Relatives in Brody

[BillZ]

Hello All
My grandfather John ZROBOK was born 22 August 1878 in Brody. He came to Canada in about 1906. Does anyone out there know of any Zrobok family in Brody? If so, would any of them have e-mail.
Thank you

Vasyl

[Hannia]

How sure are you that your Grandfather was born in Brody proper and not in a nearby village?
What sort of documentation do you have? There was/is a habit among older Ukrainians, when asked where they were born, to refer to their nearest district center. Brody was a district town. It is a 900 yr old town that used to be a major trading center of Kiev, Rus. Don't confuse Rus with Russia. Your grandfather was of Rusyn (pronounced RUE - SEEN) heritage. Some of these villages around the district centers were so small, that one almost had to provide a geographical lay of the land.

Have you looked at the Russian Consular Collection? Immigrants during your Grandfather's time of immigration filled out detailed personal questionnaires. There might even be an old address there, which will come in very handy when searching for surviving relatives. You might be able to pick up some patronymics (given names of parents and mother's maiden name) there. Go to the KAPITAN POST on this board for URL.

The personal internment records are also pretty detailed. Was your Grandfather one of those interned?

There are Church records available for Brody, just not sure if they predate the time frame
you're researching. Many of the records stop in the 1860s. Need to get back to you on that.

The Brody area comes with tremendous WW2 history. The Battle at Brody was a very important one. Have you done much reading re Ukrainian History?

Your ancestors were extraordinary people with a very complex history.

Several history links, all fast read thru's.

This one will provide you dates which will help background your Grandfather's emigration. Will explain RUS as well.
Ukrainian History: Chronological Table
http://ukraine.uazone.net/history.html

World War II in Ukraine: Chronology of the War in Ukraine
http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/page-28.html

1st-Division of the UNA: Statement of Purpose
http://www.infoukes.com/galiciadivision/purpose/

[BillZ]

Thanks again Hannia

I learned that my grandfather came from Brody after talking with his cousin's daughter who is 86 years old. My gfather didn't talk too much about the Ukraine but he used to tell us kids stories about hunting wild boars with lances on horseback in the Carpathian Mountains. Could this be true?
He also served in the Austrian army and told us stories about using wooden rifles for training. He arrived in Canada long before WWI.
You seem to be very knowledable in Ukrainian History so I'd like to run this one past you. My father served with the Canadian First Division in Sicily and Italy and was taken prisoner at the Savio River Crossing on 24 October 1944. He told me that the troops his platoon was fighting against spoke Ukrainian and wore German uniforms. As a matter of fact, my Dad was the platoon commander and surrendered to this army in the Ukrainian Language.

Thanks again

Vasyl
Kenora, ON, CA

[Hannia]

Carpathian wildlife was abundant during your Grandfather's time. The larger animals included wild boar, wolves, lynx, foxes, bears, chamois, roe deer, and wild goats. In the Carpathian plain areas, squirrels, hare, badgers, and polecats were common. There were several stopover points for migratory birds in the area, so there were many species of birds as well.

Today there are several natural reserves that are being funded by the World Bank.
Recently wolves have been reintroduced into the Romanian Carpathian area.

There are wildlife tours available in the Ukrainian Carpathians!

National Parks and Natural Reserves
http://www.ukraine-rus.kiev.ua/tur9.shtml

Found some wild boar art cards being sold thru one of the Slovak craft sites. Scroll down to Art Cards.

http://www.rusynyk.com/MGAoddcrafts.html

__________________________________

Austrian Military info is available.
Don't let the link title throw you.

PolishRoots: Austrian Military recruitment districts within Galicia
http://www.polishroots.org/austrian_recruit.asp

__________________________________
Some reading re Halychyna Division.

World War II in Ukraine
http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/

Brotherhood of Veterans of the 1st-Division of the Ukrainian National Army
http://www.infoukes.com/galiciadivision/

UCC Position Paper: 1999-06-19 - Ukrainians During World War II
http://www.ucc.ca/Section_5/ukrainians_during_ww2/

German-Ukrainian Relations in Historical Perspective by H.-J. Torke & J.-P. Him
http://www.utoronto.ca/cius/HTMfiles/Polhis/tor-ger.htm

John Panchuk Inventory
http://www1.umn.edu/ihrc/inventories/ihrc15.htm




[Edited by Hannia on 14th October 2001 at 00:10]

[harrisonfam]

All I have to go on is my Grandfather's birth certificate which states he was born 4 July 1896 in "Brody, Austria" . He immigrated to Canada in 1908 with his step-father Ivan (John) Ference & mother Paranska (Poholchuk (sp?) known as Polly or Paulina, to northern Alberta, Canada. He spoke Ukrainian.
His father (Michael MYCHALUK) reportedly was a wheelwright in the Austrian Cavalry and was killed when John was young and his mother re-married to Ivan (John) Ferenc before 1900. The Ferenc family immigrated to Canada in 1908 (according to census records) but I cannot find them on Ship's lists. My Grandfather reverted to his birth name of MYCHALUK and which I was born to under Michaluk.
I have searched in Ancestry.com, which I have a membership in and the LDS site which does not help. Can you suggest where to concentrate my research?

Thank you !
Michele

[Victor_Lviv]

.
There are 24 Mykhaliuk (Ukr Михалюк, Polish spelling - Mychaluk) family names listed in Brody (though accessible databases are quite out-of-dated), oldest one - Mykhaliuk Roman Havrylovych - born 5.03.1912 - resides at #35 Shchorsa st. Not any Ferenc (Ukr Ференц, Ференс) there - but name is quite common - about 3,500 of them in Ukraine.
I checked catalogues of Lviv archives for Brody metrical and cadastral (land books and maps) books about year ago, - there are Greeck-Catolic metrical books listed there. Now I'm working at archives with other research - so may re-check again (for years available) - would you be interested in research.
.

[harrisonfam]

I have learned my GGGrandmother's name was Darka Pakholczuk / Pakholchuk
Her daughter Palaska married Michael Michaluk and their son was John Michaluk b.1896 in Brody.