Mary Hegarty wrote: > > on 3/9/02 9:18 PM, Robert Jerin at rjerin@adelphia.net wrote: > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Frank Kurchina" <frankur@worldnet.att.net> > > To: <CROATIA-L@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 1:14 PM > > Subject: Re: [CROATIA-L] Polanjek/Skopeca > > > > > >> > >> > >> Mary Hegarty wrote: > >>> > >>> on 3/8/02 7:18 PM, Frank Kurchina at frankur@worldnet.att.net wrote: > >>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Mary Hegarty wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> Does anyone know anything about either of these towns? I have located > > A > >>>>> Stefan Fonta (Austrian Croatian) who arrived in NY from Polanjek in > > 1903 and > >>>>> a Maria Fonta (Austrian-Slovak) from Skopeca, Austria' > >>>>> Mary Hegarty > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> In Hungarian and most Slavic languages the letter J is pron. Y. > >>>> For example, Jugoslavija = Yugoslavia. > >>>> > >>>> Polanyek (Palanjek Pokudski) is located 21 miles SSE of Zagreb > >>>> and 9 miles WNW of Petrinja. > >>>> > >>>> Skopeca sounds-like Skoplje (C) Skopie, Skopje (M), Macedonia. > >>>> > >>>> The six republics that formed the former Yugoslavia were : Bosnia > >>>> and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Serbia. > >>>> > >>>> The problem will be locating any surname Fonta bearers in Europe. > >>>> What is surname ethnicity ? > >>>> Did you mean Austrian-Slovak or Austrian-Slovenian ? > >>>> Before WW I, Slovakia was Hungarian and not Austrian. > >>>> Before WW I, Slovenia was Austrian. > >>> Thank you for the information on Polanjek. I'm actually looking for > > Emil > >>> and Maria Fonta (my grandparents) who should have arrived in NY around > > 1904 > >>> but I can't find any record of their passage. > >>> On my mother's birth certificate it listed their country of birth as > >>> Austria. Stepan Fonta and Maria Fonta are two Fontas that I located > > through > >>> Ellis Island and I thought they might be relatives. Stepan was listed on > > the > >>> Passenger record as Austrian-Croatian and Maria as Austrian-Slovak. For > >>> Maria the address of closest kin looked like Skopeca: 375 Krskaras. > >>> Mary Hegarty > >> > >> First name Maria can be of many nationalities. > >> > >> Emil (E) (H) (Cz) (G) (P) Milo (Sk) > >> > >> 39 surname Fonta are listed at EIR and 18 surnames have Italian > >> given names. > >> > >> When a short surname ends in a letter vowel it can easily from > >> one of the Romance languages, i.e. Italian, French, Spanish, or > >> Portuguese. > >> > >> # 24 Maria, age 17, single, Slovak, 1916 > >> WW I was fought in Europe August 1914-November 1918. > >> There was no official Slovak ethnicity until WW I peace treaty (1920) > >> > > > > Of course Slovak ethnicity existed prior to 1920! There are listings for > > such on Ellis Island ship manifests. Perhaps meant that Slovakia did not > > exist prior to 1920. > > > > "Over 51 million people lived in the 675,000 square kilometres of the > > Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two largest ethnic groups were Germans (10 > > million) and Hungarians (9 million). There were also Poles, Croats, > > Bosnians, Serbians, Italians, Czechs, Ruthenes, Slovenes, Slovaks and > > Romanians. Overall, fifteen different languages were spoken in the > > Austro-Hungarian empire." > > > > Following the 1848-49 revolution "several concessions were made in favor of > > the Slovaks - participation in the Administration of the State and the > > management of communities, the setting up of teaching in Slovak (three high > > schools included), the creation of a national cultural institution, "The > > Matica Slovenska" in 1863, the foundation of the Slovak National Museum, the > > legalization of Slovak as the literary language in Slovakia... " > > > I also wanted to comment about Slovak ethnicity. Frank, you are saying there > was no OFFICIAL Slovak ethnicity prior to 1920 and Robert you are saying > that many people considered themselves Slovaks regardless. > Mary Slovenia had once been part of former Yugoslavia in the Balkans until it gained its independence in 1990s. Slovakia had once been part of Czechoslovakia in Central Europe until it gained its independence in 1993. If you write to Slovenija and don't use Slovenia, the letter gets mailed to Slovakia. If you write to Slovensko (Slovakia) the letter is probably sent to Slovenia. U.S. Postal Service only recognizes these countries under "Slovenia" and "Slovak Republic". Have read any number of pre-WW I ship manifests and 1900/1910/1920 U.S. Census enumeration microfilms where the term Slovak could mean either a Slovak or a Slovenian (depending on how knoweledgeable the writer). There was confusion even back then which contimues into 2001. A Slovenian recently wrote a letter to Slovenia and it ended up in Sierra Leone (Africa, where a civil war is being waged) The letter sat there was a month, before being forwarded to Bratislava, Slovkia, from where is was finally forwarded to the correct address in Ljubljana, Slovenia a month later. A Slovenian had attempted to enter Slovakia on a Slovenian passport and was denied entry. Border guard had never seen a Slovene passport and was convinced it was a forgered Slovakia passport. After conversation with customs supervisor Slovenian was able to convince them that it was a legitimate passport. In 1920, a newly-formed country of Czechoslovakia was created from the Austrian Kronlands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian-Silesia) and a portion of Upper-Hungary (Slovakia and Karpatho-Ukraine). (Until this time there was no country called "Czechoslovakia") Czechoslovakia existed from 1920-1938 when it became part of Nazi Germany. Following the end of WW II in 1945 Czechoslovakia was reconstituted as a country back to its pre-war boundaries (less Karpatho-Ukraine which the Soviet Union kept) The C^eskoslovenská Socialisticka Republika (CSR) existed from 1948-1993, when it was divided into two separate countries; the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia. The Slovaks were the first nation to establish an independent state in Central Europe about 624 A.D. The territory of Slovakia was ruled by Slovak Kings. The Czechs were under the rule of the Slovaks from about 889 A.D. to 894 A.D. In the 10th c the Slovak Kingdom was destroyed by an alliance of Magyars, Czechs and Germans. The Magyars ruled Slovakia from 906 A.D. to 1918 A.D., nearly a thousand years of pain and suffering (according to some) Have never met a Hungarian who accepted the fact that there ever had been a Slovakia since Magyars had always ruled the territory until the WW I (Trianon) peace treaty in 1920. In 1848, the Slovaks had declared their independence from Hungary, but the Hungarian Revolution (1848-1849) had failed because of the intervention of Russian troops by Tsar Nicholas I. During the second half of the 19th century the Magyars had eliminated Slovak national institutions and schools. Magyars also declared the non-existence of a Slovak nation. http://genealogy.ijp.si/default.htm http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sipa/REGIONAL/ECE/slovenia.html http://www.angelfire.com/wa/gorsha/ http://genforum.genealogy.com/slovenia/