant Hill, CA USA
MODERATOR NOTE: Please continue privately.

Researching: REST, PAS, BASSMAN, BER, KIRSNER, KATZ, KURZON (Plunge,
Kretinga, Luoke, Riga, Liepaja, SAfrica, Argentina) ; BLUSHINSKY
(Moletai, Nemincine, Shirvintz, Postavy); SHANIN / SHEININ, FRUMOV
(Ukraine, Belarus)
erbush@...
http://elainebush.tribalpages.com