Hello, Last year, I found the grave of my grandfather's sister Ruth, who only lived for three months in 1905. She was buried in Butler, PA, and in the burial records, the cause of death was listed as inanition. Inanition is defined in my Webster's dictionary as: "1. emptiness. 2. exhaustion from lack of food." This is essentially meaning the failure to thrive. Needless to say, these losses must have been devastating for the parents. This was a new word for me, perhaps not for longtime genealogists. I came to family research recently, as an adoptee, having spent 4 years searching for my birthparents. The reunion was successful, and most family members on both sides are very pleased about these new relationships. Family research was a natural extension of this earlier search process. Best Wishes to all, Martin

For all list members who are hitting a wall when a search of the phone book brings up too many names, here are some suggestions. I wrote this for a list member looking for relatives from Haid. Just substitute your place name or county name if you are not interested in Haid or Tachau I include a series of steps and Internet searches that provided information and contacts that would be useful for finding cousins in Germany and for other family research. Karen ------------------ Jean Try the surname search at: http://www.ahnenforschung-genealogie.de/suchen1.htm The page is in German but just type in your surname and click FIND. You may get lucky. ------------------------- Addresses for contacts for people associated with the Heimat group Tachau (Haid) are at: http://www.tachau.de/heimatkreisverein/namen.html Write to the Heimatkreisbetreuer and ask if he can give you any information about people with your family surnames. It would be best to write to him in German so he does not think he must answer in English. Sometimes if they cannot find someone to read an English Email and write and answer they simply ignore it. Tell him in German that you would appreciate it if he could reply in English but it is not necessary. If you must write in English write very short, very simple sentences. One thought per sentence. Make the overall letter very short and easy to answer. ------------------ Or write to the Heimat library in Stuttgart first and see if they can find a list of residents from Haid area in 1945 in their collection. You can Email them at: Bibliothek@hdhbw.BWL.de Bibliothek im haus der Heimat Schloßsstrasse 92 D-70176 Stuttgart TELl (0711) 6 69 51 30 FAX (0711) 6 69 51 49 It is OK to write in English. Be sure to offer to pay whatever it costs to send you copies of what they find. Ask them if they can tell you how to get a book for yourself that would give you the names of everyone in the county (Tachau - Pframberg) That would at least tell you if your surname was in Haid. It would not tell you if it was found in other communities near Haid. ------------ In Rudolf Hemerle's "Heimat im Buch" I found there is a book about Haid that was published in Weiden. The GBHS library in New Ulm has a copy of that book. "Haid und das Haider Land by Arbeitskreis Haider Buch, vorsitzende Hildegard Preiss, Weiden: Selstverlag deer Heerousgeber (Hildegard Preiss). (I would look for a family Priess in Weiden and ask them if there are any copies of the book that Hildegard edited that you can still buy.) The first part came out in 1985 -- 720 pages and includes 1u places, on city. It was reprinted in 1989 and there may be one or two around somewhere. The sencond part is "Vergangenheit in Bildern" -- a picture book published in 1988 and it has 752 pages, with 17 places, 1 city. Hildehgard Preiss also published: Der Bezirk Tachau in Zahlen (various census of Tachau county). It is the results of the census in 1869, 1890, 1900, 1910,. 1921, 1930, 1939 for every community of the districts of pfraumberg and Tachau and also fot the county of Tachau. it was published in 1992, is 75 pages. Ortsbetreuers - Froetschl brothers -- named below may have copies of this book. That would give you all of the places your surnames were found in those years. There is another possibility: Heimatatlas des ehem. politishen Bezirkes Tachau-Pfraumberg (Atlas of the former political county of Tachau-Pfraumberg from a collection of old maps, plans of places with residents of the former communities by Roland Brich, Weiden... Arbeitskreis der Tachauer Geretsried Verlag G. Lewke 1973 1700 place and field plans / maps. (Look for Family Brich in Weiden to ask if they have any copies if you can't find one elsewhere.) There is also an address in Geretsreid for another "Heimatstube" and contact: : Tachauer Stube in Geretsried": Karl Kugler, Egerlandstr. 42, 82538 Geretsried, Tel. 08171/61269 That book may give you a chance to find your surnames in other places near to Haid. ---------------------- With some internet searches using Haid and Tachau (the county) I got hits that gave me the websites for the Heimat groups above. The addresses in Weiden and Geretsreid indicate that a lot of Haid folks may have resettled in or near Weiden. Look for your surnames in the phonebook there and in surrounding communities. I also found this reference: Egerländer Familienforschung. Sie war lange Jahre Mitarbeiterin der Forschungsgruppe Tachau (unter der Leitung von Herrn Oswald Frötschl)...snip This says that the family search group for Tachau was led by Oswalf Frötschl (etc.) Oswald Frotschl is the brother of a researcher I know -- Robert Froetschl. ... Robert Froetschl Eberhardstr. 36 D-70188 Holzgerlingen Germany ... http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GERMAN-BOHEMIAN/1997-11/0879829461 I don't know if this Edress is still current: froetschlrf@t-online.de Note that the postfach (zip code) in the address above may be replaced by a new one that is six numbers, no letters. There is a conversion from old Zip to new in English at: http://www.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/plz/plzrequest.uk.html In the phone book search page there is a place for the area code or maybe the postal zip code. If none of the resources above can help you locate people with your family surnames, do your search again and look for your family name in places like: Weiden Cham Furth im Wald Terschenreuth Munich Regensberg Regenstauf Bamberg Amberg Nurnberg That should narrow down your list to one that is manageable for selecting those to whom to send a letter. Karen ------------------- There is a book about Haid that was published in Weiden. "Haid und das Haider Land by Arbeitskreis Haider Buch, vorsitzende Hildegard Preiss, Weiden: Selstverlag deer Heerousgeber (Hildegard Preiss). The first part came out in 1985 -- 720 pages and includes 1u places, on city. It was reprinted in 1989 and there may be one or two around somewhere. The sencond part is "Vergangenheit in Bildern" -- a picture book published in 1988 and it has 752 pages, with 17 places, 1 city. There is another possibility: Heimeatatlas des ehem. plitishen Bezirkes Tachau-Pfraumberg (Atlas of the form political counties of Tachau-Pfraumber from a collection of old maps, plas of places with residens of the former communities by Roland Brich, Weiden... Arbeitskreis der Tachauer Geretsried Verlag G. Lewke 1973 1700 place and field plans. Look for family Preiss in Weiden and write asking if they have copies of any of Hidegard's books for sale. . By the way, many people from Haid refused to leave their Tracht behind when they were expelled. So they wore it to the collection points and on the trains to Germany. For that reason there may be more surviving examples of Haid Tracht in Germany than there are Tracht for any other area of the Egerland. The Haid woman's headdress was quite elaborately dedorated with beads and bangles and ribbons. There may be a Heimat museum brochure or another book or booklet that shows the Haid Tracht. Karen There is a

I am posting this message with an old German description of marasmus because the original sender could not get the list to accept it. After reading it I really believe that marasmus in infants today is 'failure to thrive". The children are very thin and pale and are not very energetic. My own daughter had so many food allergies when she was born that when we got her on soy milk at 8 weeks she looked like one of the starving babies in Africa according to my mother. My husband had the same problem as a baby and his life was saved when they finally put him on a diet of dextrose maltose. So failure to thrive or a marasmus-like condition can be from neglect or disease or from such things as food allergies. I doublt that mothers had anything to substitute for milk back in the 19th century. Maybe Goat's milk saved some babies. There are some interesting folk customs that have to do with newborns in old Bohemia. I know that one was that no one who visited a newborn and its mother should ever say the baby was beautiful or give similar compliments -- that could cause the baby to waste away. There were also talismans and other tokens to keep evil away from babies that were kept in their cradles and in little purses on their person. Rainer Maaz's Email about Marasumus follows. Karen In a message dated 3/19/2006 3:28:51 PM Mountain Standard Time, 550289330814-0001@t-online.de writes: I don't know what I did wrong - but this contribution was not accepted by the list: The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, vol.VI/p.595 defines "Marasmus, extreme loss of weight and wasting away, particularly when a cause cannot be ascertained and when the condition exists in an infant." It pays to have a look at a reference book of that time which explains expressions like this cause of death as it was then used/understood: The Brockhaus, Bilder-Conversations-Lexikon, Leipzig, 1839, vol.III/p.48 f says: "Marasmus, zuweilen auch >Darrsucht> und >Auszehrung aus Altersschwäche<, wird der aus einer sehr langen Lebensdauer naturgemäß hervorgehende Verfall des Menschen in geistiger und körperlicher Hinsicht genannt, welcher ausnahmsweise aber auch ungewöhnlich früh durch eine ausschweifende oder mit zu vielen, Geist und Körper gleich erschöpfenden Anstrengungen verbundenen Lebensart herbeigeführt werden kann. Beträchtliche Abnahme der geistigen und der Lebenskräfte und daher rührende mangelhafte Ernährung des Körpers, Überwiegen seiner festen Bestandtheile durch einen hohen Grad von Abmagerung und allgemeine Erschlaffung sind Merkmale dieses Zustandes. ..." M.: drying out, draining of all one's strength, extreme emaciation - an old person's decay of his or her physical and psychic situation/abilities, also with younger people as consequence of a dissolute or extremely strenuous way of living for body and mind, this considerable decrease as reason for bad nutrition and general weakening of body and mind Rainer Maaz Fulda, Germany

Hi Karen, can you tell me if there is a Heimat book for the village/city of HAID that I could possibly check out? I looked in the German phone book and found over 500 people with the surname I am researching, and that seemed like a lot of letters. So I gave up on it. Thank you Jean Horl in Fl.

Hello All. There is a way to do that. Here is how: Every district in Bohemia and Moravia that had a substantial German population, prior 1946, has a monthly or quarterly Heimatbrief or Heimatbote in which subscribers get to announce birthdays, deaths, marriages and generally keep in touch with one another. It lists names, current addresses, their house numbers back home and maiden names of the ladies. It is the practice to have each village in a district represented by a Caretaker (Ortsbetreuer) who assembles all messages for his village and gets them ready for the printing presses. He/she is usually someone from that village who knows the history of the families. So that is as close as you can get to finding where a branch of your family now lives in Germany. I am intimately familiar with two such publications, The "Mein Heimatbote", of which I am a subscriber, issued monthly by the "Maehrisch Schoenberg" district association of former German inhabitants of the district and the "Schoenhengster Heimat" by the Schoenhengstgau German Sprachinsel (linguistic Island) which includes cities and villages like Alt Moletein, a village that has Celtic roots going back to 400BC, Landskron, Maehrisch Truebau, Zwittau, Hometown of Oscar Schindler of "Shindlers List" fame and of course Hohenstadt my Hometown (born and raised).Both districts are located in Moravia. If you are looking for cousins in those two districts write me a note. We have been successful in bringing together two families. Every other Sudeten district should have these periodicals that could be contacted. The problem is finding their mailing and contact addresses. If anyone knows of such "Heimat" publications let me know I'll put together a list for posterity. Frank -----Original Message----- From: KarenHob@aol.com [mailto:KarenHob@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 1:14 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Writing possible cousins in Europe ....Bubak listings in the whole of Germany. I plotted these out on a map to see which Bubaks lived in proximity to Bohemia. Is it appropriate to send a search letter to these people, or is there a better way to locate Bubak cousins presently with us? I am open to any suggestions and insights that you have. ---------------- Back in 1993 I found over 140 ancestral surnames in the German phone book. I selected the ones that lived in Bavaria and sent out 50 letters. The letters were in German with an English translation on a second page. First it explained that I was looking for familes with ties to an ancestral birthplace in CZ (there still was a CZ then). I said that I was interested in learning about the family history and in perhaps meeting any cousins who might want to meet me. I explained who I was, who my parens were, what my work was, who my husband was and what my daughters do. (Germans like to know "enough" about anyone who is asking them for personal informatiion.) I included family tree information on the ancestors from the specific birthplace in Bohemia who came to the US in the 1869-1870 at the bottom of the letter. The data included: Name, DOB, House number, parents names, and a little bit of history about the families who came to the US (where they settled, what happened there if it was interesting). I included information going back to about 1793 with the trade of each ancestor listed (two were Richters and one was an Ortsamtmann). I made sure that part of the letter had no English in it. I started the letter with the comment that I could read German but I could not write it very well. (A friend did the German version for me.) I kept the language simple with short sentences and I kept the letter short enough to fit on one page. I was able to fit the family history stuff on the same page but would have put it on back side of that page if needed. I sent out 50 letters. I received 16 replies. About 5 of the replies cam by FAX!!! If you have a FAX number be sure to include it. Some FAXed replies may have no other contact information so be sure to keep a master list of names and addresses on letters sent out. That way you can reply to a FAX with a FAX or you can send another letter. A FAX can actually be cheaper than a letter. If there are FAX numbers given in the German phone book for any of the contacts it may be worth testing if the response to FAXed messages is better overall than the response to letters. Of the 16 replies I received there were several that were from people who had their mother's name -- they were illegitimate, some born during WW I, and their mothers had worked as servants in another household. They knew little about her prior history. However, the town in which their mothers worked were all within a few miles of my ancestral birthplace. One of the replies came in English from a man whose family had special ties to house number 21 in Mariafels although they lived in another village. They . also had family lore about ancestors who were Richters and family members who had gone to America. They sent me a lot of information and even some photos!! I scanned the photos and returned the originals although they did not ask me to do that. My sister and I went to Germany in 1997 and we visited this family in Regenstauf. It was an amazing experience!! One of the women who was born with my ancestral maiden name looked so much like my grandmother and mother that they could have been sisters! The young man who had written me had the same family profile. They called some of their other relatives living in Germany (one in Bad Windsheim) so we could speak to each other. They served us some typical Bohemian village meals and we really enjoyed listening to the sing-song dialect they spoke -- though it took real concentration to try to understand. Fortunately the one fellow could translate. It was a wonderful visit and we are still staying in touch. Since our visit two of the women are no longer able to communicate well -- Alzheimer's disease. One of them was living at the family home when we were there and her memory of family back in CZ was still clear. She did not talk much but she had her own collection of photos she wanted us to see. Not only is it worth it to make the effort to establish contact with cousins it is important to do it SOON. The people who were expelled from CZ are getting pretty old and they will not be around much longer. The younger generations who have not become active members of Heimat organizations have little interest in their roots in Bohemia -- they consider themselves German. Some may want to find their roots as they age but right now all they can tell you is that they don't know anything about "that". One reason may be because their elders never talked about it much -- it was something they wanted to forget. We all know of ancestor's whose standard reply to questions about where they came from was, "Why do you want to know that?" or another "non-answer". I don't know if that was the case with my cousins in Regenstauf. I do know that when we showed a deep interest in what had happened in Bohemia / CZ they were very eager to tell us about it. If you plan to write to possible relatives in Germany or Austria you should know that Germans in general are reluctant to speak to strangers. Austrians may be more responsive but I have no experience with them. Some of them may read you letter and pass it on to someone else who may / may not be interested in giving a reply because they preferred not to talk about the past. Some also may have been suspicious that the letters were from someone who "wanted something." One of the relatives my cousin telephoned when we were in Regenstauf said that he had also received my letter. He did not reply. My guess is that it is better to send out many letters (at $1 or more each) than to send out too few if the response I got (16 out of 50 is 32%) is an indication of what might be expected. I also think it is very important to stay in touch as much as possible with all the respondants -- even thouse who cannot help but who were willing to reply. You never know when they will visit the US and even if you cannot go to Germany to meet them you may find they are eager to meet you. My Regenstauf mother and son came to visit several times and the first thing they wanted to see was the family homestead farm near New Ulm. They came one year during the Heritagefest and that was the high point of their travels -- learning how the old traditions still meant something to German-Bohemians in Minnesota. That kind of visit could probably "loosen more tongues" about the Heimat than any other experience. Alas! The Heritagefest is no more. Karen ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Would you like to see messages that were posted before you joined the list? To browse the archives, go to: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.5/284 - Release Date: 3/17/2006 -- No virus found in this incoming message. 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In a message dated 3/19/2006 10:52:22 AM Mountain Standard Time, lindatherkela@msn.com writes: Some of the heimat books for certain areas have lists that show not only who lived where in 1945, but even where they are now (when the book was published). Some groups of villages were deported to specific places, and they still live in the places in Germany to which they were deported. When you look through some of the magazines of the German-Bohemians, you see reports from a number of specific towns in Germany -- because so many resettled there. ---------------- Linda's suggestion about using Heimat books as a cousin-search resource is right on the nail! There are two kinds of Heimatbuch. Some of them are history, culture and tradition. They will list all place names, maybe show a photo or two of each, and give a short history of the place. They might mention some key people from that place but they generally will not include a list of all residents' surnames. Some of those will have lists of WW I casualties and veterans which are as close as they come to providing lists of surnames associated with the place. Other Heimatbooks are "community" books for parishes, counties or other areas. They may have a general history of the parish (often includes a number of villages) or county covered in one section but their general organization is to have one or more pages dedicated to each place in the area covered. Some of them will have an "Ortsplan" (map of the place showing locations of house numbers) and lists of resident families in 11945 and others will not. Many of the Ortsplan found in these books are made from memory. For that reason they are incomplete -- they show only the houses that the map-maker remembers because German speaking families lived there. If there were Czech families in the place their houses may not be represented on the Ortsplan. When I wanted to find my cousins I used the Heimat book for the communities of Mies (Stribro) County. It is one of the books that includes names of residents. I already knew the place where my ancestors were born and looked at the 1945 list of residents there first. There were none with either surname I sought. So I started on page one of the book and went through every place listed looking for the surnames in each list of residents. I found one surname in about 3 places and the other in 5 places. Most of the places were within 25 km of my ancestral birthplace. When I sent out my letters I addressed each one specifically as looking for members of the family of or decendants of the name I found in the Heimatbuch. I was also careful to ask if they knew of any family ties to my ancestral house number 21 in Mariafels. Karen

....Bubak listings in the whole of Germany. I plotted these out on a map to see which Bubaks lived in proximity to Bohemia. Is it appropriate to send a search letter to these people, or is there a better way to locate Bubak cousins presently with us? I am open to any suggestions and insights that you have. ---------------- Back in 1993 I found over 140 ancestral surnames in the German phone book. I selected the ones that lived in Bavaria and sent out 50 letters. The letters were in German with an English translation on a second page. First it explained that I was looking for familes with ties to an ancestral birthplace in CZ (there still was a CZ then). I said that I was interested in learning about the family history and in perhaps meeting any cousins who might want to meet me. I explained who I was, who my parens were, what my work was, who my husband was and what my daughters do. (Germans like to know "enough" about anyone who is asking them for personal informatiion.) I included family tree information on the ancestors from the specific birthplace in Bohemia who came to the US in the 1869-1870 at the bottom of the letter. The data included: Name, DOB, House number, parents names, and a little bit of history about the families who came to the US (where they settled, what happened there if it was interesting). I included information going back to about 1793 with the trade of each ancestor listed (two were Richters and one was an Ortsamtmann). I made sure that part of the letter had no English in it. I started the letter with the comment that I could read German but I could not write it very well. (A friend did the German version for me.) I kept the language simple with short sentences and I kept the letter short enough to fit on one page. I was able to fit the family history stuff on the same page but would have put it on back side of that page if needed. I sent out 50 letters. I received 16 replies. About 5 of the replies cam by FAX!!! If you have a FAX number be sure to include it. Some FAXed replies may have no other contact information so be sure to keep a master list of names and addresses on letters sent out. That way you can reply to a FAX with a FAX or you can send another letter. A FAX can actually be cheaper than a letter. If there are FAX numbers given in the German phone book for any of the contacts it may be worth testing if the response to FAXed messages is better overall than the response to letters. Of the 16 replies I received there were several that were from people who had their mother's name -- they were illegitimate, some born during WW I, and their mothers had worked as servants in another household. They knew little about her prior history. However, the town in which their mothers worked were all within a few miles of my ancestral birthplace. One of the replies came in English from a man whose family had special ties to house number 21 in Mariafels although they lived in another village. They . also had family lore about ancestors who were Richters and family members who had gone to America. They sent me a lot of information and even some photos!! I scanned the photos and returned the originals although they did not ask me to do that. My sister and I went to Germany in 1997 and we visited this family in Regenstauf. It was an amazing experience!! One of the women who was born with my ancestral maiden name looked so much like my grandmother and mother that they could have been sisters! The young man who had written me had the same family profile. They called some of their other relatives living in Germany (one in Bad Windsheim) so we could speak to each other. They served us some typical Bohemian village meals and we really enjoyed listening to the sing-song dialect they spoke -- though it took real concentration to try to understand. Fortunately the one fellow could translate. It was a wonderful visit and we are still staying in touch. Since our visit two of the women are no longer able to communicate well -- Alzheimer's disease. One of them was living at the family home when we were there and her memory of family back in CZ was still clear. She did not talk much but she had her own collection of photos she wanted us to see. Not only is it worth it to make the effort to establish contact with cousins it is important to do it SOON. The people who were expelled from CZ are getting pretty old and they will not be around much longer. The younger generations who have not become active members of Heimat organizations have little interest in their roots in Bohemia -- they consider themselves German. Some may want to find their roots as they age but right now all they can tell you is that they don't know anything about "that". One reason may be because their elders never talked about it much -- it was something they wanted to forget. We all know of ancestor's whose standard reply to questions about where they came from was, "Why do you want to know that?" or another "non-answer". I don't know if that was the case with my cousins in Regenstauf. I do know that when we showed a deep interest in what had happened in Bohemia / CZ they were very eager to tell us about it. If you plan to write to possible relatives in Germany or Austria you should know that Germans in general are reluctant to speak to strangers. Austrians may be more responsive but I have no experience with them. Some of them may read you letter and pass it on to someone else who may / may not be interested in giving a reply because they preferred not to talk about the past. Some also may have been suspicious that the letters were from someone who "wanted something." One of the relatives my cousin telephoned when we were in Regenstauf said that he had also received my letter. He did not reply. My guess is that it is better to send out many letters (at $1 or more each) than to send out too few if the response I got (16 out of 50 is 32%) is an indication of what might be expected. I also think it is very important to stay in touch as much as possible with all the respondants -- even thouse who cannot help but who were willing to reply. You never know when they will visit the US and even if you cannot go to Germany to meet them you may find they are eager to meet you. My Regenstauf mother and son came to visit several times and the first thing they wanted to see was the family homestead farm near New Ulm. They came one year during the Heritagefest and that was the high point of their travels -- learning how the old traditions still meant something to German-Bohemians in Minnesota. That kind of visit could probably "loosen more tongues" about the Heimat than any other experience. Alas! The Heritagefest is no more. Karen

Hello, I am interested in attempting to locate some of my cousins who probably still remain in Europe. This is what I have: Peter Bubak, his wife Anna, and their five children emigrated to Tarentum, PA from Gutwasser (in the Wald near Hartmanitz) on the steamship EMS arriving on 12/15/1884. In Bohemia, this Bubak family moved around. They were in Gutwasser for just 11 years, having moved there from Krombach/Schanzendorf in 1873. They moved to Krombach (speaking German there) from Zarican, East of Czaslau in 1834. Before 1834, the family had Czech first names and lived in what I believe was a Czech area. These immigrant children went on to live a long time. Among them was Frederick Bubak, my great grandfather who died in Butler, PA in 1960. The last of these siblings died in Tarentum, PA in 1970. In the 1950s, Frederick corresponded in German with his first cousin Anna Bubak Gath, who lived in Krombach probably until the 1945 expulsion. (I have tracked Anna down in the Austrian census until 1922.) Unfortunately, the correspondence is lost, but I do have a 1953 portrait of her which was taken in Zittau, East Germany. I was told by my Aunt Charlotte (who grew up in Fred's house) that Fred would send care packages to Anna during the 1950s. I am not sure that this was really possible during the Cold war. Was it? Or perhaps she made it to West Germany? Based on Anna's 1953 photo, I'm wondering if she might have relocated in nearby Zittau, Germany after 1945. I checked the German telephone book, and there are only about 30 Bubak listings in the whole of Germany. I plotted these out on a map to see which Bubaks lived in proximity to Bohemia. Is it appropriate to send a search letter to these people, or is there a better way to locate Bubak cousins presently with us? I am open to any suggestions and insights that you have. Thank You, Martin

Hi Martin, I have had some good luck with finding distant cousins in Europe. Yes, it is possible that Anna received packages in East Germany during the 1950s. I have found out that my greatgrandmother also sent packages, and that the relatives, when found, remember this. But is Gath the surname you should be looking for, for Anna's descendants? I have had success with finding descendants with a limited surname like that. In my letters, I would say that perhaps they would pass it on to someone in their family who was interested in family history, if it is not of interest to them. Some people were excited to find their American relatives, and even had someone who remembered something about the long ago immigrant that they had heard. Other letters were thrown away, I'm sure. But I have visited some of the found relatives! It may be easier if the family had lived in one place for some generations. Some of the heimat books for certain areas have lists that show not only who lived where in 1945, but even where they are now (when the book was published). Some groups of villages were deported to specific places, and they still live in the places in Germany to which they were deported. When you look through some of the magazines of the German-Bohemians, you see reports from a number of specific towns in Germany -- because so many resettled there. Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: Martshep@aol.com<mailto:Martshep@aol.com> To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 11:10 AM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Finding distant cousins in Europe! Hello, I am interested in attempting to locate some of my cousins who probably still remain in Europe. This is what I have: Peter Bubak, his wife Anna, and their five children emigrated to Tarentum, PA from Gutwasser (in the Wald near Hartmanitz) on the steamship EMS arriving on 12/15/1884. In Bohemia, this Bubak family moved around. They were in Gutwasser for just 11 years, having moved there from Krombach/Schanzendorf in 1873. They moved to Krombach (speaking German there) from Zarican, East of Czaslau in 1834. Before 1834, the family had Czech first names and lived in what I believe was a Czech area. These immigrant children went on to live a long time. Among them was Frederick Bubak, my great grandfather who died in Butler, PA in 1960. The last of these siblings died in Tarentum, PA in 1970. In the 1950s, Frederick corresponded in German with his first cousin Anna Bubak Gath, who lived in Krombach probably until the 1945 expulsion. (I have tracked Anna down in the Austrian census until 1922.) Unfortunately, the correspondence is lost, but I do have a 1953 portrait of her which was taken in Zittau, East Germany. I was told by my Aunt Charlotte (who grew up in Fred's house) that Fred would send care packages to Anna during the 1950s. I am not sure that this was really possible during the Cold war. Was it? Or perhaps she made it to West Germany? Based on Anna's 1953 photo, I'm wondering if she might have relocated in nearby Zittau, Germany after 1945. I checked the German telephone book, and there are only about 30 Bubak listings in the whole of Germany. I plotted these out on a map to see which Bubaks lived in proximity to Bohemia. Is it appropriate to send a search letter to these people, or is there a better way to locate Bubak cousins presently with us? I am open to any suggestions and insights that you have. Thank You, Martin ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html<http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html>

Just to let all of you know that I will be away from my desk until April 4th Aida

Hello Bill. If you haven't found a volunteer to transcribe and Translate your certificate send them to me. Frank Soural -----Original Message----- From: Bill's Mail [mailto:willthon@msn.com] Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 7:58 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Old German Script I have a wedding certificate from the Bergstadt area. I need the bride's name interpreted. If anyone can help with this script please contact me at my personal email address and I will forward the document. Thanks, Bill Thoendel Hoskins, NE ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.4/283 - Release Date: 3/16/2006 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.4/283 - Release Date: 3/16/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.4/283 - Release Date: 3/16/2006

I have a wedding certificate from the Bergstadt area. I need the bride's name interpreted. If anyone can help with this script please contact me at my personal email address and I will forward the document. Thanks, Bill Thoendel Hoskins, NE

----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill's Mail" <willthon@msn.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 4:57 PM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Old German Script >I have a wedding certificate from the Bergstadt area. > I need the bride's name interpreted. > If anyone can help with this script please contact me at my personal email > address and I will forward the document. > Thanks, > Bill Thoendel > Hoskins, NE > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >

Lucie, You may find more help on a Prussia Mailing list. This lis deals with ethnic Germans who lived in Bohemia. West Prussia was a different part of Europe. A search wih: West Prussia Genealogy has a lot of good hits. Some of them are in German but many of the sites at "genealogienetz.de" are now translated to English. Check them out!! Karen Westpreußen / West Prussia Familienforschung in Westpreussen / Family Research in West Prussia (German and English), an excellent resource for West Prussian genealogy, by Hans-Jürgen ... http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/WPRU/wprus.html Putzig, West Prussia Genealogy Records 1660-1890 Extracted genealogy records from Putzig, West Prussia, Germany (today Puck, Poland). http://germanroots.home.att.net/putzig/ The Schwerdtfeger / Schwert Families --- West Prussia Resource Link... Genealogy in Historical Eastern Germany - Hauke Fehlberg's site includes resources and maps that greatly assist with family research for West Prussia. ... http://schwertfamily.net/links_west_prussia.htm PGSA - West Prussia Click on "Home" for latest Website updates. West Prussia ... Copyright © 2001 — Polish Genealogical Society of America — All Rights Reserved ... http://www.pgsa.org/wprussia.htm In a message dated 3/15/2006 4:11:12 PM Mountain Standard Time, LUJAMAKS@aol.com writes: I'm looking for for my gg-grandfather and his family. His name was Christian Schlieske b. abt. 1810 m. Caroline Sonnenberg had 10 children, only three lived past childhood they were August Philipp Schlieske b. 6 Dec 1832 - Henriette Wilhelmine b. 26 Dec 1845 and my g-grandfather Julius Herman Schileske b. 25 mar 1850 - all were boren in Krojanke Flatow, West Preussen, Pressen. Hope someone out there can help. Lucie

Didn't find anything but thanks. Lucie

I'm looking for for my gg-grandfather and his family. His name was Christian Schlieske b. abt. 1810 m. Caroline Sonnenberg had 10 children, only three lived past childhood they were August Philipp Schlieske b. 6 Dec 1832 - Henriette Wilhelmine b. 26 Dec 1845 and my g-grandfather Julius Herman Schileske b. 25 mar 1850 - all were boren in Krojanke Flatow, West Preussen, Pressen. Hope someone out there can help. Lucie

Lucie: You have to make use of the search button! upper left. Aida ----- Original Message ----- From: <LUJAMAKS@aol.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:15 PM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] ARCHIVEGRID > Didn't find anything but thanks. > > Lucie > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >

Thought I pass this on. Aida Subject: Free Site UNTIL May 31 SITE WORTH SEEING: ARCHIVEGRID. Launched by the Research Libraries Group, it contains nearly a million archival collection descriptions held by hundreds of libraries, archives and museums. A search result page includes a list of archive collections, a summary of the archives and archive locations that are represented in the collections, as well as a search box that enables the user to limit a search to a particular date range, an archive and/or the location of the archives. The description of each collection includes a title, the name of the archive, and some brief information from its description. Free access until 31 May. http://archivegrid.org/web/jsp/index.jsp

On Mar 14, 2006, at 11:00 AM, "Terry and Susan" wrote: > Hi to all > > I have recently joined the mailing list. My great-grandparents > were George Aschenbrenner and Monika Bredl. They were ethnic > Germans born in Markt Eisenstein in Bohemia, a couple of miles from > the Bavarian border. This town is now Zelezna Ruda in the Czech > Republic. George and Monika immigrated to northern Wisconsin in > 1877 with two young children. I am interested in finding out as > much as possible about life in the Bohmerwald villages. Does > anyone else on the mailing list have family roots in Markt > Eisenstein? Or Aschenbrenner or Bredl ancestors? Any good sources > of information (in English) out there? > > By the way, I have found the mailing list discussions on Bohemian > history fascinating! A great learning experience! Thanks for any > assistance you can provide! > > Susan My wife, born Lieselotte Waldek, daughter of Dr. Karl Waldek, was brought up in Markt Eisenstein to the age of 5, when they were expelled. She would have been born there, as her sister was, but the nearest hospital was in Zwiesel, Bavaria, just across the border, so she was born in Germany (actually, she would have been born in Germany anyway, since Markt Eisenstein was in Germany, thanks to Munich, when she was born!) The best source of info on Eisenstein is from a friend of ours named Wudy, who lives in Zwiesel, but unfortunately he is not on the internet. There is also a book - “The Hilgart Family, from Eisenstein, Bohemia, to Northern Wisconsin — A Three Hundred Year Journey,” written by the cousins Albert R. Hilgart and Cheryl Hilgart Grohn, that might be useful. My wife's family, however, is not from Eisenstein - her father's people are from Winterberg and her mother's from Pisek. Dan Killoran

I believe that you will find an article about Markt Eisenstein in an old issue of the GBHS newsletter. Check out their website -- search with GBHS to find it. Karen