Michelle Robinson wrote: > > Frank Kurchina wrote: > > > What was your GF's surname ? > > My Grandfathers surname was Magas . I know he moved to where his paternal > Grandparents lived in his teens which was in Selce near Crikvenica. His > mothers maiden name was Kolendic. I understood this was a common name in > Dobronovik, so I assumed that was where he ws from but my brother said > Grandfather he was born near Triest then I found his passport which gives > his place of birth as Navigrad. I wish there was some way to know which one > it is for sure. > Thanks for your help Michelle There are probably 250 surname Magas just in U.S. whose ancestors emigrated from Europe through ELLIS ISLAND (1892-1924) The question is were their surnames spelled Magas or Magas^ ? (Diacritic Croatian letter s^ = sh) There are 4 Selce located in Croatia. The Selce located 76 miles SW of Zagreb is the place near Crikvenica in the Rijeka/Fiume region of Croatia. (Telephone directory lists 80 surname Magas^ under Rijeka and region including 2 surnames under Selce) It is 27 miles west of Labin on the Istrian peninsula and across the Adriatic Sea. (Telephone directory lists 1 Magas^ under Labin) And 43 miles east of the Novigrad on the Istrian peninsula. This Novigrad is located only 25 miles from Trst (C) Trieste (I) Today Trieste is not part of Istria nor of Croatia, but of Italy. In 1947, the Free Territory of Trieste was created . Zone A (city of Trieste) was administered by Anglo-American forces and Zone B by the Yugoslavs. In 1954, the Free Territory of Trieste was abolished. Zone B was given to former Yugoslavia and Zone A was given to Italy. You can research possible surname records in Istrska county if you can identify the surname village/town of origin. http://www.istrianet.org/ URL below is surnames from Albona (I)-Labin (C) region. http://www.istrianet.org/istria/genealogy/towns/albona/albona01.htm Pre-WW I Hungarian passports were written in Hungarian and French langauges. Was that the case here ? What is title page of GF's passport ? U'TLEVE'L - PASSEPORT (Magyar) (French) Pasos^ (C)
Frank, Grandpas passport was from 1938 so post WW1 . It has the French Passeport at the bottom and The top says Putna Isprava. Thank you for all your help I'll keep looking Michelle