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T A T R A A R E A
R E S E A R C H
G R O U P
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© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for July 2008
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Ahojte (welcome) TARG members! Here is your
TARG e-newsletter for July, 2008.
This week has been a tough one for Poles and
Slovaks who live in and around the Tatras. Torrential rains have
swollen creeks, washed out bridges, damaged roads, homes, and
businesses, stranded villagers, disrupted transportation, caused
evacuations and sadly in the village of Circ near Stara Lubovna
led to two deaths from drowning. The weather report for next
week looks good, but as I am writing this there are heavy rains
falling in much of Slovakia and there are still possible showers
in the region through the weekend. My cousin Lucjan from Polish
Spisz contacted me earlier this week and shared photos and links
that are now on our TARG website here.
We pray everyone will be okay, that the rain will stop, and the
inhabitants can begin to repair the damage done.
Reportedly the rains accompanied by strong
winds have broken branches and uprooted trees closing portions
of the roads and railway tracks from Studeny Potok to Tatranska
Lomnica, Slovakia. 36 towns and villages were hardest hit by
the storms. Among them are Stara Lubovna, Kolackov, Circ, Nova
Lubovna, Jakubany, Spisska Nova Ves, Krompachy, and Rudnany,
300 Gypsies were evacuated from Kolackov early on, but are now
back in their homes. Another 150 may still need to be evacuated
from Krompachy.
I have not heard from Helene Cincebeaux who
is over there right now conducting her latest tour. The rain
has also been bad in the Ukraine where she often has a portion
of tours. I know Helene always has a "plan B" and that
everyone will be okay and likely have a good time in spite of
the weather. But we hope it has not been too disruptive to those
visiting relatives and searching for their genealogical records.
When I get a report back from her I will share it with you. Our
prayers to all who have lost loved ones and property.
- Paul Bingham, TARG Founder
WEBSITES____________
1. TARG's official website: www.e-TARG.org!
2. Pictures and flooding coverage from Lucjan Soltys
in Polish Spisz: http://www.jurgow.pl/jurgow_powodz2008_zdjecia.html
3. Slovak flooding news coverage: http://www.tasr.sk/30.axd?k=20080724TBB00574
4. Flooding pictures from Zdiar, Slovakia: http://www.zdiar.sk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=197&Itemid=1
5. Slovinky flood video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQNjB4MRr3Q
6. Pictures from the flooded Kosice region of Slovakia:
http://www.aktuality.sk/spravy/domace/torysa-klesa-hornad-sa-stabilizoval
YOUR LETTERS___________
---Hi Paul, Joseph Hornack in
Cleveland, gave me your name and e-mail address. I am trying
to search for relatives in the northern part of Slovakia &
the southern part of Poland. My parents were both born in Slovakia,
the Orava region, but now that part is in Poland and I do not
know how to go about looking for relatives there. I was told
by Joe that you would be the person who could possibly help me.
My father, Ignac (Ignacy) Stopiak, was born in Mala Lipnica and
came to America in 1910 at the age of 18. My father had a sister,
Carolina, she also came to the US. My mother, Maria (Marie) Utrata
was born in Zubryza Gorna (I am not to sure about the Gorna part)
and came to America in 1920 at the age of 19. My mother's sister,
Cecila, came to the US earlier than my mother.
She still had sisters in Europe. I believe there names were Regina
and Johana. I find these areas on the map and they are now both
in Poland. I would like to find some cousins there and maybe
visit them. My cousin here tells me that we had a cousin there
that was a priest. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Marge
S.
***Hello Marge, Some of your questions have been covered in past
TARG e-newsletters. If you do a Google search and type "e-TARG"
and "Lipnica"
or "Zubrzyca" you will get links to those past e-newsletters
in our archives dealing with those villages. Search our guestbook,
too, as we have postings from people with ancestry from these
same villages as well. Looking in the Polish phonebook for the
area, I see an Antoni STOPIAK listed in Lipnica Mala, Poland.
The postal code there is 34-482 and his house number is 263A.
The May 2001 issue of this newsletter
has an article to help you write a simple letter in Polish and
also how to address it properly for mailing to villages over
there. - Paul
---Hello Paul, I found you on the web, trying to find anything
about the town Ciche, Poland. Your weppage is still under construction
for this small town near Torun, Poland. My father was born in
Ciche in 1908, his mother and sister had to flee during the war.
I am living for 35 years in Montgomery, AL. If you have any infomation
or photos about this town, I would greatly appreciate it. It
is impossible to find any phone number for Ciche's town hall.
Hope to hear from you. - Erika M.
***Hello Erika, There are two villages with the name Ciche in
Poland. The one on my website is south of Krakow near the Slovak
border. I do not have any information on the Ciche by Torun,
except that it is outside of our TARG sphere. If that is the
one your father came from, then I'm afraid we haven't much to
share with you. Sorry. - Paul
---Hi Paul, My name is Peter Body and I am from Lacková,
Slovakia. My Grandfather was Jozef Gallik. His brother Jan (Janos)
Gallik emigrated to USA. If somebody want some information please
contact me. - Peter Body
***Hello Peter, Yes, please send your picture of Lackova. You
can send it to: TatraAreaResearchGroup@gmail.com. I will also
put your note in our e-newsletter so those interested in Lackova
can see it. Thank you! - Paul
---Paul, In your Apr-May newsletter you had an email from a Denise
G. looking for information on her family (Vojtech Vojensky and
Maria Kalafut) from Repisko. My 2nd great grandmother was Agnes
Kalafut, born in Repisko on 10 Jan 1814. She had a sister Maria
born 23 May 1817 in Repisko. Their parents were Joannes Kalafut
(born 16 May 1782) and Sophia Mlynarcsik. I know Kalufut is a
common name in that region, but if you think this information
might be beneficial to Denise--I would be happy to trade information
with her. - Dave Asplund P.S. Enjoy reading your newsletter
and periodically scan the site for your wealth of knowledge.
***Hi Dave, Nice to hear from you and thank you for the kind
words. I will pass this along to Denise and everyone else, too,
since there are other TARG members researching there roots in
Rzepiska. - Paul
(Even more of your mail next time!)
TATRA MOUNTAINS BOOK - PART 17____________
Chapter 8 "Sudden Cross and Sorrowing Christ" begins:
The Gorals have in their fingers an itch for
wood carving, and soft fir wood lends itself excellently to the
purpose.
One of the most frequent traditional motives
in their ornaments is the 'sudden cross'. The 'sudden cross'
is our old acquaintance - it can hardly be called a friend -
the Swastika! It is historically associated with the cult of
the sun and fire, mankind's oldest religion, and is a conventional
symbol of the former. As such the swastika is common to many
races of Europe and Asia, not necessarily only Aryan. Another
decorative motive connected with the ancient cult is a circle
divided into six parts by intersecting arcs of the same radius
- often with 'beams' radiating from it. It is particularly frequent
on the doors.
The 'sudden cross', a Christianized relic of
the pagan past, was meant to be a charm keeping away all sorts
of 'suddennes', including sudden death and similar blitzkriegs.
The Goral swastika, however, for the most part faces the opposite
way to the Nazi Hackenkreutz and stands flat on its side. Sometimes
it assumes not easily recognizable forms, degenerating to a round
mark surrounded by what could be described as four flames spurting
out of it, carved out with a sharp object in wood. But it is
always the 'sudden cross' and there is no mistake about it.
Other favourite ornamental motives of the local
woodcarvers are the 'gadziks' ('gad' means reptile), a rhythmically
waving line, the 'leluja', being a conventionalized version of
the Turk's Cap Lily (Lilium martagon), the similarly conventionalized
Silver Thistle (Carlina acaulis) and the Edelweiss, though the
latter is a later addition, due to Austrian influences. A more
complicated ornament - the 'Parzenica', which may be described
as a somewhat extended heart with one or two 'eyes' in its broader
part, as in a peacock's feather, and various geometrical motives
as further embellishments. It lends itself less easily to a woodcarver's
knife or hatchet (the Gorals use a small hatchet with great skill
for all kinds of wood work), but it frequently adorns the central
beam supporting the ceiling, while it appears on most local embroideries,
brass brooches, belt clasps, etc.
(Chapter 8 "Sudden Cross and Sorrowing
Christ" of Firsoff's 1946 book will continue in our next
issue.).
CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact the TARG Editor, the new e-mail
address is: TatraAreaResearchGroup
gmail
. 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 address above, go ahead and use the
old address targ_nethotmail.)
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