Ancestry DNA - Follow-up

It has been about a year since we received the results of my husband's DNA analysis on Ancestry.com.  His results have not been updated as could be possible with the "uncertain" category. 

His results are as follows:

British Isles            74%
Central European   16%
Uncertain               10%

We took a bit of a chance (for only $99) and sent his DNA sample into the Ancestry.com people.  Now, we had fairly basic expectations as I had done some reading about DNA in relationship to tracing one's family tree.  They have met our expectations given the price point and knowing that they are in the process of building their database.  This does rely on submissions which could be "hit or miss".

For now, we are at a miss in matching much of anyone up to my husband's common ancestors in the "way back machine" of his family tree.  While he has plenty of surnames, a variety of locations (but not too many per se), and some very specific information about his family tree, we have yet to find matches that are a close relative with a common surname.

My husband's "Ross" surname comes from Scotland and you'd think we would have found some matches in DNA there.  Well, not yet.   Again, the database relies on submissions.  Also, this database is not exactly fully searchable.  The system currently indicates the closest matches at 4th cousins.  Those people are pretty distant cousins and might as well be anyone including my next door neighbor for whom we are not related.

There are currently 23 people indicated as between 4th-6th cousins of my husband.  That's as close at we've gotten.  Additionally, 10 of those people have not attached a family tree on Ancestry.com which would at least indicate surnames.  That leaves the remaining 13 people who appear to be a shot in the dark if they are of any relation to my husband.

So, we wait...?  Yeah, probably not worth waiting around for this.  I am not planning to submit my DNA to Ancestry.com anytime soon.  There is, however, another possibility for DNA matching.  I might just try it and, of course, will report back!

The Flat

I recently watched "The Flat" on Netflix streaming.  It is a documentary about a man in Tel Aviv whose grandmother passes away.  He finds information in her flat about his family, Germany, their Jewish past and a discovery in the apartment of letters and photos from the past.

This documentary was very interesting.  It includes the "discovery" process where the filmmaker finds family information that leads to his desire for more.  There are also individuals in this film who are resistant to discovering the truth whether is it because of the lack of interest in their family history or some sort of denial of their family's past. 

People of previous generations generally do want to make things appear rosier than they really were.  I can only imagine if someone thought my ancestor (or even a very close relative) to be a Nazi.

I'd recommend this documentary to anyone who really gets into family history whether it is their own or someone else's.