Fil or Zybulak

[HelenZW]

Well I thought I'd give here a try in hopes that maybe someone can help. My brother died Mar 4, 2007 at age 55 and my missing my big bro so much has made my curiousity grow. I was wondering if anyone could lead me in the right direction to see if I could possibly find some relatives. I'm not sure where to start but my mothers maiden name was Fil and she was born in 1933 in Kiev, she came to Canada on what she beleived the name of the ship was Goya which landed in halifax Feb.16.1951 leaving Bremen Germany Jan.30.1951. My search has lead to me finding out lots of records were lost for the period 1940 to 1950. My mother remembers little of her home in Ukraine just running and hiding in ditches from the bombing, she ended up in a displacement camp in Bremen German then an orphanage till successfully getting the family that brought my two aunts to Canada to bring her. Her mother Katarina Fil died of cancer shortly after the war while in Germany and was buried there and her father Luka Fil was taken behind the iron curtin and she never knew what became of him. My father never spoke of his family (kinda like "poof" there he is, giggle, giggle). He came to Canada in 1948 and since they didn't know how to spell Petro Chi-boo-la-yuk they gave him Peter Zybulak. Thanks for any help you can give.
Helen

[Hannia]

Welcome Helen.

Happy New Year!
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How old was Mama upon arrival in Germany?

As a little girl, did she live in a village or in the city, Kyiv, itself.
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Any idea what was Maternal Grandmother's maiden name?

Have you obtained Maternal Grandmother's death certificate?
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How did Father, Petro Zybulak/Cybuliak, like be addressed? Did you
call him Tato for instance?

The surname, Czybuliak, shows up mostly in Western Ukraine - Halyczyna.

Any idea where Father and Mama married?

Any idea what camps they were in?

What records have you obtained so far?
_____________________________________________________

Luka Fil was taken behind the iron curtain and she never knew what became of him.

Hopefully these records in Kyiv Oblast Archives will be of value.

The Long Road Home: Documents of Ukrainian Forced Labor Workers Detained in Soviet Filtration Camps in Germany.

The spring of 1945 brought long-awaited victory and freedom for Ostarbeiters as the Soviet Army and Western allies stormed into Germany. After the Soviet government had decided to return Soviet citizens from Germany, a number of organizational measures were taken. From August to December 1945, the Soviets interrogated thousands of repatriates, most of whom were civilians. In the eyes of the Soviets, however, these individual had not shown sufficient resistance to their recent German "masters," and so were treated as possible enemies in disguise--foreign spies or saboteurs. The NKVD had traditionally screened (i.e., "filtered") those who presumably threatened the Soviet system before the war. After the war, Soviet authorities created a "filtration file" (a dossier by individual) for the returning Ostarbeiters. In 1955, these filtration files became part of the special record at KGB archives. This change added new obstacles to those once interrogated: new impediments were placed before repatriated citizens' ability to leave; posed obstacles to landing jobs with various institutions and enterprises; hindered access to classified materials. In fact, the country distrusted its citizens for decades "just in case."

The "filtration files" had long been kept in the archives of KGB and considered a state secret. In June 1993 the Directorate of Security Service of Ukraine in Kiev moved the filtration files--115,940 items in total--to the State archive of Kiev oblast, finally making these documents accessible to researchers.

The wealth of information contained within this collection is incomparable. All documents are originals, their authenticity (a significant issue in research of secret dossier collections of this nature), assured by the use of letterhead, official stamps, seals, impresses and certified signatures, as well as registration numbers, in/out markings, personal identification information, passport and identity card photographs, and fingerprintings. Some filtration files even include documents from various Soviet organizations and institutions, as well as materials in German or from allied armies (i.e., English, American and French).

Postcards Home: Postcards of Ukrainian Forced Labor Workers from Nazi Germany

In spring 1942, Germany began to draft occupied populations as forced laborers. SS General Sauckel, leader of the bureau in charge of this forced labor group, had visited Ukraine many times in order to establish a continuous flow of Eastern workers (Ostarbeiters) of both sexes between the ages of 15 and 60 years old. In total there were 20,000 forced labor camps spread across the Reich. The marketplaces for the sale of forced laborers (arbeitsamt) were set up in Germany, where workers from eastern countries were sold legally to the businessmen and farmers. The German authorities introduced a special brand-sign "OST" ("East") for "eastern workers," which they had to wear on the right side of the chest.

Collection R-4826, entitled "Letters from Soviet citizens deported to Nazi Germany for forced labor to their relatives in Kyiv oblast," has been in storage since 1945. During their period of residence in the Reich, Ostarbeiters were permitted to write their relatives in the Ukraine. Their letters, however, never reached their intended destinations. Instead they were directed into a secret archive and kept "under arrest" until the early 1990s, when the entire collection was finally declassified.

The collection of postcards contains the testimonies of Ukrainian, most of whom had been forcibly removed to Germany. The letters were typically written on special postcards that consisted of two parts. The first part had the address in Ukraine where it was being sent along with the Ostarbeiter's letter. The second part contains the return address filled in and was intended for a reply letter from Ukraine. There are also ordinary postcards without the additional reply card and ordinary letters on paper. Local authorities restricted the number of letters sent from Germany to two or three per month. The correspondence usually got past the German censors, even though it vividly describes the conditions in Germany, the kind of work, way of life, spare time, treatment of Ostarbeiters by the Germans, and relations with representatives of other nations (Frenchmen, Poles, Belgians, and others). Many letters are highly emotional as the writers express their longing to return home and concern about relatives and friends.

The collection's documents are organized by geographic district and settlement.

There are 26 districts in Kyiv Region and w/o knowing EXACT place of origin,
this part may be very time consuming.

Kyiv Oblast Archives Address
Derzhavnyi arkhiv Kyivskoi oblasti (DAKO)
vul. Mel'nykova, 38
Kyiv
Ukraine 04119

юПУЁБХ Б сЙПЮ©МЁ: лЁЯЖЕБЁ ДЕПФЮБМЁ ЮПУЁБХ сЙПЮ©МХ: дЕПФЮБМХИ ЮПУЁБ йХ©БЯЭЙН© НАКЮЯРЁ

Tel: (38O-044) 206-74-99, 206-74-97
Fax: 206-74-99

Director: Volodymyr Petrovych Danylenko
Deputy Director: Ol'ga Mykolaivna Luzhyns'ka

Ask the Chief Archivist if they can do the work for you or is there an
Archivist specializing in these WW2 documents, who they can
recommend.

Helen, your other alternative is to make a trip to Kyiv to do your own
research and visit a most beautiful city.

[Serhii]

Hello Helen,

The surname Fil looks a bit strange . Are you sure it is correct ? Traditionally such names are
Filonenko , Filenko, Filimonenko ,etc Could it be shortened one day ?

Zybulak looks normal , but that Chi –boo-la-yuk could be Zybuliuk as well .It will be absolutely clear if you know Ukrainian ( Ц И Б У Л Я К - Ц И Б У Л Ю К ) .

[HelenZW]

Thanks so much Hannia and Serhill for the info, i'll get my mother to answer your questions and email you back. and for serhill my mothers maiden name was Fil no shortening of any longer name and i couldn't figure out how you printed the ukrainian letters but we did spell it Ц И Б У Л Я К
thanks again so much for the help.

[Hannia]

If Cyrillic doesn't come up as it should on the post, place your cursor anywhere on the post window where it is blank.
Right click mouse once. Left click ENCODING. Left click CYRILLIC WINDOWS.

[HelenZW]

Hi Hannia, can you help me please?
Do I just keep adding to this email for you to get my answers? Not sure how it works but I do hope to get some answers to my questions
Thanks

[HelenZW]

Oh by the way who are you, I came across this site in my searches and found you do most of the answering of questions.