Anyone from Berezka / Brzuska near the Ukrainian border ?

My grandfather mytro chochlo ( Micheal chockla) arrived thru Ellis island April 1901.moved to New Florence p.a. He ended up in derry pa. My father said had a "brother" who lived with his family Andy Corey. Andy ended up in the family because of a death in his, as I recall. You can find all the names by searching Chockla.the last of my true children passed away in 2017 ." Mitch" in Fla.age 94.

genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/poland/48311

I have found my grandmother came from Berezka Poland to Detroit , Michigan .United Statez
And took the name of the town of berezka , how do i inquire about my familys past

@LatrobePA
My grandfather came to the US from Berezka in 1912. His name was Stephen Krawec. My grandmother also came from Berezka same year, Katherine Lechmann.

I am researching the family of John (aka Johann) Hohla (aka Chochla and Chockla)(1885-1972). He immigrated to the U.S. in 1910, listing birth location as Bereska in Austria and his nationality Ruthenian. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, he was born in Poland, as were his father and mother. Both he and his wife speak Russian. He lived in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. He was a coal miner in Bens Creek, Pa. in 1942. He is buried at Sts Peter & Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Portage, Pa. His wife was Miluska (aka Mildred, Amelia, Millie) Horchak (1893-1930) , also from Bereska. It appears that other Chockla family members immigrated to the same area in Pennsylvania. I would like to compare notes to gather more information on this family.

Are "Chokola", "Czokalo", etc. related by chance?

Chockla: My Great aunt married Michael Chockla. Mary Baran was my grandmother's sister. They lived next to each other in Derry on 7th ave. I have some data on the Baran side of the family and also access to the archeive data fron Berezka, Poland. I would like to discuss this with you.

There is a branch of my family named Baran who lived (still lives) in Patton, PA, not far from Ben's Creek. My grandparents are also buried at Sts. Peter & Paul Byzantine. I will email you.

Yes...Please contact me. We can discuss the relationship

I'm hoping someone on here can help me out---I have been trying to figure out my maternal grandfather's genealogy for years now, however we have had little to no information about his extended family. His name was Michael Warchola, 1922-2010. He was born in Nanty Glo, PA, and served in WWII, but was registered under the name Mitchell. His birth certificate shows that his name was indeed Michael. This is also how I found out about the town of Berezka. His father was also Michael Warchola, 1884-1933, and his mother Anne Chokla (1890-1967). Anne later married a Sabol after my great-grandfather's passing.

My grandfather was one of 10 siblings, as far as I know. Mary (1911) Steve (1917) Catherine (1918) Anna (1920) Michael (my grandfather, 1922) Peter (1925) Rose (1928) Julia (1929) Jennie (1931) and Betty Jane (1933). There has been some suspicion of another sibling, an older brother, that integrated with the family and then returned to Europe. We have no concrete evidence of this though.

I'd appreciate any help that I can get. Please contact me by email if you can help in any way: kamille.colbert@gmail.com

My great grandmother was from Brzuka according to her immigration papers. Her maiden name was Ksenia Wysocka. She married Wasyl Konowal and then they both immigrated to New York City in the early 1900's. Is anyone aware of any information or related to these two last name?

Wysocki is a very common name. The equivalent English name is probably Hill.


This isn't (and it sounds a little naughty to Polish speakers).

my great great grandfather came from the area it is mostly unknown as all documents where burned and lost, my name is Florian Brzuska iv. wish i knew more about my family history

No it doesn't! Quack as in a medical quackery.


Well, not possible with just a name.

It does, and can produce amusement.

You know why. Nothing to do with quackery...

My grandfather was Petro Warchola, married to Taciana Daczki, both from Berezka, Poland, and identified as Ukrainian. Circa a 1939 lived in Central City, PA

my father was Josef Lechman or Lachman from Bereska, Galicia. He was born in1898 in New Florence or Jeannette PA. His mother's name is Zosia Lachman, Uncle Ignacy Syrnyk from New Florence PA. His family returned to Ukraine when he was very young. He returned to the US in 1914. Any information contact Marie Veal Fultz

mveal16@gmail.com

@boyko info
My great grandmother was Tekla Kucz from Betezka and her brother Mihajlo Kucz from Bobrka.

@boyko info

May be related; my great grandmother was Tekla Kusz from Bereska and I believe her brother lived in Bobrka. Email me if you get this "ppollock15@verizon.net"

Hello, all. First, I am headed to Poland early summer, and am considering driving to Beretska, where my maternal grandmother is from. I understand that the church and its records have burned down, and that there are no original pre-WWII residents. But is it an interesting area to drive through, regardless? (Although pretty darn close to Lviv not where I'd want to go right now!) Second, I am trying to find out more information about my maternal grandmother and her family. We think her mother may have been Jewish, but converted to Catholicism. My great-grandfather's name was Simcou Kuzemczak, and my great-grandmother's maiden name was M. Fabor Filuis (Frieda) Hirsch or Hirsz. My grandmother Maria landed at Ellis Island -- I have found what I think is a record of her entry, although the birthdate is different -- and wound up settling in Detroit when married to Basil Serbay. Thanks so much for any information you can provide me!

I'm not sure it's worth visiting there to be honest. The problem with these Polish villages is that they were small rural settlements with wooden houses which have mostly disappeared and there is now nothing much to see other than modern buildings and the locals have no historic connection with the area and don't have any stories to share. However the ruins of the church are there but it's an Orthodox church.

If you like walking in hilly places and forest trails etc. you might enjoy a couple of days in the area and there's a river, so nice countryside.

Here's a link to Google streetview so you can see what the village looks like:

instantstreetview.com/@49.390782,22.387613,270.58h,3.65p,0z,-2PLe8KH3vM3_no4lbtABg

Thank you, Atch! And if anyone else has thoughts re my family history, I'd appreciate hearing learning more.

I thought that was less the case in Eastern Poland.... in western poland yeah but I thought the East was less affected by the compulsory mass migrations that took place after WWII...

Also unless carriesc01 speaks Polish she's liable to not get much informaiton, even if she can find local people who know some English villages in a lot of Poland are still farming communities and people are busy and don't have a lot of time to answer foreigners' questions....

According to the sources I checked, the village of Berezka was destroyed by the Germans and abandoned by the villagers.

'The church is visited by former inhabitants of the village who emigrated after the war or were displaced, and by their descendants. Services are sometimes held here in memory of those who lived here.'

Of course it's possible that some villagers returned and settled there so I suppose one could check what the 'local' names are and see if there are any people of that name living in the village today. They might have a few tales of the 'my granny used to say' variety.


I know, she needs to go to Ireland for that :)


You're welcome :)