Nicholas, You will need more information to trace your Jozefowo, a very popular Polish place name. I am familiar with a place still bearing this name to the south of Suwalki. I think you know that http://mapa.szukacz.pl/ gives about 30 locations in Poland today. http://www.jewishgen.org/communities/loctown.asp gives more options to choose from around Eastern Europe, e.g. Belarus which Tina has mentioned, Ukraine, etc. You really will need some more information to know where to start looking for records for your family in Europe. Which records have you already obtained? Many Church books have more information than ends up on certificates and some kept wonderful registers of families and where they had originated. Kind regards, Bronwyn. On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Nicholas Prosinski <nprosinski@gmail.com>wrote: > Hello everyone: > > My great-grandfather Leanord was from a town called Jozefowo. I've learned > that there are many towns that are named Jozefowo in present-day Poland, > and > most of them are located in the east. However, I am faced with a dilemma. > The census records in 1920 indicate that his place of birth was Poland. > However, in the 1930 census, his birthplace was listed as being in Russia. > I know that the borders in that part of the world have changed greatly, > especially considering that in 1920, Poland and Russia were at war. The > question I have is this: are there places in Russia (or Belarus) that > might > have formerly been Jozefowo back in the day but have since been renamed? > Is it also possible that my last name could have originally been Russian > and > then Polonized? > > Thanks in advance for your help, > > Nicholas Prosinski > > -- > C/4C NICHOLAS PROSINSKI, AFROTC > Delta Flight, Eagle Wing II, Detachment 610 > nicholas.prosinski@und.nodak.edu > nprosinski@gmail.com > 406-696-0026 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Bronwyn and Tina: I was thinking that the birthplace might be in Belarus. The only things I have available to me right now are copies of the 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses. There are a few family records that I have, but they have very little useful information and do not go beyond my great-grandfather. Like I said, in one of the censuses the birthplace was listed as Poland; the other listed it as Russia. The other family records also list both Russia and Poland as his birthplace. I do know that Belarus was once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was also a part of Russia for many years. At the time of his birth in 1884, it would have been the Russian Empire. However, the borders changed frequently and I can't pinpoint the exact site. Thank you for your input, Nick On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 2:07 AM, Bronwyn Klimach <bronklimach@gmail.com>wrote: > Nicholas, > You will need more information to trace your Jozefowo, a very popular > Polish > place name. I am familiar with a place still bearing this name to the > south > of Suwalki. I think you know that http://mapa.szukacz.pl/ gives about 30 > locations in Poland today. > http://www.jewishgen.org/communities/loctown.asp gives > more options to choose from around Eastern Europe, e.g. Belarus which Tina > has mentioned, Ukraine, etc. You really will need some more information to > know where to start looking for records for your family in Europe. Which > records have you already obtained? Many Church books have more information > than ends up on certificates and some kept wonderful registers of families > and where they had originated. > Kind regards, > Bronwyn. > On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Nicholas Prosinski <nprosinski@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > Hello everyone: > > > > My great-grandfather Leanord was from a town called Jozefowo. I've > learned > > that there are many towns that are named Jozefowo in present-day Poland, > > and > > most of them are located in the east. However, I am faced with a > dilemma. > > The census records in 1920 indicate that his place of birth was Poland. > > However, in the 1930 census, his birthplace was listed as being in > Russia. > > I know that the borders in that part of the world have changed greatly, > > especially considering that in 1920, Poland and Russia were at war. The > > question I have is this: are there places in Russia (or Belarus) that > > might > > have formerly been Jozefowo back in the day but have since been renamed? > > Is it also possible that my last name could have originally been Russian > > and > > then Polonized? > > > > Thanks in advance for your help, > > > > Nicholas Prosinski > > > > -- > > C/4C NICHOLAS PROSINSKI, AFROTC > > Delta Flight, Eagle Wing II, Detachment 610 > > nicholas.prosinski@und.nodak.edu > > nprosinski@gmail.com > > 406-696-0026 > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- C/4C NICHOLAS PROSINSKI, AFROTC Delta Flight, Eagle Wing II, Detachment 610 nicholas.prosinski@und.nodak.edu nprosinski@gmail.com 406-696-0026