Family history

[Jools52]

Hi I'm new to the forum and wonder if any of you could help me.

My Dad, who unfortunately died in 1989, comes from Ukraine and I am desperate to find out more about his country, family and history.

Dad died young of cancer and I wish I had asked him more when I was younger but he did not really want to talk about it as it upset him so much. It is now when I am getting older myself that I am becoming interested in my family history.

Through the power of the internet I managed to find my Dad's family a few years ago and also managed to let my Dad's sister know what had happened to him, after he was taken from his village during the war, before she died aged 92.

I corresppnd with her son Myhailo who lives in Ivano Frankivsk and we managed a Skype with the help of his neighbour, who speaks a bit of English, on Boxing Day which was the first time we had seen each other and we cried all the way through. I get an occasional letter from them but with the language barrier it is hard to ask about history etc.

I will let you know what I know of my Dad's past.

He was born in Kostilnyky in the Buchach District in 1926. His name was Hyhorizy Kramarczuk and his siter's married name was Makaruk.

Dad got taken by the Germans towards the end of the war and ended up in their army, gave themselves up to the Allies and was in a prisoner of war camp in Rimini. He was then classed as a DP and bought to England, landing in Scotland, to work on the farms. He was put in a DP camp in King's Lynn, Norfolk and met my mum who was a King's Lynn girl and lived here until his death. He never got to go home as he died in January 1989. He tried on numerous occasions to get in contact with his family to try and find out what had happened to them but lost contact.

I felt so sad for him that he never got to see his family again so was determined to find out as much as I could and to let them know.

I would love to find out more about my Dad's history, the meaning of his name, whether from a certain tribe etc. Also is there any sort of Census that I could look up as I only know my Dad's parent's names but no further back. They were Philip and Afia.

Would be grateful for any information on any thing I have discussed here. I have some of Dad's papers from Rimini etc so could put a bit more info on here if required.

Thank you

[IreneLviv]

Welcome!
There are 80+ Kramarchuk people spread across Ukraine.
The name belongs to the so-called 'occupational' group (denoting various occupaitons) with -chuk ending.
Yours is related to a shopkeeper/ merchant's occupation (kramar in Ukrainian, kramarz in Polish)

Your father's certificate is probably kept in the RAGS in Buchach, or probably they have a list of villagers in the village church - have you asked your relatives about this?
There are several Kramarchuk families in the village - you must get your father's birth certificate - to know the accurate information about his parents - to dig back into the history of your clan.

[Jools52]

Thank you so much for the very quick reply with so much information.

Obviously the language barrier does not help and I have sent emails asking questions but do not always get the reply to the questions I ask.

I will look into this, thank you.

[Jools52]

Hi

Can you tell me what RAGS is and how I can contact them?

Thanks

[Jools52]

Just bumping this

[Hannia]

Your father's certificate is probably kept in the RAGS in Buchach

In order to make request for METRYKA (Baptismal Certificate) at RAGS, you must first obtain a PRIVACY RELEASE/ANTHEKA as per Intl Law. Contact your nearest Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate and tell them that you need to obtain birth/baptismal certificate for Father thru Buchach RAGS (district level archives). They will provide you with appropriate paperwork, which you will need to have notarized and return to them. The Embassy/Consulate could make the request on your behalf or you could do it yourself, but you do need the PRIVACY RELEASE.