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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
_______________________________© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for May-June 2003
------------------------------------------Greetings to all TARG members! I think we have all but solved the problems with lost e-mails and undelivered TARG newsletters. My ISP has finally buckled and turned the anti-spam blocking down a notch. The result is a little more spam and most all of your e-mails are now getting through. If you still get a "bounce" when you send me something, try another of my addresses. Again they are: targ_net@hotmail.com, bingham@iols.net, and pkbingham@allmail.net.
I've been very busy since the last TARG newsletter preparing for the Goral Homecoming Trip in August. I've also been editing a huge "double issue" of the CSGSA Journal "Vcera a dnes". Older TARG members know that I edit this quarterly and often put TARG articles and photos in it.
A lot of work has gone into this latest issue due back from the printers July 4th weekend. It is full of great information about travel and research in the old country. We talked a little bit about this in our last TARG newsletter issue, but this jumbo issue of the Vcera a dnes Journal goes into great detail on how to plan and execute a successful research trip to Slovakia and/or Poland. Annual membership to the CSGSA (so you can receive the Journal) is $20, but if you would specifically like just a copy of this "keeper" issue, you can send for one from their Treasurer. The cost is $5, which includes first class postage. Don't send this to me or TARG, but rather to the CSGSA, care of Celeste Sampson, Treasurer, 7311 North 69th Drive, Glendale, AZ 85303. Please indicate that you want the special "Travel Issue " of the journal and that you are a TARG member.
Thank you's to all of you who have visited our TARG website and signed in on or replied to research questions from others posted in our guestbook. Thank you's also those who continue to send in village information and photos for our TARG website. I promise to post many more of these on the appropriate village pages when I return from the August trip.
Thank you's also to those who have ordered books and maps I brought back from my March trip to the TARG region. The majority of items is sold out, with a few interesting exceptions. (I found a few more titles while cleaning. Some I thought we had sold out of. See more in the BOOKS section below.)
So far as our TARG trip in August, we have at last count 26 going. Both Helene and Jozef tell me they can STILL accept sign-ons to the trip and will not charge them any more than the advertised rate. (The only added charge may be $100 or so from Czech Airlines if they have run out of seats on the aircraft.) If you want to go, you must contact Jozef quickly by e-mail at: our-slovakia@our-slovakia.com.
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG FounderTARG MEMBER'S LETTERS_________
~~~Dear Paul: Your latest TARG newsletter inspired to write. Two small points concerning some of the issues mentioned in your members’ letters section: 1) the 1869 Hungarian census: It is true that all of the Spisz area was done but somewhere along the line the ones for Nowa Biala and Krempachy have disappeared. They are not in the FHC catalog and more importantly they are not in the archive at Levoca where the rest are. (I was there last summer). Of course, for me this is a great disappointment since these are, as you know, where my grandparents came from. 2) Concerning your answer to Samantha Szlembarkski’s message, although their families might have originated in the village indicated by their names, very often they are living elsewhere. In fact, that is where they received the name -- perhaps when they went to that other village to marry. For example, there are a number of Krempasky’s in the records of Lapsze Wyzne and other surrounding towns. There are few if any in Krempachy. I have looked at the very old records in Lapsze Wyzne -- as you know they go back to 1655 and there is a great deal of naming of these people coming from other villages without a last name. My guess is that the priest gave these names to them! Incidentally, I have found Hadzima’s (spelling that way) in the records starting in 1656. I didn’t mean to get picking about these issues but I did think that the points were worth bringing up. I look forward to seeing you on the trip in August. Chodite s Bohom. - Paul Hadzima
***Ahoj Paul, Ako sa ma's^?! Thank you for your nice letter. I had not heard from anyone in TARG before that the 1869 census was missing Nowa Biala and Krempachy! I am assuming nothing was under "Uj Bela", or "Krummbach" or any of the other previous names of these villages -- that is really strange. Your point is well taken about surnames based on names of villages of origin. And I like your explanation of how this likely happens with the town priest involved. In Samantha's case, though, I found that 30% of the phone listings in the village of Szlembark are actually for people named Szlembarski! (Maybe the village was named after them.) I very much look forward to seeing you on our trip in August, too! Glad to hear you have found more Hadzimas! I am constantly surprised at how wide a family's circle of villages gets as you go back more generations. I get people who tell me "their family came from such-and-such a village and nowhere else!" I always say: "you might want to take another look." Vs^etko najleps^ie! - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, Please keep sending me your TARG newsletter. I really enjoy it. Take care and stay safe. - Jo Myrechuck-Kuklinski
***Hi Jo, Thank you very much! (Jo and her husband Marc went with us on our last Goral Homecoming Tour in 2001 and have also contributed wonderful photos to the TARG website.) - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, I am looking for the Death Notices or church records of my grandmother who returned to Poland from the U.S. in 1907-1908. Her name was Jadwiga (Adamkiewicz from Plock) Krzywinska. Her age was about 39-40, and it was told to us that she was in a sanitarium in Zakopane or somewhere in the Tatry Mountains. Please direct me where I can receive some help in confirming her death. Thank You. - Connie M.
***Hi Connie, There are sanitariums in Zakopane as well as in Szczawnica. I'll print this for the group to respond to. (E-mail me and I'll pass it on.) Thanks! - Paul
~~~Dear Paul, We are doing very well with the Goral tour and have 26 people booked so far. There are not many seats left on the flight over for this tour, though. Please ask if anyone else wants to sign on and they will be able to get in. I will try to make reservations for them ASAP. We have to book more hotels but the most important need is to quickly book their air ticket. The best would be if they stay with the group dates (Aug 5 - 15) but if they would prefer to stay longer we can try to book some other return date. Thanks. - Jozef Hoffmann
***Hi Jozef, Looking forward to traveling with you again. I will pass this along to the group as a sort of "last call" for the August tour. Thanks! - Paul
~~~Hi Paul, Your group is perfect, I stumbled upon it and I'm glad I did. I think it will be very helpful. I am looking for Starmach, or Starmack (was changed during immigration we think from h to k) from Grozny we think. My greatgrandfather's name was John Starmack. Thank you for your help. - Margaret
***Hi Margaret, Welcome to the group and we are glad you found us, too. Starmach is a name found in our TARG sphere, but there is no listing for a town called Grozny in Poland. Could what you found actually mean "Gorzany" or "Grodzany"? I used the JewishGen at: http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm and found nothing. - PaulBOOKS AND MAPS_____________
There are yet a few titles left from the ones we brought back from our trip in March and a few extra copies I thought we had sold out of, but found when "tidying up" the office. Order now! (For photos and more detailed descriptions you can click on "Available books, maps, etc." on the TARG website at: www.mytarg.net or http://mytarg.net.)
BOOKS:
1) Exciting Slovak WWII documentary SIGNED BY AUTHOR...$19 + $4 ship.
2) Colorful 136-page Liptov Guide in English...$15 + $4 shipping (1 left!)
3) Popular 96-page "Zakopane" Goral book (Eng & PL)...$12 + $3 ship (1 left!)
4) 960-page Collins Eng-Pol, Pol-Eng dictionary...$16 + $4 shipping
5) 1232-page Delta Eng-Pol, Pol-Eng dictionary...$19 + $4 shipping (1 left!)
6) 328-page Eng-Czech, Czech-Eng dictionary...$5 + $3 shipping (1 left!)
7) MUST-HAVE 359-page Tatra region guide (in Eng)...$23 + $7 ship (1 left!)
8) 96-page lost Orava village histories...$12 + $4 shipping (1 left!)
9) 286-page out-of-print Polish TARG-area phonebook...$26 + $5 ship (1 left!)
MAPS & MISC:
1) 1:10000 excellent Krakow city map & sights guide...$4 + $2 shipping
2) 2003 Stunning Tatra calendar w/ days, months in English...$5 + $3 ship
Note: When ordering multiple items, add the highest shipping amount and then just $1 per item thereafter. For example, if ordering books 1) and 7) and map 1) you would add $19+$23+$4 for the items, then $7+$1+$1 for shipping, giving an order total of $55. Don't send more for postage than you have to! Please make checks out to "Paul Bingham" as TARG does not yet have its own bank account. Mail your order to TARG, P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033. Thank you!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 new website is at:
www.mytarg.net or also http://mytarg.net.
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