Hi I am very confused even with all the wonderful assistance from this group....:) I found a distant relative arriving in 1921. He gave Szerenye as place of birth but now (1921) it is in Czechoslovia instead of Hungary. How can I find where this town/village is now? Is it Hungary, Czech., Ukraine or ?? Hope someone can help me further. I have already ordered a birth record which cost me quite a bit from the Hungarian Embassy with no luck and don't want to go this route again until I am sure I have the right country...but I cannot figure it out..:( Thank you and thanks to those who have offered help already...:) Marie

BSKTBTQUE@aol.com wrote: > Hi > > I am very confused even with all the wonderful assistance from this > group....:) > > I found a distant relative arriving in 1921. He gave Szerenye as place of > birth but now (1921) it is in Czechoslovia instead of Hungary. > > How can I find where this town/village is now? Is it Hungary, Czech., > Ukraine or ?? > > Hope someone can help me further. I have already ordered a birth record > which cost me quite a bit from the Hungarian Embassy with no luck and > don't want > to go this route again until I am sure I have the right country...but > I cannot > figure it out..:( > > Thank you and thanks to those who have offered help already...:) > Marie Not an easy task, Marie, what you are trying to do! :-( From your first query I assumed you are looking for a surname in present day Hungary. Be very careful with the spelling: one or two letters make a big difference. Now to your ship manifest: true, the place of birth is given as Szerenye. But when you look at last residence it's written Szernye. So let's assume we are dealing here with Szernye (Szerenye did not exist). The problem is back in 1921 there were three Szernye's in Czechoslovakia: Alsószernye, Felsőszernye and Szernye. The last one, plain Szernye, belongs today to Ukraine. Knowing that your relative was a Jew it would be safe to assume he came from Szernye - and not the others. But before you go and spend money on trying to obtain birth certificates, do you research here and ascertain that he indeed comes from there. Find his Social Security sign up sheet, marriage record (if any) and the Census of 1930 can also corroborate his place of birth. Maybe a death certificate can help as well. Do you know of any descendants? They might have old letters, pictures or other documents giving hints about him, his parents and whereabouts. Sorry for the misleading information I provided you earlier. The way you phrased your question - and the word itself - led me to search for present day Szernai/y's in Hungary. Joe Equinunk, PA - USA jjarfas@ezaccess.net --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by ezaccess.net]