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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
_______________________________© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for October 2004
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All Saints' Day greetings to our TARG members! In Slovak that's "Sviatok vsetkych". In Polish it seems to be "Swieto Zmarlych," "Wszystkich Swietych," and "Zaduszki" – the latter meaning "All Souls' Day".
Lots to share with you, but first some news: I was chosen to be one of the speakers at the 4th Annual Czecho-slovak Genealogical Society International (CGSI) Winter Symposium to be held February 11 & 12, 2005 in Orange County, CA. I hope some of you can attend -- I always so look forward to meeting TARG members in person!
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG FounderSPECIAL TARG WEBSITE DISCUSSION______________
Wishing I could get more done on the TARG website, I have been frustrated last week and this with several international computer "hackers" wanting to disable it. If you are a frequent visitor to the website, you know parts or all of it has been down lately. All of these hackers have been getting in via our Guestbook page. In particular is a "Paolo" or "Rebeca" from Spain who posts a message which starts out with: "greetings and coongratulations for this great informations." Then using some trickery he gains entry and posts his own lousy graphics on the home page. A quick “Google” search reveals he’s up to this on at least 600 other sites worldwide.
Other hackers disable the Guestbook. If this happens again let me share some "backdoor" links you can use to get around this. To get to the "Home Page" use: http://www.mytarg.net/index2.html. To see the Guestbook use: http://mytarg.net/Guestbooks/index.php. To add to the Guestbook use: http://mytarg.net/Guestbooks/addentry.php.
The last time I had to fix the Guestbook I lost the messages posted after October 17th. Sorry, there was no way around it. As much as I dislike the idea, we may have to eliminate the Guestbook feature if this continues. I have already shut off the "Comments" feature. I don't
want to have to issue passwords or make everyone fill out long forms like other sites do to gain access to the rest of it. The idea is to share and communicate freely. So we'll see if my new security measures implemented behind the scenes work or not.
I have added a separate "Guestbook Postings Archive" containing the text of Guestbook postings through 10-17-04. Follow the link on TARG’s Home Page or go to:
http://www.mytarg.net/Resources/GB_archive/Postings_thru_10-17-04.html. And if you spot a non-genealogy related (and usually silly posted message), let me know and I'll erase it. Likely it's a hacker trying to gain access again. Thanks!WEBSITES____________
1. TARG's website is: http://mytarg.net (or also www.mytarg.net).
2. TARG "Home Page" backdoor: http://www.mytarg.net/index2.html.
3. All Saints/All Souls Day explained (English & Polish): http://www.polishnews.com/fulltext/swieta/2001/swieta2.shtml
4. Feb 2005 Symposium info: www.cgsi.org.
5. Maryellen Tobiasiewicz sent this interesting website for research:
http://www.chipublib.org/001hwlc/litpolamerica.html
6. "Old Hungary Bookstore" at: http://www.dholmes.com/rm-book.html
7. Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Eötvös University, Hungary
main website: http://lazarus.elte.hu/
8. Mariusz Koniarz sends this URL for his Gliczarow, Poland site: www.gliczarow.info (with an English version, too!)YOUR LETTERS_________
---Hi Paul, my 'On Naming Names' article looked good in the last newsletter and I hope it helps some of the 'newbies' who read it to realize that surname evolution and corruption are very common problems for all of us. And thanks for the kind words of introduction to the item about me. I have another manuscript in preparation about ship passenger lists. -Bill
*** Dear Bill, thanks so much for your contributions. I will make room for your further submittals as they are always well-written and helpful. -Paul
---Hi Paul, Neat article by Bill Serchak last issue. I wrote and told him what a great job he did. Also, nice maps last issue. What is the source in case we want to document them? Take care. -Karen M.
***Hi Karen, To answer your map question, cousin Lucjan sent me the URLs for these. The older maps are off the website of the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Eötvös University, Hungary. Their main website is: http://lazarus.elte.hu/. The Malopolskie GIS maps are from the Marszalkowski Administrative office's GIS Department for Malopolskie Province. No website, but their exact mailing address is:
Departament Spoleczenstwa Informacyjnego
Urzad Marszalkowski Województwa Malopolskiego
ul. Basztowa 22, 31-156 Kraków
Poland
And, yes, it was very nice to hear from Bill again! He has since written and sent me some more genealogy-related items and offered to help do a Trybsz page for the TARG website, too. Thanks for e-mailing him a thank you! – Paul
---Hello Paul, It look likes your TARG webpage was hacked again. Probably you will have to ask your hosting provider to fix some security at the web server. I hope to put some new pictures on my webpage soon. - Lucjan
***Hello Kuzyn, Yes, We have had three hackers in the last ten days. They keep getting in through the Guestbook and causing trouble. I've been in contact with the support staff at my host server and they've been helping me out. -Paul
---Dear Paul, Some time ago, you said you would welcome information about Lubicke Kupele, Slovakia for the TARG website. I started typing it, but it’s too extensive, so I opted to Xerox and snail-mail it to you out in sunny California. Best wishes, Noreen Hasior
***Hi Noreen, Your wonderful packet just arrived! Thank you! -Paul
---Dear Paul, is it possible that you would have the Catholic church name and address for Tvrdosin, Lokca, Dolny Kubin and Namestovo, Slovakia? I assume there is only one parish per town. Also, would you have the cemetery location for each? Thanks for anything you can provide. -Zelda T.
***Hi Zelda, I don't have a book that lists all of the churches and their records in Slovakia, although one is available. It is a 541-page book called "Cirkevne matriky na Slovensku zo 16-19 storocia" (Church Records of Slovakia from the 16th-19th Century) by Jana Sarmanyova. It's a terrific reference listing the whereabouts of every Roman Catholic parish register, Lutheran parish register, and Jewish community record for all the towns and villages in Slovakia. It's in Slovak, but easy to use. If you are going to the main LDS Genealogy Library in Salt Lake any time soon they do have a copy of this book. The call number is: 943.73 K23. (Sorry, there is no microfilm or fiche version yet!) If you wish to buy the book you can find it at the "Old Hungary Bookstore" online at: http://www.dholmes.com/rm-book.html. Price is $40 plus shipping (air=$16; boat=$8 ) Since all of our TARG villages in Slovakia have been microfilmed, your four have been, too. These Slovakian Church Records on microfilm are available for rental at your nearest LDS Family History Library. I’ve listed your four towns below with the Slovak town name first, then its Hungarian equivalent, the type of church record, the years covered and the film numbers needed for ordering. See www.familysearch.org for more details.
1a) Slovakia, Tvrdosin (Hungary, Árva, Turdossin) Parish Records years 1686-1906, 2062267, 2062268, 2062269
1b) Slovakia, Tvrdosin (Hungary, Árva, Turdossin) Jewish Records years 1851-1923, 2062269
2) Slovakia, Lokca (Hungary, Árva, Lokcza) Parish Records years 1741-1898, 2002461, 2002462, 2002463
3a) Slovakia, Dolny Kubin (Hungary, Árva, Alsó-Kubin) Parish Records years 1672-1898, 1923107, 1923108, 1923109
3b) Slovakia, Dolny Kubin (Hungary, Árva, Alsó-Kubin) Evangelical Records years 1784-1897, 1923109, 1923110
3c) Slovakia, Dolny Kubin (Hungary, Árva, Alsó-Kubin) Jewish Records years 1850-1942, 1923110
4a) Slovakia, Namestovo (Hungary, Árva, Námesztó) Parish Records years 1757-1895, 2003299, 2003300, 2003301, 2004578
4b) Slovakia, Namestovo (Hungary, Árva, Námesztó) Jewish Records years 1771-1852, 2062256
4c) Slovakia, Namestovo (Hungary, Árva, Námesztó) Jewish Records years 1850-1921, 2004578
If all you want is the names of the Roman Catholic churches in these towns and their mailing addresses, here's what I found in my own reference books:
1) Tvrdosin's Holy Trinity RC Church (built 1766):
Rim. -kat. farsky urad
Vojtassakova 543
TS 02744 Tvrdosin 1
Slovakia
Tel #: +421 847 32 22 26
(An old wooden Gothic church called "All Saints Church" also exists in town and is now a historic monument having been built in the late 1400s. The cemetery is there also.)
2) Lokca's Church of the Holiest Trinity (RC, built 1665):
Rim. -kat. farsky urad
NO 02951 Lokca
Slovakia
Tel #: +421 846 912 26
3) Dolny Kubin's Church of St. Katarina (RC, built late1300s):
Rim. -kat. farsky urad
Kohutov sad 1753/2
DK 02601 Dolny Kubin 1
Slovakia
Tel #: +421 845 86 56 42
4) Namestovo's Church of St. Simon & Juda (RC, built 1656):
Rim. -kat. farsky urad
Cyrila a Metoda 1
NO 02901 Namestovo
Slovakia
Tel #: +421 846 52 23 82
As for the other cemetery locations, they are most often adjacent to (or very close) to the parish church in each village. Any local can usually point you the right direction. However, Dolny Kubin and Tvrdosin are bigger and probably have multiple cemeteries; certainly for the various religions in town. They may be shown on good maps of the specific area. Our Tatra & Podhale map (See: http://mytarg.net/Resources/Books/Maps%20Page.html) offered on the TARG website show many of them. Turn to Slovak "hiking maps" available at the "Old Hungary bookstore" for fringe areas not covered by the Tatra & Podhale map. I hope this information helps you. -PaulJIM DOWNS BOOK NOW IN SLOVAK____________
---Hi Paul, the State Department published a Slovak translation of my book, "World War II: OSS Tragedy in Slovakia", with Magnet Press. The embassy scheduled a reception on August 27 at the Carleton Hotel in Bratislava which was spectacular. Slovaks certainly know how to produce elegant and delicious dishes. The ceremony, led by Scott Thayer, the embassy Charge d'Affairs, was a "book launch." Slovakia, having no navy, launches new books with a bottle of champagne. This means you stand there in front of the congregation and pour a bottle of champagne over a copy of the book on a tray. No kidding! We also did it in the museum in Banska Bystrica.
There were a number of WWII partisans freedom-fighters present. We also visited the family who hid Captain Edward Baranski in 1944 (details are in my book). Kathy Baranski Lund, who was four then, was with us. The family is so proud to have played a role in the uprising and in aiding the Americans.
During my conversations I learned some interesting things. First, Emil Tomes, who was born in Cleveland and who had been taken back to Slovakia by his parents before the war, may have been a double agent. One of the professors claimed that Tomes' father was under the control of the Gestapo. The OSS had recruited Emil. He might have been the one to betray Baranski.
I also met a former partisan who recalls being trained by the OSS in the use of the bazooka. He had a great photo of himself and a comrade holding machine guns which had been given them by the OSS. The comrade was arrested and executed by the Communists in 1950 and this gentleman, now 80, spent ten years himself in prison.
Through the arrangements of the embassy, I presented copies of my book personally to both the Slovak President and Prime Minister. They were very cordial. The embassy arranged for our party to visit Divancy, north of Levice, near where Lt. Jack Shafer's B-17 crashed in October, 1944. It was their 13th mission on Friday the 13th. The entire crew survived including his radioman, Theron Arnett, and his flight engineer, Edwin Zavisa.
Five villages had a joint celebration in a hunting lodge near Divancy on August 28. They were surprised six weeks ago when they were informed a bus load of Americans, including the widow of Theron Arnett, would show up for the ceremony. It was a thrilling event, high in the hills in beautiful country. There were old Partisans in uniform everywhere, each wearing rows of medals on both sides of their tunics. One of our group called them walking wind chimes. The mayor was beside himself, and of course, they had prepared an exquisite meal for us. The whole event was absolutely wonderful. Regards, Jim Downs
PLEASE NOTE: We still have a few copies of Jim's book (autographed by him) for sale on our TARG website. It's a gripping true story from our TARG area -- a must read! -PaulPODHALE BOOK TRANSLATION - PART 6______________
A well known poet Kazimierz Tetmajer had written many fabulous books in the Goral dialect. There is an oft-quoted fragment of one of Tetmajer's poems entitled: "On the Stony Highlands" that typifies the dialect's qualities for its Polish readers.
The ever increasing presence of tourists and the fact that many summer resorts, spas and hotels have been recently built here have greatly improved the quality of life for the people in Tatra Highlands. On the Rocky Highlands every year the mountaineers try to cultivate an oat, but the harsh climate does not always permit its growth. Therefore, the main source for food for the people are potatoes called "grulami" or "mountain potatoes".
Often times when the potatoes ran out and hunger looked the highlanders straight in the eyes, the women would bake a bun made from this oat and called it "moskaliki" (a Goral form of oat cake). When the farming could not feed a family the mountaineers would look for temporary jobs in the country lowlands, or sometimes outside of the borders as far as Hungary.
(Part 7 of 12 in our next issue.)CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact the TARG Editor, the new e-mail address is: editor-AT-mytarg-DOT-net. Our "snail" mailing address is still TARG, P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033. use it for sending in orders or photos and anything else you want to share with the group. (If for some reason you are unable to contact us at the new editor-AT-mytarg-DOT-net e-mail address, go ahead and use the old address. It is still: targ_net-AT-hotmail-DOT-com. ONE LAST NOTE: I would like to respond to one “Shirley Jones” regarding her Dziubas and Gal ancestry from Nowy Targ and Bialka, but she did not include her e-mail address. Shirley, please contact me with it! Thanks! –Paul
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