"Birkholz, James" wrote: > > On her son's birth certificate in Akron, Ohio, Helena Skuban's birthplace is > listed as > Cicilia Sloyerska > > Some time ago, I was told that "Sloyerska" meant Slovenia (I think). > > Well I knew where Slovenia is, it was on the opposite side of Croatia from > the Bjelovar district where her husband was listed as being born. > (Incorrectly spelled "Grubisko Polje" instead of "Grubisno Polje".) > > Yesterday, I'm looking at maps of the Bjelovar area and am shocked to see > Slovenia directly to the east (and a little south) of Bjelovar (but still > part of Croatia). > So I check another map and confirm that it was where I thought it was, to > the NW of Croatia. Then I see that they are spelled differently. > The one by Bjelovar is "Slavonia". Huh! > > So now I'm wondering if "Sloyerska" (or more probably a similar spelling) > can be tied to "Slavonia". This would be helpful, as the only Skubans in the > online Croatian phone directory are in Vukovar, which I believe is in this > Slavonian part of Croatia. > > I'm half convinced that the "Cicilia" reference is a mistaken answer to the > questions and refers to the father's grandmother's name, rather than the > mother's birthplace. > > I've tried checking the old version of the online phone directory, using the > list towns by county feature, for Bjelovar, Vukovar and Osjecko districts. > CELIJE in the Vukovar district might be the Cicilia referred to in the birth > certificate. > James You bring up some interesting possibilities. In Slovene, the country known as Slovenia is Slovénija and Slovakia is Slovás^ka. While Slavonia (Croatia-Slavonia) is known as Slavonija. Some who seek Slovenija (Slovenia) think it is the the same country as Slovakia (Slovensko) Slovenia was once a part of former Yugoslavia in the Balkans. Slovakia was a part of former Czechoslovakia in Central Europe. Now both are independent republics. Of course, pre-WW I, neither Slovakia or Slovenia existed, while Croatia-Slavonia did. If you write to Slovenija and don't use Slovenia, the letter probably gets mailed to Slovakia. If you use Slovensko for Slovakia the letter probably ends up in Slovenia ? Today, U.S. Postal Service only recognizes these countries under "Slovenia" and "Slovak Republic". When I first read your query ignored the name as being a place name because Cicilia had looked like a reference to a female first name. Cicely/Cecilia (E) is Slovenian given name Cecilija (dim. Cilka) But, to the best of my knowledge was not a Croatian name. Or perhaps, Cicilia was a reference to Celije ? In 1991, the Serbs ethnically cleansed the Croats in eastern Slavonia in 3 mos., especially in Celije, Erdut, Aljmas, and Dalj. v Frank Kurcina