I am doing geneology on my father. Who I think was polish. I don't have alot of background information on him, so I am pulling all my clues together to get more information.
He died when I was a little girl and so, everything that he would share with me is going to be a tool to learn more about him, his family and his culture.
Can someone help me with the song he used to sing?
HHHMMMM...... Well, the geneology said he was from German/Russian.
But then in 1910 (when it started getting bad in Germany, the records changed to "polish". I think that maybe they didn't want to say they were from Germany or Russia because of all of the turmoil going on at that time.
But when I ran the translation for brother/sister, it did show
Siostra =sister Brat = brother
ANIAH~ I am typing it as I remember it. I was only like 7 years old or something. He died when I was 14, so I am pulling from my memory. It could have been: "rozweseli"
Not many. I was forced to learn Russian in Poland since 5th grade. Then in high school in Poland we had to learn another language - French. But I already knew English and Polish since I was born. And now I'm learning Swedish.
I'm trying to catch up with my father. He knew 7 languages. He even wrote a book about Esperanto-an international language.
This might seem a dumb question but what is your father's [or should it be Grandfather] surname ? That should tell you if he is Russian or Polish.
even if his name ends witk -ski it doesn't mean he was polish.you may remember mr rokossowski-he wasn't very polish:) jokes aside, i think this may help
Nope, he's my Daddy. He had me when he was 56. :O His last name was Boruch. But then they changed it (according to ancestry.com) to Borick....
First they said they were from Germany. Then in 1910, they changed it and said they were from poland. I don't know if they lied because they were afraid of being forced to go back or not. It was right before WWI. So, maybe they were refugees???
then in 1930, my father had them list on the census that his father was from Russia and his mother from Czech.....
It could be rodinu..... I was spelling it as it sounded to me.....
I don't want to put things in your head and then we get it wrong. But: Grandfather was born before 1918. So if he was born in the east of Poland that would mean 'Russian' shows up on documents. Polish people can be listed as Polish, German, Russian, etc. All because Poland was occupied or the borders moved.
Where was the census taken ? Do you have details ? It might be worth checking again. :)
Yes, my husband said the same thing Wroclaw. That Poland took a beating back then. And it if wasn't the German's attacking then it was the Russians.
the Census was taken in the United States. My father was born in 1916 in the U.S. But his father and mother came from Russia/Germany/Poland. They were born at the end of the 1800's (1880's-1890's).
It's ok. You're not putting anything in my head. But at least you guys are helping to lead me in the right direction. I can't understand why one census they told the government they were from one place and 10 years later told the government that they were from another. I guess if I studied the history of Poland/Russia from back then, it would make sense why they said what they did.
Ok... So, have we decided on the song? Russian? Polish?
alot of the clues I gave say both. aaarrrgghhhh.....
Hi SeaChild My Father is an expert in this area (old childrens nursery rhymes) he has a fantastic memory on this subject. He is now nearly 80 but remebers them all . I will ask him 2morrow and get back to you.
For tracing people who were displaced by the Russians look at the superb website related to this. It can be found by searching for forgotten odyssey in google.
Janf~ THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH. And thank your father. My father would have been 90 this year!!! Although I am only 35 myself.
Here is a picture of my father (which was taken before I was even born).
I just took a peek at the "A forgotten Odyssey". It is a very good story about the Polish. However, it doesn't really help me with the situation with my father because they came over in 1902 and settled in Pennsylvania. He should've fought in WWII. But, that too is a mystery.
Does anyone have relatives from this era? I know that it would make them elderly, but maybe they can give me information. They love to talk stories too. :)
