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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for December 2002
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Zyczenia S'wiateczne (Season's Greetings -- PL)
Vesele' Vianoce a St'astny' Novy' Rok! (Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! --SK)
Wesolych S'wiet i Szczs'eliwego Nowego Roku! (Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! -- PL)
Spokojnych i radosnych S'wiat Bozego Narodzenia (A Peaceful & Joyful Christmas -- PL)
Christos rozhdajetsja! Slavite Jeho! (Christ is born! Glorify Him! -- Rusyn)
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Hello TARG members! Happy Holidays to all of you! With the new year
coming again, I took the opportunity to look back. Last year our TARG
website wasn't up yet. Since then we've had two, the latest having had over
1200 visitors. Last year the TARG surname database stood at 14,000 name
occurrences entered, it's now over 25,000. And now we are planning an August
2003 trip back to the old country. Things are sure looking bright! There is
still plenty to do, and we'll get to it for sure. Thanks for all of your
support and encouragement. Looking forward to another wonderfully prosperous
new year with all of you!
-- Paul K. Bingham, TARG Founder
P.S. -- I'm going to exceed my normal four pages with this issue by quite a
bit. There's just too much to share. But then it is the Holidays, after all! Enjoy! -pb

WEBSITES__________
The URL of our TARG website is: www.mytarg.net. Visit any time, and I would
love to hear your suggestions and encouragement. Here are more interesting
websites to check out:
1) www.slovakweek.com. Long-time TARG member Bob Williams passes this
website along where you can find out lots of up-to-the-minute Slovak
news in English. Thanks, Bob!
2) www.languages-on-the-web.com. Has all sorts of phrases and things
translated side-by-side!
3) www.evertype.com/alphabets. The Alphabets of Europe by Michael Everson.
4) http://users.aol.com/WSCaswell/x-euro.htm. TARG member Noreen Hasior
shares this site that has a lot of Christmas and New Year Greetings in many
languages.
5) www.tccweb.org/holiday.htm. Has the traditional Rusyn Holiday greetings.

YOUR LETTERS__________
~~~Dear Paul, Maria Planietova of Trstena has contacted me after reading
my piece in the TARG newsletter. She has been researching the history of
Jews in Orawa, and we have begun swapping emails about what we each know.
Just thought I'd let you know of a meeting of two with a common interest
through your newsletter. Thanks. - Gary Luke, Sydney, Australia
***Hello Gary, What wonderful news! I have been amazed at how many people
are finding TARG now that our four years worth of newsletters are on our
website and services like Google have indexed them. A simple text search
of any village name, etc. brings TARG up every time now. So happy you have a
new connection! - Paul
~~~Dear TARG, My family is from the Orava, SK & Nowy Targ/Jablonka, PL
area. After moving to America, the Ulmaneks moved to the Gallitzin, PA
area. The surnames I am researching are: ULMANEK, PILCH, POTOCEK,
KADLUBEK, NOWAK/NOVAK. WEGRZYN & KUBOVCKIK. I invite you to visit the website I maintain at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gallitzin/.
There you will find an Ulmanek family chart, old letters and family pictures. - M. Bayliss
***Thank you! I'm glad you found us and I will pass your note along to the
rest of the group. - Paul
~~~Dear TARG, I am looking forward to signing in on your website's Guest
List when it is up and running. My grandfather's name was Stefan Monka
and he came to the USA in 1892 from Kacwin, PL. I also understand that
there are Monkos living in Zdair, SK. Perhaps your site will help me trace
my roots. I have no living relatives that have any information. - John L.
Monko
***Hello John, There are indeed MONKO and MONKA surnames found in Kacwin and
Zdiar! Others in the group share this surname, so I'll post your note and
let them come to you. Also keep in mind that with the border change in 1920
many of the Slovaks changed the spelling to preserve the pronunciation of
their surname in Polish. MONKA is one of those names. It now uses the Polish
"A" with the J hook under it, which carries a nasal "ong" sound. So you may
find your name listed as MAKA! - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I had sent some pictures of Lechnica and Haligovce some time
ago. I know that in at least once instance the email bounced due to size
issues. However, I am not certain that my resends were successful. Just
wanted to make sure. Thanks. We appreciate your efforts. - Dan Z.
***Hi Dan, Yes, I did get your beautiful photos safely. Thank you! But
alas, I am only up to the "B"s on village names for adding them to the
website. As such Haligovce and Lechnica are still a ways off -- sorry! My
greatest apologies to the poor soul who is waiting for me to post
Zybrzyca Gorna's! I'll try to work a little faster on these!:)) - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, Could you please send my name and e-mail address to Marion
Monkvic and the Mr. Lawrence you mentioned last time. Three out of 4 of my
grandparents also come from Velka Frankova, SK. Thanks. - Ed Zadjura
***Hi Ed, I went ahead and forwarded your message to them as you've
requested. - Paul
~~~Dear Paul, You mentioned in this newsletter that you have the parish
records for Nizne Lapsze photographed. Are the photos available on the
internet somewhere? Thanks! - Bill Nalepka (who's father and predecessors
will be in the records!)
***Hi Bill, No, they are a collection of about 400+ 5"x7" prints at the
moment. But I do have a brand new scanner and new Adobe software...and it is
my intention to scan them and post them on the website. What are your
ancestor's names and record dates? Maybe I can look something up for you
when I get a moment. - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I received my November newsletter and noted the letter from
Eleanor Kehoe. Do you have an e-mail address for her? Or could you
forward mine along to her? I am descended from one of the Bolczar
families of Zalesie, SK (then Gibel) and have been poring over the LDS
filmed
records for several months. I don't think all the Bolczars were related
(except perhaps beyond the range of the church records), but it is
certainly intriguing. - Bob Shive, St. Charles, MO
***Hi Bob, I have forwarded your e-mail to her as you've requested. - Paul
~~~Dear TARG, GAVEL is the surname I'm researching from Lesnica, SK area. On
baptism records from the LDS films for Lesnica I have found two cities that
I can't totally decipher. In the 1878 Roman Catholic church record,
the city of mother's origin appears as "Bujsocz" and "Bufsicz", elsewhere
as "Scienko, Bufsicz." In the 1895 Rom. Cath. record father's city of origin
appears to be "Kroszcienkomis" (Latin maybe) or "Krosienko" in another
place. These are on Lesnica baptism records. Now I'm trying to find the
exact location for Kroscienko. I believe it's north up the Dunajec River
north of Lesnica - correct? Found several Kroscienko websites on the
internet (all written in Polish and no maps.) I really appreciate the
considerate help. - Patricia Gavel
***Hi Patricia, I think perhaps I can help. Kroscienko, Poland
(pronounced crow-sh-CHEN-co) is a Goral village north-northwest a few
miles down the Dunajec River from Lesnica, Slovakia (also a Goral
village). Both are in or near the beautiful Pieniny National Park -- the
area is truly wondrous. If you would like to learn more about the Gorals
and see a map of the area visit our website at www.mytarg.net. You will
want to go to the higher resolution maps and chose map "I". Kroscienko is
in the upper left corner of the map in grid 1B, Lesnica is in grid 2B of
the same map. I was looking through a printout of the new 1869 Census for
Slovakia just microfilmed by the LDS and realized what you had as
"Bujsocz" and "Bufsicz" was probably "Buglocz" and "Bussocz", the old
Hungarian names for the Slovak villages of Buglovce and Busovce! (They
used to write the first of a double ss with a symbol that looked like an
"f" -- it's a common mistake when reading old script.) Anyway, I'm sure
these are your villages and they are within our TARG study area. If you
would like to order the LDS films for the 1869 census (Hungarian) the
roll number is Buglovce: 2162281, Item 4 and Busovce: Item 5 (same roll).
I believe the parish records for these villages have also been
microfilmed, but you will have to check the LDS Family History Library or
www.familysearch.org for those roll numbers. Happy hunting! Oh, BTW, I
looked in my copies of the Polish and Slovak phonebooks for this area and
while I do not find any GAVELs listed in Lesnica, there are many GAWELs
(Polish spelling) in Kroscienko. - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I've sent a photo for the TARG site. Also, here are some
newsletter & website suggestions: 1) In the "YOUR LETTERS" section of the
newsletter. Could you add a blank line or some other delimiter between
your reply and the start of the next letter? Would make easier reading.
2) In the August 2001 issue at end of article "THE SPISSKA KAPITULA &
KRAKOW ARCHIVES" mentions a historic map with all of the parishes...status
of getting on website?
3) Been going thru reading back issues of the newsletter...get error 404 not
found for: ZARP e-newsletter #5 (July 1999).
4) On the Trips Page is there a missing photo directly under "Wed, Aug 6"
? There's a blank area on the left with text for the 6th thru 8th on right.
***Hello Michael, Thank you for your photo and constructive suggestions. I
have asked for this help. I'm a one-horse operation when it comes to most of
the website...so another pair of eyes really helps. Here are answers to you
questions:
1) We have lots of TARG members who are on simple Juno or WebTV and get
text-only e-newsletters. Several have asked me to keep it to 4 pages,
which I try to do (except this issue!). Those who don't have e-mail and get
copies mailed to them save stamps, too. That's why I leave out the blank
space as much as possible. But I'll experiment with some other schemes to
show the next letter in that section with more clarity. (See use of
~~~Questions and ***Replies this time!)
2) A link to this map has been on the "Regional Maps" page...obviously
hiding from you! You can also go to: www.mytarg.net/Maps/spiskamap.html.
3) Thanks for the heads-up. For some reason that July 1999 issue hadn't been
uploaded. It's on there now.
4) The photo of a green hillside covered with tall haystacks comes up on
my screen. If you're not getting it, it could be your browser. The actual
photo is at: www.mytarg.net/Images/TatrasfromBukowina-sm.jpg. Thanks
again for the critique. - Paul
~~~Dear Paul, What books do you recommend on the Goral culture? - Bill L.
***Hi Bill, Well, I recommend "Tales of the Tatras" by Kazimierz P.
Tetmajer, translated into English by H.E. Kennedy. Hardcover: 247 pages,
Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group; ISBN: 031321462X; Reprint edition
(December 1979). Barnes & Noble has used versions online at www.bn.com for
as little as $12. Also, I like "Podhale: A Companion Guide to the Polish
Highlands" by Jan Gutt Mostowy, et al (November 1997) Hardcover: 276 pages,
Publisher: Hippocrene Books; ISBN: 0781805228. Amazon has them for as little
as $7 used, $19.95 new. - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I am researching the Pruzinsky family that is said to have
come from a town called Lubatina. I've tried my LDS Family History
Library Catalog. Most times I can find it there, but not this time. It's
supposedly near the Autro-Hungarian border. Can you help? Also searching
for Family names of: STANCTZ, PETRASCZ, ORECHOVA, REVUCKA, BARTOVA, GESO, VLACHOVA, KRAJECOVA, FILOVA, PUNKOVA, ROHAR-PALI & HUDECOVA in Spanie Pole, Rybnik and Bratislava. Many thanks, Dawn Perry-Taft
***Dawn, Your village of "Lubatina" is surely what is known today as
L'ubotin in Saris county, Slovakia. It is near the Polish border and also
near the town of Plavnica where others have been finding some of your
surnames. You might check the site www.tccweb.org as they have
information about villages in this region. - Paul
~~~Hello Paul, Thank you for your kind help. You've been the more
helpful. Thank you for answering our S.O.S. and giving us wonderful
tools. - Dawn Perry-Taft
***Hi Dawn, You are very welcome. I can't claim complete credit for any
wisdom passed on to you. Last year when I was over in Slovakia I picked
up a thick book that lists all the village names and their variations
over several centuries. The book's scant $6 sales price has paid itself
back many times over! Joy operates the tccweb website and I head a group
for this neighboring region in northern Slovakia (although there is some
overlap). We each try to help those researching family names find the
right sources. I'm sure she will give you some great insights. Her
website is also very informative. If you'd like to visit our website
(Plavnica, for instance is right on our border), then please feel free
to. The site is new and not everything is up yet...but we do have lots of
detailed maps up and other things you might also find of interest. Our
website URL is: www.mytarg.net. We are planning a ten-day trip to
northern Slovakia next August. We will be in Stara L'ubovna for a day,
which is very close to Plavnica and L'ubotin. The lady running the tour
will have drivers, cars and translators available for people to "break
away" from the main group and visit ancestral villages. She also has a
Slovak genealogist on staff that locates lost relatives prior to going
that you can then have a chance to meet while there. If you have
never had the experience of visiting your family village(s), it is a
marvelously joyous experience. You can visit the "Trips Page" on the
www.mytarg.net website for more info. - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I was doing a Google search on "SISITKA" and stumbled upon
the "lost members list" in one of your back issues. Well, you found me!
And just a few years later! The Sisitka's are from the Vah River Valley
just east of Martin in the small town of Ratkovo, SK. - Ken Sisitka
***Hi Ken! Welcome back. Your village of Ratkovo is just on the far SW
fringe of our TARG sphere, between Martin and Ruzomberok, SK. Glad to
have you with us again! - Paul

SPECIAL TARG TRIP IN 2003____________
During the Holidays is a great time to discuss what might be the
most exciting trip your family could ever take together! The Third Goral
Homecoming Trip to Slovakia & Poland with Helene B. Cincebeaux and lots
of other TARG members is planned for Aug. 5 thru Aug. 15, 2003. Cost is
just $2,299 per person (covers nearly every cost, including round trip
travel from New York.)
Helene has worked to try and design a tour especially for us TARG
members. We will be in all of the old Slovak counties of Spis, Liptov
and Orava and in Poland's Spisz, Podhale and Orawa regions, too. We will
also travel a day to Krakow, Poland. We will have side trips available
to archives and other destinations of interest. As usual, Helene will
have drivers and translators to let you break away from the group to
visit your ancestral villages or new-found family while we are close. We
will end the trip by spending time in Bratislava where we can finish
shopping, send packages and take in the historic sites. Instead of
"hotel-hopping" every night, Helene has wisely chosen three great places
near our tour areas so we can spend more time enjoying and less time
packing for the next destination.
We will spend 2 nights in Zdiar, Slovakia (in the Beliansky Tatry
Mts.), 3 nights in Zakopane, Poland's mountain jewel, and 2 nights in
Martin, Slovakia (close to Orava and Liptov). Then we will head for
Bratislava, Slovakia's historic capital, where we will spend our final
two nights. If you've gone with us before, you will want to go again! If
you've never been, you don't know what fun and life-changing experiences
await you! A fuller itinerary and other information is available to you
on our Trips page on the TARG website at:
www.mytarg.net/Trips.html. Go have a look!

KOLEDY (CHRISTMAS CAROLS)__________
This is the time of year when Christmas carols are being sung in the old
country. Though a Polish and Slovak version of "Silent Night" is sung, a far
more popular carol known as "Gdy sie Chrystus rodzi" (When Jesus is born in
Polish) and "Spas Nas Narodilsja" (Jesus Came from Heaven in Slovak) is
sung. Here are the words, and also websites where you can go and find
versions of each!

__POLISH__
Gdy sie Chrystus rodzi
i na swiat przychodzi,
Ciemna noc w jasnosci,
promienistej brodzi.
Aniolowie sie raduja,
pod niebiosy wyspiewuja:
Gloria, gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo.

__ENGLISH translation from the Polish__
When Jesus is born,
Bringing us God's light.
Brightness of the morn,
shines in deepest night.
Angels cheering all night long,
Filling Heavens with their song:
Gloria, Gloria, Gloria,
In excelsis Deo.
www.ipipan.waw.pl/~klopotek/events/koledy.htm
www.eurofresh.se/spiewnik/koledy/gdysiech.htm
www.leonkonieczny.com/mypolishmidis.htm
www.henrydoktorski.com/soundfiles.html

__SLOVAK__
Spas nas narodilsja,
V t'il'i Boh javilsja.
Chot' On nevmistimyi,
V jasl'ach pomistilsja.
Chory anhelski spivajut.
Narozdennaho vitajut'.
Slava! Slava! Slava!
Slava v vysnich Bohu.

__ENGLISH Translation from the Slovak__
Jesus came from heaven,
Adam's Son through birth.
Just a lowly stable,
A King's palace on earth.
Choirs of angels joyfully sing:
Welcome to the new-born King.
Glory! Glory! Glory!
Glory to God in the highest.
www.iarelative.com/xmas/spasnas.htm

And here's Silent Night:

__POLISH__
Cicha noc, swieta noc,
pokoj niesie ludziom wszem,
a u zlobka Panna swieta,
czuwa cala usmiechnieta.
nad Dzieciatka snem,
nad Dzieciatka snem.

__SLOVAK__
Noc ticha, noc svajta
I svitia i cista,
Slavit Radostnyi anhelov chor,
Daleko ohlasajet prostor.
Nad usnuvsej zeml'i,
nad usnuvsej zeml'i.

__ENGLISH translation from the Polish__
Silent Night! Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon godly tender pair.
Holy infant with curly hair,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
http://beatchen.www1.50megs.com/gwara/koledy/PiesniRama.html
http://ingeb.org/spiritua/gdysiech.html

VCERA A DNES_____________
Vcera a dnes means "Yesterday and Today" in Slovak. This is also the
quarterly journal I edit for the CSGSA. There are lots of Slovak things in
each issue, Polish as well, and always TARG items, too. If you would like to
subscribe to this quarterly and support the CSGSA it's still only $20
annually. Visit their web site for more info at:
www.rootsweb.com/~azcsgsa/index.htm.

GEDLINK________
www.gedlink.com GedLink allows free signup and 5 searches per day
(although you can get around this to some degree). "Privileged Member"
signup fee is $25 per year (going up Jan 1st) and allows 1000 per day.
Database is at 100,000 surnames (of all nationalities). I did find a couple
of people to e-mail.

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: www.mytarg.net. Thanks for participating!
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