In the Austrian old map site I found a map from 1880's and there, low and behold, were these place names. My old aunt had scribbled on a piece of paper: Lvov, Brody, Radichew, Stirkowetz, Raynie. I found the first two on present day maps but could not find the others anywhere. Radciechow and Szczurowice appear on the old Austrian map to the north of Brody. Can anyone tell me if these towns still exist, what are they called today? And where would records, if any, have been kept? Does anyone else have ancestors from this area? Nearby towns on the old map were: Cholojow, Stanislawczyk, Stojanow, Dobradwor, Augustow and Bele Kristianopol. Has anyone visited there? My grandparents had orchards there apparently and was wondering if it is still pastoral or perhaps an industrial wasteland. Thanks for your time, Chris in Calgary Canada

Try www.amazon.com--the planet's largest bookstore, online. They have a very large selection of books and will even search for used copies if a book is out of print. Vince Siecinski Greensburg, PA

Greetings ! This is my first message on the first gen-slavic list. My name is Joseph SENKOW. I am perhaps relative with you. I am born in Poland (in a small town: Iwanie Puste , near Ternopol,Borscev on the Dniestr) in 1920.I lost the trace of my family in 1939. Now,I live in France. In 1996, a very happy new : I just saw again my brother stefan SENKOW after a separation of 57 years: wonderful !! I continue to search my brothers Michel and Stanis who live perhaps in poland or ukraine. Can you give me any information ? Thanks in advance. J.senkow bstfamily@aol.com

Looking for any info on the name KARAKASH.. We know nothing about it ! thanx deana muotka anch97@arctic.net

Bonnie Cieslukowski Weissman wrote on Friday, April 4: >Any help on the following matters would be greatly appreciated. As some >of you know, my Busia came from a Galician town called Dzikow; that >should be simple enough, but now I'm confused. I thought her town was >part of Tarnobrzeg, based on my visit to the Holocaust Museum Library >(where I looked it up in Where Once We Walked) and listings on the >Jewish cemeteries database on the net. It all seemed to add up, because >until now this was the only Dzikow I could find in what used to be >Galicia. Browsing through Mapquest the other night, I found another >Dzikow in the same general area, but this one is very close to >Prezmysl.I do know her town had a high Jewish population because she >lived on the edge of the shetl.G. Gressa of the Carpatho-Rusyn group had >also found this in one of his Galician indexes, and had e-mailed me >about it. Any ideas for searching strategies on this before I order the >LDS tapes? Bonnie- I also had this problem. I was looking for Bilka in the Ukraine and found 4. Then I realized that I should have been looking for Bilke/Bilki/Bilky (found 5 like this). At the same time I found that my father's father came to Bilki from Berezova/o (found 4 of those), and that the two towns were "not too far" from one another and both were near Chust. Using the distance function of JewishGen's Shtetl Seeker, I found the coordinates of Chust and then compared the distances between all the different Bilkis and Berezovas. I think I've got my towns now. If you can find out which large town was the closest to "your Dzikow", that would give you a starting point. (Did you ever stop to think of how many "Springfields" there are in the US? I know of 2 that are suburbs of Philadelphia!) I don't know if this helps, but I tried! Good Luck! Rhonda RCMWenner@aol.com

I'm looking for information about my husband's side of the family. My understanding is that they came from Slovakia to the USA around 1900. I believe there were 4 sons: Andrew (born 1905), Nick, Mike, and John. They settled around the Pittsburg, PA, area. The father went by MIHALOV, 2 of the sons used MIHALOW, and the other 2 used MIHALOEW. That's about all I know, so any help would be appreciated. Darlene

My Hihar (Hihrovic) ancestors came from the hamlet of Ledinici in the village of Sparagovici in Pinikve on the Peljesac peninsula. Petar (b:1869), Ivan (b:1872) and Rado (b:1882), all brothers, emigrated to America at the burn of the century. There was a fourth brother, Marin (b:1876) who also came to America, but he returned to Jugoslavia. In 1948, only two persons in Croatia bore the surname of Hihar. Both lived in Mali Ston. I am in search of any living Hihars who remain in Croatia. Any information would be greatly appreciated. They may not speak English, but I am willing to have a translator assist me in writing a letter to them. Thanks in advance for any help. I am sure that by assuming my Silkowski ancestors came from Poland, I would be pretty accurate. Not much information on this family tree. Wondering if anyone has ever heard the name or knows where the family may have come from. Once again, thanks for any help in advance. Denise Hihar

Claudette, My husband has Erdmann's on his side of the family. What type of information are you looking for? If interested, I may be able to help you with current generations. I don't know how much help I can be on the ancestors, but may be able to find some info through a family member married to one of the Erdmann's who is head of genealogy here in the local library. She has done alot of research. Good luck! Denise

Mr. Senkow, If you think they're in the USA, the first thing I'd try is an on-line telephone directory such as 411, as the following address: http://www.four11.com/cgi-bin/Four11Main?fonesearch&XX=&FormId=,234,2,377FB00,3F70FA11 Do you know any other information about them that could help, such as their birthdays? Darlene Joseph SENKOW wrote: > > greetings, > I am born in Iwane puste in 1920 (poland but now ukraine). > I am called Joseph SENKOw:I am searching my brothers michel and stanis > whose I lost the trace since 1939. > Could you help me ? > > Respectfully. > J.senkow > bstfamily@aol.com

looking for name ostrovisiki - origin poland spelling probably wrong sett;ed in us around 1858 in new york state relatives still in poland have a town suikas or something that resembles that name ostrye@juno.com

Yes and Thank you Jerry. I would like a free sample, send to:Sylvia Ann Graybill 2115 Noble Street West Lawn,PA 19609. Thank you again. Sylvia beatagoose@aol.com

To: putnik@aol.com Daragoj Kostya, Privet iz Bulgaria. iz gorada Plovdiva i ot menja-Nikola. Anglijski gavarit moj sin Evgeni-on uchitsja v Chicago. Maja dochka Elina tozhe znaet anglijski.Seichas ana zanjata.Ana uchit TOEFL i SAT. Ana sobiraetsja uchit v USA.Ja ne znaju anglijski. Ja rabotaju v Institut Tabaka.Ja rabotal 2 goda v Rige na tabachnaja fabric.Ja bail v Minsk. U menja est rodstveniki, katoraie zhivut seichas v Moskva. V Russia nahoditsja drugie moi rodstveniki , katorie ja iskat. Do 1900 ani zhili v Bulgaria.Posle 1900 goda ani pereselilis v Russia i rabotavi na zhelezodarozhnij transpart. Ani nazivajutsja: Dimitar Panajotov Shishkov (rodilsja blizhe 1870 goda v Bulgaria. gorada Sliven) i evo zhena Atina Shishkova. Ani imeli 2 detej: malchik Panajot Shishkov i dochka Dzhenda Shishkova. Harasho, esli ja ih naiti Vam udobna perepisavatsja mezhdu nami na ruskij jazik? Vsevo dobrava: ................................................ * Nikola Charakchiev * Bulgaria, Plovdiv, ncharak@tu-plovdiv.bg ................................................

greetings, I am born in Iwane puste in 1920 (poland but now ukraine). I am called Joseph SENKOw:I am searching my brothers michel and stanis whose I lost the trace since 1939. Could you help me ? Respectfully. J.senkow bstfamily@aol.com

Hi Guys, Any help on the following matters would be greatly appreciated. As some of you know, my Busia came from a Galician town called Dzikow; that should be simple enough, but now I'm confused. I thought her town was part of Tarnobrzeg, based on my visit to the Holocaust Museum Library (where I looked it up in Where Once We Walked) and listings on the Jewish cemeteries database on the net. It all seemed to add up, because until now this was the only Dzikow I could find in what used to be Galicia. Browsing through Mapquest the other night, I found another Dzikow in the same general area, but this one is very close to Prezmysl.I do know her town had a high Jewish population because she lived on the edge of the shetl.G. Gressa of the Carpatho-Rusyn group had also found this in one of his Galician indexes, and had e-mailed me about it. Any ideas for searching strategies on this before I order the LDS tapes? I am also having trouble determining her birthplace. The passenger manifest looks like it says Jackow or Jacklow; I'm wondering if it should have been Jaslo, as that town is relatively close to Tarnobrzeg and the other Dzikow.Mapquest does not show a Jackow or Jacklow. Finally, she always said she and my Dziadzia worked in a farm in Schnectady, NY, but the manifest says Bedford something, which I first thought was "Hts (for Heights) or "Flts" (for Flats). The only thing Mapquest and my atlases could find was Bedford Hills, but that is some distance from Schnectady. Any ideas or sources to work on these puzzles would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bonnie Cieslukowski Weissman

We've changed service providers again so I have a new e-mail address. This one should be even easier to recognize: vkahn@kmort.com Please keep in touch! Vivian Kahn

joseph F mahala wrote: > > Where can I get the book they came in ships by John P Colletta > answer by Email thank you JF Mahala Hi again! If your local library does not have it, ask them about an inter-library loan. Regards, Bonnie

I am seeking information on any Sestak families from the Bregana/Samobor area of Croatia. My grandparents were born there in the 1880's, and I am attempting to piece together my family tree. I would appreciate hearing from anyone having any info on any SESTAK's from Croatia. Please e-mail: RaySestak@worldnet.att.net Thanks.

J Bickers wrote: > But maybe someone on the list has access to the Morton-Allen > Directory and could tell you which port the Kaiser Wilhelm arrived in at > that date. And the answer is New York!!! - per Morton Allen Directory. Tom Burcak

> Her maiden name was Wujcik. I can't find it anywhere in the soundex index > and the ship listing. This wouldn't affect soundex, but it might also be spelled Wojcik (with an accent over the "o", which makes it pronounced the same as "u"). That's the usual spelling, although sometimes "u" does replace original accented "o" in surnames. Joe armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu

At 02:16 PM 4/7/97 -0500, you wrote: Was there something going on in Poland, Bohemia, and Lithuania >in the 1890's that made these people afraid to talk? Were they >afraid they would get someone in trouble? Were THEY the ones they >thought would get in trouble? I'd like to know what made these >immigrants so tight-lipped about their origins. > >Sandy I've talked to older family members about this (my father and his siblings---the first generation born in the US), and they've said a number things accounted for the reticence to talk about the old country. Primarily, their parents were very glad to be here. They had worked very hard to be able to come to the US. They didn't miss the old country (my gf was from Bohemia; my gm was from the part of Germany which is now in Poland). Life in the old country was hard, and laws and conditions strongly favored the landed and monied---neither of which describe my forbears. I've been told that both branches of the family deeply resented the power the upper classes had over their lives. [My uncle told me that my grandfather had even been pressured to give his last children his "boss's" surname when they were born! He refused for fear that the man would then be in a position to prevent them from immigrating.] To the ends of their lives, my grandparent's generation never got over their distrust of authority and government. Dad remembers his parents and neighbors talking about avoiding the census takers, sure that they were up to no good. My grandparents were extemely grateful to have immigrated to a country in which it was possible for them to work hard and acquire their own farm (an impossibility in their country of birth). They were so proud to have become Americans that they refused to let their children speak anything but English and considered their former lives completely irrelevant. Even my aunt, when I used to ask questions about my grandparent's lives in their former countries, put me off with, "Heavens! That was so long ago. It doesn't matter anymore. We don't have anyone left over there. They all died years ago!" In addition, the two world wars were awkward times for the many German immigrants (or German-speaking immigrants, as many Bohemians were). There was naturally a great deal of anti-German propaganda during these times, and no American wanted their loyalty called into question by appearing too attached to their former country. Shirley