Family Name Kurbala

[lyubka]

I am looking for any information about the family name, Kurbala. My grandfather was Cossack, Peter Kurbala. My mother was an orphan of WW2, so I do not have much more information. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Hannia]

Did Mama immigrate via Germany and where did she setttle upon immigration? Is she still in Ukraine?

Lyubka, you have to be a little more clear.
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I have found one Kurbala in Dnipropetrovsk, the home of the Cossack, but this means nothing until we know more.
Where was Mama from in Ukraine?

675589 Курбала Анатолий Михайлович Героев пр. д.10 (Kurbala, Anatolij, son of Myhaijlo)

[lyubka]

Yes, my mother came from a German orphanage to New York in the United States.

Her father, Peter Kurbala, died when she was still a baby. She and her mother, Milewa, lived in the former Yugoslavia, with other Cossack families, in a village on the Danube river. This would have been in the 1930's. Her mother died when she was 12 years old, and she ended up in an orphanage in Germany. From there, she was sent to the United States with a group of World War 2 orphans. She had no birth certificate, and was classified as a "displaced person."

The only thing I know is that my grandfather was Cossack. Of this fact, my mother was always very proud! Unfortunately, I do not know where in Ukraine he was from. I have been trying to find out ANYTHING for many years.

Thank you very much for your reply.

[Hannia]

Have you obtained her records from Germany?

Does Mama know where she was born?

[lyubka]

Unfortunately no.

Do you know how to obtain records from Germany? This was directly at the end of World War 2, so I did not know if this was even possible. I remember the orphanage was Bad Shallerbach, (I don't know if this is spelled correctly), but that is all I know.

In Yugoslavia, they lived in Brnitsa and Panchevo.

[Hannia]

This is a good start.

Luckily Germans kept impeccable records for anyone who set one foot in Germany, even if for only one minute. It has only been very recently that these records have been compiled into one archives in Bad Arolsen and they are available online, free of charge to direct family.

I will be right back w/ URL and instructions.
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Meanwhile tell me how you got the name Lyubka, which is a very popular Bulgarian name ???

[Hannia]

Contact the Bad Arolsen Archives. Since Mama had DP status, these archives will provide you w/details of her exact experience in Germany. Inquiry by immediate family is available for free. All you need to provide is her full names and any other spelling variants and her exact birth date, or as exact as you have it. Do not provide more info than that !!! Your inquiry can be done by e-mail. I understand the archives have upgraded their svce and response can be received via e-mail as well. Response can take as much as three months. That part has not changed.

Upon accessing site click HUMANITARIAN REQUESTS. Follow instructions.
ITS-AROLSEN.ORG |*Startseite

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Start w/above. I will also call upon a fellow Cossack descendant, Serhej, who lives in Ukraine. He might be helpful to you as well. It may take a few days before we get fully organized w/info.