Free help for finding family

[LailaRo]

Dear Vera,
I need some help or advice in searching my great grand mother's family documents . Her name was Teresia (Lina) Felzinger or Fletinger (my grand-mother pronounced Felzinger but I found in her marriage certificate her mother's maiden name written as Lina Fletingher. ) Of course it might be the mistake of the Romanian clerk that misspelt the German name.
She was born in Czernowitz in 18781-1873 , her father was in the building guild and when she was about 16 years age she eloped with a Bukowinean man and established in Romania. One of her sisters was named Gisela and was married with a German director in Astra Romana, Ploiesti, Romania. This is all I know about my ancestors.
I am interested in finding data about her family in Czernowitz and what happend with the other members of her family. I wonder if they were expelled in 1940 in Germany or in other locations.
I found a man Felzinger in Kazachstan on the internet, but cannot contact him as I cannt find an email address.
Thank you in advance for yr help.

Laila
Bucharest, Romania

[Hannia]

Laila,

Vera is not the person that can help you.
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Most Bukowina, Romanian and Bessabian Germans were evacuated in appx 1939/1941. EWZ Records contain the details of who, when and where. I think you will need to examine EWZ51.for Bukowina.

LDS has filmed German Metrykal Records for Chernivtsi, the regional center.

Are you fluent in German? Following should provide you w/links that will afford you appropriate help.

German Genealogy: Bukowina
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Detail re EWZ Records/Evacuation Information:

The National Archives EWZ Collection by Fay Jordaens and Laurence Krupnak, 2001

Below is a very brief description of the EWZ collection:

During the final months of World War II through October 1953, the Western Allies under US Army control consolidated the large caches of Nazi Party and affiliated government organization documents that were found throughout Germany. These documents were stored and examined in Berlin in a facility that was called the Berlin Document Center (BDC).

In 1993, an agreement was reached to transfer title and control of the BDC to Germany by July 1, 1994. One article of the agreement was that all captured German records would be microfilmed and that one complete set would be provided to the US. These records were given to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for archiving and making available to the public.

One wartime German agency whose records were captured was the EWZ. The EWZ, Immigration Control Center, was established in 1939 to coordinate the resettlement and naturalization of qualified ethnic Germans who resided outside of Germany. The EWZ processed more than 2.9 million persons during the period 1939-1945. Most EWZ records were found intact by Allied Forces - an estimated 70,000-80,000 files were destroyed before capture.

Screening (Durchschleusing) the eligible ethic Germans involved interviews and examinations by 6-9 EWZ offices. Families were generally processed together and all persons aged 15 and above were registered separately. Photographs were taken, medical examinations were performed, fluency in German language was tested, family histories and racial examinations based on anthropological evaluations of physical attributes were recorded, etc.

Some or all of the following documents were prepared by the EWZ for each ethnic German that was interviewed:

•EWZ-Kartei (or E-Kartei), a general information card;

•Gesundheitskartei (or G-Kartei), a health examination card, which included biographical data, a genealogical chart, and a photograph [Health Cards];

• Volkstumsausweis Certificat, an applicant's ethnic German background, birthplace, and residence, and Umsiedlerausweis, an applicant's resettlement status;

•Rasse-Kartei, cards that summarized the racial examination, including a photograph [Race Cards];

• Anträge, naturalization application case files, which are generally very thick files containing, among other items, a Stammblätter, a standard form which was used to summarize personal information, including spouse and children, and family history ["Family Form"]; Einbürgerungsanträge, (abbreviated as Vfg.), the naturalization application form; Umsiedler, which includes a description of property left behind; related correspondence; etc.

As stated above, the NA has a complete set of the EWZ records. The set of EWZ records is on microfilm and the microfilms are kept at the NA's facility in College Park, Maryland. This facility is called Archives II and is located near Washington, DC. The NARA microform publication number for the EWZ collection is A3342, "Documents Generated In Connection With Activities Of The EWZ."

Here are the major series of the A3342 collection that contain genealogically-useful information:

1. EWZ-50: Anträge (Applications)for naturalization of ethnic Germans from the USSR,

2. EWZ-51: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Romania [includes all of Bukowina and Bessarabia],

3. EWZ-52: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from 1939 Poland,

4. EWZ-53: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from the Baltic countries,

5. EWZ-541: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Yugoslavia,

6. EWZ-542: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from France,

7. EWZ-543: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Bulgaria,

8. EWZ-544: Applicants for Wehrmacht, Organisation Todt, SD, and SS,

9. EWZ-545: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Sud-Tirol,

10. EWZ-56: Rasse-Kartei, and

11. EWZ-57: E-Kartei and G-Kartei (E/G Kartei).

E/G Kartei served as the central registry of the EWZ. The E/G Kartei collection contains approximately 2.9 million alphabetically-ordered cards.

NA staff do not perform research. They will however examine the available indexes to determine which microfilm rolls MIGHT contain records of individuals that you are interested in. [That is, the indexes only provide a range of names that appear on individual microfilm rolls.] Copies of NARA's EWZ microfilms can be purchased from NARA.

If you are unable to visit Archives II or do not want to take a chance of purchasing a roll(s) of microfilm that may not contain the person(s) that you are researching, consider hiring a professional who is very familiar with and can easily access the EWZ collection, such as Laurence Krupnak. Laurence is a member of the APG, the Association of Professional Genealogists, a peer-reviewed organization. Laurence frequently contributes to the Bukowina Mailing List. Laurence can be contacted by e-mail at Lkrupnak@erols.com, or by post at 1711 Corwin Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.

[LailaRo]

Thank you very much indeed, Hannia. Unfortunately I am not fluent in German. Anyway , I will serach for info. in church registers.
Best regards, Laila