Historical backgd is very important to family tree.
From late 18th century to 1919 what is Western Ukraine was
the Historical Province called Galicia/Halyczyna (in Ukr) > Austro-Hungarian Empire > Hapsburg Family. From 1919-1939 this area became a part of Reconstituted Poland, which technically had not existed for the previous 125 yrs. Post WW2 the Polish/Kresy Territories in Ukraine, became a part of SSR Ukraine, under Soviet domain until 1991 when Ukraine became independent.
_________________________________________________
As told by old Ukrainian resident...
I took very little liberty w/the translation, so some of it comes across
a little clumsy.
In 1923 Reconstituted Poland instituted a specific policy re
resettlement of Western Ukraine. For all intents and purposes
there were five colonies created in Western Ukraine.The settlers
were demobilized soldiers, ex-navy, and lastly anyone Polish who
wanted to resettle and gain property. By 1939 there were 200,000 new Polish settlers throughout the villages and 100,000 throughout the
towns and cities.
Wies/village Miertuki was the Polish name for this tiny Ukrainian
hamlet . There were only four Ukrainian families living there in
1933. They were occupied w/their land and worked part-time on
the local railroad and in the nearby flour mills.
The Polish govt had redrawn districts and regions during
the Interwar Period. Miertuki continued to be located in the Stryj
POWIAT/administrative district-county, but this part of the Lwow wojiwodstwo/region became Stanislawow.
In 1925 there was a population of settlers, who were govt workers
and military reservists and they were granted lands into perpituity
in nearby villages, because there wasn't enough in Stryj and other towns to provide them a living.
On the parcel of land where Miertuki/ was located
there appeared buidlings characteristic of Eastern Poland.
This was a new era w/new laws regarding agricultural economy
and taxes for the Ukrainian villagers. The new colonists
lead a new way of life. Their children attended elementary school
in Slobitsi and middle school in Stryj. This was quite a burden
for the Stryj Administration. Additional taxes had to be levied on the Ukrainian population. Meanwhile the Poles continued their relationships w/family near Berlin, Warsaw and Dresden. There were even some that spent quite some time in Belgium and France.
In 1941 the Germans invaded this region and most young men were
taken as Ostarbeiter/forced laborers. The village was left half empty.
In 1945 The Soviets mandated the resettlement of Poles back
to Poland & in their place replaced them w/Ukrainian deportees
from Poland. Several Polish families returned to Poland. Others
took the path from Miertiuk to Siberia to Argentina to Poland.
_______________________________________________
Today selo/village íÉÒÔÀËÉ > Stryjskij (Stryj) raion/district >
Lvivska (Lviv) oblast/region > Ukraine, latest zip 82463.
The filial Roman Catholic Church was in Stryj. LDS has filmed some
very old records, but I doubt that you will find Father's roots there.
You can always tell me otherwise.
Father's Baptismal Certificate.
PolishRoots - Parish Records Index
HalGal: Home Page of the PUR Collection
Genealogy of Halychyna and Eastern Galicia