artsyoma

Well, I'm back in the Forum asking a different sort of question. I contacted a genealogist who is very helpful and lives in Slovakia, but he lives really far from Levoca/Propad area. He said that he will need to be compensated for the long drive and must spend the night in a hotel---380 Euros! Then, to do the actual guide/research at the State Archives in Levoca, it will be 14 Euros an hour. Does anyone know someone in that area who speaks English and can meet us in Levoca to research? It would also help if that person can accompany us to Hranovnica, which is where my grandmother lived many years ago. Thanks folks!

iris1745

Hi; You can sign up at no cost on this site and post questions. I probably would not talk money, but you could ask if there is anyone to meet you in Levoca to do research. But first, I would post any information you know about your grandmother and see if that brings you any information. [Ican tell you, on this site, from Poland, a person gave me 50 potential living relatives, names and addresses.] When you look at the site, you will see there is a lot of activity. So click on 'post new messages' and you can register at no cost, to then post messages. Richard www.genforum.genealogy.com/slovak/all.html

tomboy

Do you speak/write ANY Slovak? If so, I have a suggestion.

tower

suggest you keep this on one thread

artsyoma

To Tomboy: I don't speak any Slovakian at all! It looks like Slovakian words have a lot of "y"s at the end of some of their words that seem similiar to English. My grandmother married in New York to a Russian man (my grandfather). I am only 1/4 Slovak. I want to see her village because I feel like I need to know the life she lived.

To Tower: I'll try next time to keep things on one thread. I saw your photos of Hranovnica--looks like a very small, old village--I can see why my grandmother needed to leave and see the world. Thanks again for your kind help.

tomboy

My suggestion was to do what I did 5 years ago.
I wrote a simply-worded letter in English to "Starosta: (Slovak town)" that simply said "please give to any relation of ......... .........., who moved to USA" or words to that effect. Attached was a more detailed letter to anyone who knew of my ancestor family. I figured the worst that could happen would be no reply, and I'd be out $1+ postage.

About 6 months later, I got a 4 page reply in English from a 2nd cousin there. It took that long because my cover letter had to be translated, then the attachment had to be translated, then he had to write the letter, then it had to be translated into English.

Met him the following year.

artsyoma

@tomboy: I am going to go to the Family History Center and order some records and then see if I can get the names of my grandmother's parents. I met a nice helpful lady on the Slovak Forum and she said she would help me translate a small letter to some of the people she and another man found in the Slovakian phone book. I think there are some people that are related to me who still live in the little village. By the way, was it a good experience to meet your 2nd cousin? Just wondering.

tomboy

I met the family in Bardejov, by asking girl at tourist info bureau to telephone them to tell them I was in Slovakia and would like to meet them.

The 30 year old daughter spoke some English, perhaps the equivalent of after 1 year of high school language class.

The 25 year old son spoke no English, nor did the father and mother (my age).

Wasn't the verbal interchange of my dreams; I'm waiting for the Google Android automatic simultaneous translating machine.

artsyoma

@Tomboy: I'm wondering if it is worth the research and writing letters to the possible distant relatives. I don't think people will remember some ancester from 100 years ago. I only have one photo of my grandmother which is part of her naturalization papers and taken age age 46; she left at age 19. At least I know where the village is. It would be nice to find the family home, but I don't have an address. If I could be Slovakian; then it would be fun finding people. I still will go do a little research at the Family History Center, but I won't knock myself out. Thanks for the information on your experience. Gloria

tomboy

Probably wise.
However, I could see resemblances. The 30 year old daughter looked like photos of one of my aunts when she was 30. The father looked quite like a photo of my grandfather, and a little like me.
The inability to converse deeply was a disappointment.

Surprisingly to me, even though "genealogy" didn't seem to be something they identified with, the father did seem to have a pretty good grasp of HIS great-grandparents and below, and what happened to them.

artsyoma

Where is Bardejov located? Is it a small community with little exposure to different languages? It looks like Hrnaovnica is really a small village, but fairly close to a larger city--Poprad. Also, I hear that many older generation people speak some German. I will be travelling with my husband and his mother who both can speak German. I just don't want to get my hopes up too much. I would like to know the history of the people in that area---why so many immigrated when my grandmother did in 1914 months before the war started. Well, I'll just give the Family Center a try. Thanks for your input. Gloria

tomboy

Bardejov is closer to the Polish border, and east a bit.
I'd heard they spoke German also. Didn't find anyone who did.
My relatives didn't. It's 2 hrs from Hravonica. Link:
http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Itine...routeConso=5.6

I sense you're not facil with viamichelin. It can be very helpful.

You can learn a lot of the history of that area just by Googling what you want to know. Here's just one history link:
http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/eceu...a18671918.html

tomboy

Bardejov's population is about 35,000.
We encountered no apparent German speakers, altho I'm sure they exist.
We had no problem ordering in English in our restaurant, nor in booking the main hotel in town.

artsyoma

Tomboy: Thanks for the links. I do enjoy the Michelin link. I think we will use that link while travelling. We have a possible new development--some Swedish friends may meet up with us in Poland. His father was polish and he knows some words. I think that will also help. Also, now I have a lot of tools to work with! Thanks again, Gloria

iris1745

artsyoma; Good downloads of information on some of the cities in Poland. Richard www.inyourpocket.com

artsyoma

Thanks Richard. We would like to visit Auschwitz also. I suppose we need to get reservations for that tour?

Lexma90

I just noticed this thread. We stayed in Levoca two years ago, and stayed at the excellent Hotel U Leva (http://www.uleva.sk/). In a poor city, their hotel was comfortable, clean and spacious. The hotel is also offers meeting rooms and the like - they're doing everything they can to make a living. The owners speak excellent English, and were interesting and informative. I would highly suggest that if you stay in Levoca, that you stay at this hotel. I'm sure the owners would be very helpful for you and your genealogy searches.

Interestingly in terms of your story, as we prepared for our trip, we found out that a German/Austrian friend of ours, whose father had served as a very young man in the German army, was German but from near Levoca - there was at that time a relatively large population of German people in that part of Czechoslovakia. As I recall, many Germans were forced to leave Czechoslovakia after WWII, so if there are fewer German people in that part of Slovakia now, that may be why.

artsyoma

@Lexma90: Thanks for the suggestion about the hotel. We don't need to stay in a fancy hotel; just one that is clean and safe. When we were in Prague five years ago, we stayed in the center of town in a clean, safe hotel and were happy. Thanks for the link and the info about German speakers.

tomboy

The Bardejov hotel is very similar to how Lexma90 described the Levoca hotel, right down to the English-speaking staff.
Not fancy; I recall being pleasantly surprised the room cost about $50, which was less than we had planned on paying at a pension.

artsyoma

We like to stay in safe, clean and friendly hotels that are simple and inexpensive. It gives us more to spend on good food! Thanks tomoboy for that suggestion also. I went to the Family History Center yesterday and was impressed at how easy it was. I ordered the microfilm of data from Hranovnica during the years I needed and it will be delivered in a month or so. They have microfilm readers that will help me look for the info. I will not expect too much; mainly would love to see the area that she lived in and the beautiful villages and mountains. Thanks again, Gloria