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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
_______________________________© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for July 2004
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Summer greetings TARG members! I must ask where July went to, for it has
gone by so quickly. Our oldest son is getting married next weekend and we
have been busy. My family and I will be out-of-state for that, then
preparing for a reception here in California a week later. I wish I could
get to everyone's e-mail and great TARG-related things to share, but will be
somewhat constrained until mid-August. Please forgive!
We have loads of websites to share this time, as well as other good
things. But the rest will have to wait until next time, I'm afraid.
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG FounderWEBSITES____________
1. TARG's website is: http://mytarg.net (or also www.mytarg.net).
2. Here's a nice Lopuszna church website:
www.man.poznan.pl/~marcinp/pages/drewniane/lopuszn.html
3. A website to show how similar Zywiec costumes are to Gorals (Remember,
early inhabitants to the Tatras came from Zywiec.):
http://lo-zywiec.pl/~mateo/reg/tradycja_en.php?d=stroje&id=2#galeria
4. Treasures of Podhale site: www.nt.nowotarski.pl/
5. Another area website (in English): www.katalog.nowotarski.pl/index.php
6. Area real estate site in English:
http://english.oferty.net/domy_sprzedaz/malopolskie/
7. Jan Gondowicz's Mountain site: www.ifj.edu.pl/~gorski/mountain.htm
8: Rudolf Kukura's Spis, SK site with tons of great pictures and info: www.spis.sk/en.html (For photo locations you must go to the SK version. Place your mouse pointer over any picture and a little box then comes up with the location.)
9. In Polish....colorful Poronin area site: www.poronin.pl/ includes: Poronin, Bustryk, Murzasichle, Mala Ciche, Nowe Bystre, Stasikowka, Sucha & Zab!
10. For map of Zakopane and surrounding region:
www.malopolskie.pl/region/powiaty/tatrzanski.htm
11. For map of Nowy Targ and surrounding region:
www.malopolskie.pl/region/powiaty/nowotarski.htm
12. Four Liptov & Orava travel sites:
A) www.liptovtravel.com/ go to "Region Liptov" for map & click to enlarge.
B) www.oravaweb.sk/orava.php or also http://www.orava.sk/
C) www.ubytujsa.sk is working on an English version...check back to see when done.
13. Slovak panoramas -- site in English:
www.panorama.sk/index.asp?kam=/go/titulka.asp&lang=en&sv=2
14. Almost 100,000 surnames from Slovak cemetery inventories listed:
www.cemetery.sk/english/
15. History of Galicia: www.polishroots.org/history/galician_research.htm
16. Geografyczny translation guide: www.polishroots.org/geo_maps.htm
17. Great new Podhale site: www.bik.pl/tomek/nepomuk/podhale.htm
18. List of museums in Nowy Targ region: www.mcit.pl/kulturalne.html#19
19. Cemetery references in Dursztyn, Kacwin, Zakopane, Nowy Targ, and
Lopuszna: www.kpb.nowytarg.pl/z_zycia_kola.html
20. Poles from Passiac, NJ: www.polishroots.org/paha/passaic_nj.htmYOUR LETTERS_________
---Greetings, The TARG site is wonderful! Might I be included to receive the
newsletter? I am researching the following in my family tree;
SUGA from Totfalu/Slovenska Ves, Ruskinovce
KLIMEK from Obiza, Jasov(ska), Bela/Spisska Bela, Ruskinovce and Vrbov
ZASTKO from Szabo and Totfalu
LAUFIK from Totfalu
HECTELY from Totfalu
BLASCAK from Zsdjar
BANKOS(H) from Totfalu/Slovenska Ves
I am aware there are variations of the spelling of some of the surnames
and villages. The years are from 1815-1930. My data comes from church records
(US), ship's lists, family oral history, Slovak church and civil records. I'll gladly share all of my information. This summer I did visit Slovenska Ves, Spisska Bela, Ruskinovce and Vrbov and would go back to Slovakia in a heartbeat.
Of special interest to me is the history of the village of Ruskinovce. My
grandmother Maria Klimek Suga was forced to leave Ruskinovce by the Russians
(WWII) before they leveled it. I have been able to find a picture of the
village before the war. It is now a Slovak military installation, which we
got permission to go see. The villagers have built a small chapel where the
village stood, and I understand there are plans to rebuild the village in
the near future. I would like to keep up with that. A few wildflowers is
what I have from the grounds my father walked as a child.
I'm also wondering about Obiza and the kind of town it was 1860-1885, and
how is it a man becomes a "mercenary" and leaves Obiza, Galicia to go to
Totfalu (from church records). I was impressed with the variety of
occupations (chariot maker, pharmacist, municipal building keeper, stone
crusher) listed in the mid 1800s. Knowing the environment our ancestors
lived in is as interesting as the names and dates.
I look forward to the newsletter, sharing information, and asking
specific questions as they come up while researching in the TARG area. Your answers
in the newsletter are really informative and make for a great newsletter.
With appreciation for the work you do, June Luecke
***Dear June,
Thank you for the nice comments about our journal. In looking up your
Slovak villages and towns in my Názvy Obcí, Slovník Obcí,and other assorted
books, I found the following information:
1) Jasov, Slovakia: In old Abov county, dates back to 1234. Also once known
as Iasov, Jaszo and Joss. The first church was built in 1255. Famous caves,
named for the town are nearby.
2) Ruskinovce, Slovakia: In old Spis county, started in 1277. Was also known
as Ruzkyn, Rusquinium and Rissdorf. There was once a RC church to the
Medonna. The church's famous statue of the Madonna (done by Master Pavel in
1510) was transferred to the church in Slovanska Ves.
3) Slovenska Ves, Slovakia (pop. 1700): In old Spis county. Dates back to
mid-1350s. Also known as Totfalu, Szepestotfalu, and Windschendorf. It was
the first settlement on the route from Spisska Bela to Spisska Stára Ves at
the Polish border. A RC church of the Virgin Mary's Purification dating
back to the late 1300s was built having a Gothic alter. There is a famous
old schoolhouse from the late 1700s and many protected Ash trees in the town also.
4) Spisska Bela, Slovakia (pop. 5800): In old Spis county. Here meet the
roads from Kezmarok, Stára Lubovna and Lysa Polana. Settlements here date
back to the Older Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. In 1263 a new town sprung up
when Hungarian King Belo IV invited Saxon colonists to resettle the area
destroyed by the Tartars.This was known at various times as Bela,
Szepes-bela, and Berl. They prospered with two fairs per year, and were
known for their craftsmen: tanners, furriers, shoemakers, and linen tailors.
Fine flax linen from here traded as far away as Turkey. In the 1700 and
1800's the area became known for its extensive sheep herding. In 1778 the
first cannery opened as well as a distillery which made the famous brew
"Bela's Borovicka". Later came an iron smelter, a sawmill and a starch
factory. In 1895 the town was connected by rail to Poprad. Two Baroque
burger houses survive from the late 1700s as does the RC church of St. Anton
the Hermit, parts of which date back to the 1200s and contains many valuable
paintings. A museum of J. M. Petzval (a famous mathematician from Spisska
Bela) has many artifacts from WWI and historical advances in photography.
5) Vrbov, Slovakia: In old Spis county, dates back to 1251. Also known as
Werben, Menhardi Villa, Menhardsdorf and Maennersdorf. It was also settled
by Germans and owned by Kezmarok. It was important for trade between
Kezmarok and Poprad. The town's Baroque RC church dates back to 1539. Part
of the old medieval stone wall and city gate remain.
6) Zsdjar (now Zdiar), Slovakia (pop. 1300): In old Spis county, is higher
in the Tatra Mountains near the Polish border. It dates back to 1282, and
was also known as Zdyar, Zar, and Morgenroethe. It was first settled by the
Walachians who inhabited a valley formed by burning a portion of the thick
forest. Today it is a typical Goral village known for its costumes and
annual folk music festival. The RC church to the Visitation of the Virgin
Mary dates back to 1831. - Paul
P.S. - Obiza and Szabo I'm having trouble finding. I don't believe Szabo is within our TARG sphere. Obiza might be somewhere in Poland, but I haven't found it yet.PODHALE BOOK TRANSLATION - PART 3______________
"During World War II the Tatra Highlands, with its maze of ridges and
valleys, became an area of fierce guerilla warfare between the Nazis and the
Polish and Slovak partisan fighters, which included many Goral. They were
supported by Soviet paratroopers, but the fighting was intense. Many Goral
died in those fights. Their names, and many times pictures, can be seen
today on the headstones in the villages around the Tatra mountains.
"In January and February of 1945 the Soviet army drove out the remaining
Nazis. Nowy Targ and Czarny Dunajec were the first to be liberated, then
Zakopane and Jablonka. From this point on, though, life in the Tatra
Highlands changed, as the area was soon under Soviet domination.
(Part 4 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.
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