Birth certificate from Miertiuki

[marygaffney]

I am trying to find out more about my father and his family. He was separated from his family at the beginning of WW2 and joined the Polish Army. At the end of the war he came to Australia and settled in Tasmania. I am trying to find his birth certificate but I have no idea where to begin looking. His name is Mieczyslaw Biedka and he was born in Miertiuki, Stanislawow on November 6th 1923. His father's name was Walenty and his mother's name was Stanislawa Kazysik(?)Does anyone know how I can find any of his records?

Mary

[Hannia]

Hello Mary,

No, you have not been forgotten. It took a while to locate Father's birth
place, but I finally found it. I will explain later why it was tricky to find.
Will get back to you w/all details a little later.

[marygaffney]

Thank you so much Hannia!Look forward to hearing from you!

[Hannia]

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 Миртюки > 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

[marygaffney]

Thank you so much for the information you have found for me! I know very little about my father's family and early life in Poland and I would love to find out more.Can you tell me what LDS stands for?

[bm-21Lemko]

Can you tell me what LDS stands for?

Latter Day Saints - Mormons

[marygaffney]

Thank you for your reply. Can someone tell me how I can check the inventory which has been microfilmed by the LDS? I have tried going through the websites that Hannia sent me but I have not been successful.