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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for July 2002
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Hello and welcome to our new TARG members this month. We are happy you
found us!
Now for an updated report on our TARG website. You can still visit the
website at: www.2msrv7.com/~ancestra/Home.html. But because I found out it was on a server in Alexandria Egypt run by an Egyptian architect named Muhammad
Noman, instead of in Clifton, NJ as I had thought, I have decided NOT to add
any database and guestbook features, but rather to change servers altogether. Thanks for all of your letters of support. It seems you all think this is the wisest thing to do.
After a very long search I have now arranged for a site through
CyberPixels (USA based) and there will very soon be our new TARG website at:
www.mytarg.net. I will hopefully have everything ported over to the new site
by the end of the coming weekend, so keep checking! This has taken most of
my effort this month, so this issue of the TARG Newsletter will be a short
one. Please forgive!

-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG Founder

WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT_____________
1) Soon to be online: the new TARG website at: www.mytarg.net!
2) An excellent map resource for the must-have 1:100,000 "Podrobny" Auto
Atlas of Slovakia is OmniMap:
http://www.omnimap.com/catalog/int/65-9588.htm.
3) The CIA has a World Factbook online. The site address for Poland is:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pl.html.
4) Author Megan Smolenyak's website: www.honoringourancestors.com.

LETTERS_______________
--- Hi Paul, I enjoy the TARG newsletters. Please change my e-mail address
to our new address at adelphia. Thank you very much. - Diana Hepner
***Hello Diana, No problem. Thanks for alerting me of your address change.
Some people forget...I get about a dozen Newsletters returned every month as
undeliverable. I also get letters months later from some asking: "Why aren't
you sending me my newsletters anymore?" - Paul
--- Hi Paul, Please resubscribe me for the TARG Newsletter. I received it
awhile ago...changed email addresses and never hooked up again. My husband
and I are looking forward to visiting Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine in August
with Helene Cincebeaux and Jozef. In recent months, we've discovered family
in the Ukraine and Naparawa/Jordanow, Poland with our family surnames
Wojdyla and Szwed. Still hoping for a contact. - Thanks, Jan Augusta
***So jealous you get to go! I do wish I could go back this year, but will
have to wait until 2003. Have a wonderful time and please tell us about it
when you return! - Paul
--- Hi Paul! I received the Polish phonebook yesterday. Thank you so much. I
really wasn't expecting anything quite so extensive. It has so many areas in
it. I have already found a few people in it. Everything was as you said it
was. The price was comfortable and the fast shipping and delivery was great.
Great doing business with you. By the way, I really enjoy all your TARG
newsletters. Keep them coming. - Joyce
***Hello Joyce, Thank you for your kind words, and I will try to keep the
information flowing. From rising postage rates to moving to fear of the
Taliban, it's proving to be a quite a challenge! - Paul
--- Hi Paul, Thanks for the latest issue. I took the liberty of posting it
on the Osturna website. Thanks also for mentioning the DNA article re: our
Osturna study. Isn't it a great time to be a genealogist?! Take care, Megan
Smolenyak
***Indeed! - Paul
--- Dear Paul, Greetings. Please keep me on your mailing list as plans
develop for your 2003 Trip which you described in your recent newsletter.
Since my paternal grandparents migrated from Spis and my maternal
grandparents migrated from Orava (the villages now in Poland) such a trip
would be of interest to me. Sincerely,
Frank Luther
***Hi Frank, Thank you: I'll keep you posted. - Paul
--- Hi Paul, I feel I must tell you now and then how much I enjoy your TARG
electronic
newsletter. At my home computer I am not able to download some other large
documents but your newsletter come through fine, don't change this format.
The Slovak Institute in Cleveland Ohio will soon have its own website. I
will keep you informed as to its progress. This institution was opened in
1952 and is holder of many books, etc.. It is located in the Benedictine
Abbey of St.Andrew Svorad. Sincerely, Joe Hornack
***Thank you, Joe. I will keep the format -- others like it, too. I look
forward to more information on the Slovak Institute's website. - Paul
--- Dear Paul, I have been in email contact with a cousin in Poland I met
via an internet post of my mother's maiden name. Because of him, I now know my
great-grandfather's name. This info just came to me - and may be of help to
other seekers:
"A. Schiffer was born in Widentahl in Germany. This is a very small town in
Sudety mountains (East Germany) near Czech Republic border. The nearest city
is Chemnitz. After 1848 (this period of time we call in Europe "Spring of
the nations") Adam Schiffer and probably many villagers from Widentahl (like
many other Germans) moved (resettled) to Poland. Of course, not only one
village moved to Poland but hundreds of thousands of people moved there and
to Russia & Slovakia. This action was called by the Germans "Kulturtrager"
(meaning in English "bringing culture").The family moved to the section,
considered at the time Galicia (Austrian Crownland), later becoming Poland's SE corner." - Alicia Batko
***Hi Alicia, Thanks for the info...I will pass it on. - Paul
--- Hi Paul, No, I do not think that you are not overreacting to the fact
that the host site in located in a place where information will be available to those who may or may not be friendly to our country. Actually, I thank you for being
safe rather than sorry. Much happiness in your new home, best wishes to you
and your family. - Noreen
***Thank you so much, Noreen! - Paul
--- Dear Paul, Thank you so much for posting the Dursztyn photo taken by
Marc Kuklinski. I can just feel how it will be walking down that street. I
have so many questions when I get there! The church is charming and I'd like
to know if they keep old records of the people who lived there. Also,
questions about the houses. I know, have patience, but whatever I can
discover ahead of my trip will help in my search!
Thank you again, Paul. - Sylvia Cooke
***Many of us know what pre-trip excitement is all about. You're being
normal! Thanks for the kind words, and thanks much to our superb
photographer Marc! - Paul
(So many more letters, no room this issue! - Paul)

SPECIAL TARG TRIP IN 2003!!!____________
Now that Helene B. Cincebeaux has left for this summer's tours in
Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic (and even the Ukraine this year), it is
time to announce that we will be planning a NEW TARG tour to the Tatras in
summer of 2003! This tour will be similar to those in 1999 and 2001, but we
are determined to have it be the best ever in 2003!
Helene and I have already been e-mailing back and forth. She is over
there with a tour group now and will be checking out new destinations for us
to visit and new places to stay in the Tatra region both in Slovakia and Poland. She is looking into the famous Zywiec Festiwal, home of famous beer and also the
birthplace of Goral culture. There are likely many other new historical,
genealogical and cultural locations we want to look into. If you know of
something we should check out, or if you are contemplating going with us and have a "request", I'd like to hear it! Please let me know by contacting me personally at bingham@iols.net.

POLISH PHONEBOOK COPIES___________
In May I wrote about the new Polish law which will strip all address
information from future phonebooks. Some of you contacted me about obtaining
photocopies of the 287-page 1998 South-Central (Nowy Sacz) phonebook which
contains all of the Polish TARG villages. I have two of these copies left.
The price is $26 plus shipping. (If you are interested, please contact me with your mailing address and I can get you an exact total. For the slow "Printed Matter" rate it runs around $4 and for Priority (2-3 days) it's about $11.)

CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact TARG the e-mail address is: TARG_NET@hotmail.com. Our mailing
address is: TARG, P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033. Our website is
temporarily at: www.2msrv7.com/~ancestra/Home.html. Thanks for participating!
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