CHURCH RECORDS FROM 1850-1945
Ten people participated in our June group research with László Rudolf. As previously reported, László was able to obtain copies of the birth and marriage records from about 1900 to 1950. He was also able to bring death records for the same time period with him when he attended the FEEFHS Conference in Regina. These records are now housed at the SGS library in Regina. The cost of copying, shipping, customs fees and taxes, making backup copies, storage binders, etc. has pretty much depleted our cash.
As valuable as these records are, the really vital records for most of us are the records from 1850-1900 when most of our North American pioneer ancestors were born. These records are located in the archives at Bela Crkva, Serbia. The copier at the archive cannot copy the large format pages of the church books and the books cannot be taken out of the archives. Although the oldest pages are in pretty good shape, the newer pages are beginning to crumble due to poor quality paper. The archive does not have the resources to undertake any special preservation measures or to copy them. The Family History Library has no plans to microfilm in Serbia any time in the near future: many other records of interest have become available in Europe; their resources are limited; they already have the records up to about 1850 that we are all familiar with; and there are political difficulties in obtaining cooperation. The question arises: What can we do to preserve these records and obtain copies for our own research?
László Rudolf had suggested that perhaps we could purchase a digital camera for the archives. They could then record the pages digitally on CD, preserving our books and many others from excess usage and making the information more easily available. In return, the archives could provide us with a CD for our own use. While this idea had some merit, I had some difficulty with some of the logistics and with putting control of the camera in the hands of people we do not know. There was the danger that the archives could set their own priorities without copying our books or that the camera would disappear and that we would have no control over future use. At the FEEFHS conference in Regina, I suggested to László that we would be more comfortable with the camera in his hands. We have already developed a degree of trust through our previous dealings and he could use the camera to obtain other records and pictures of value to our members. I discussed this idea with a few members personally and by email and raised it with the members in attendance at the FEEFHS Conference. Everyone was enthusiastic about this opportunity. I obtained a high-end digital camera with a special setting for copying text to ensure high quality images, bought some extra memory, and presented it to László. He intends to visit the Bela Crkva archive in September and copy our pages at that time. We will then find a way to distribute them by email, CD or Internet. I also asked him to photograph all the headstones in the German portion of the Zichydorf cemetery.As mentioned previously, our cash was almost totally depleted in obtaining the other records. I purchased the camera with $1130 of my own funds and now hope to recoup my advance. I would also like to raise a small amount of additional cash in case we have to assist László with travel expenses. We have about 50 regular contributors. Therefore I would like to raise about $30 per person. There are several ways we could treat this contribution:
C 1. Once we have our church records, I expect our future expenses to be relatively small. We could treat the $30 contribution as a pre-payment for three years worth of dues.
C 2. We could treat it as a one-time special contribution.
C 3. We could treat it as payment for a copy of the CD, which only contributors would receive.
C 4. I think it would be fair to give a discount to those who have purchased research from László as they have paid the up-front cost of establishing the relationship that made this possible.
Please send $30 to ZVA and suggest your preference for how to treat the contribution. I will weigh your suggestions and discuss the options at our next meeting before making a determination.
2002 FEEFHS CONVENTION
The FEEFHS Conference in Regina was a great success. About a dozen of our members attended. The agenda covered many topics, several of which were useful to Zichydorf researchers.
NEW AT THE LIBRARY AND ON THE WEB
In addition to the Zichydorf baptisms from 1904 to 1946 and marriages from 1895 to 1990 that I reported last newsletter, László Rudolf has also obtained the death records from 1901 to 1947. Also new is another volume (M-O) in Stefan Stader’s series.
Try these web sites:
C Computing family relationships at http://www.geocities.com/gentutor/chart.html and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kordyban/chart/relationship_chart.html
C Post WWII internment camps (in German) at http://www.vloe.at/vloe/geschichte/
C German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans (1941-1944) at http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/german_balkans.htm
C An Austrian email listserv at http://list.genealogy.net/mailman/listinfo-e/Austria-L
C Germans in Ex-Yugoslavia at http://www.hic.hr/books/seeurope/016e-geiger.htm#top
C Austrian Army research http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/index.htmÂÂ
RESEARCHER LIST
The following people have been added to the online researcher list.
C Andrews, Evelynne, #103 – 435 2nd St. NE, Weyburn, SK, S4H 0V4, Canada, Phone: 306-842-2588, Searching: Busch, Bolen
C Bavle, George, 3415 Warner Avenue, Armstrong, BC, V0E 1B2, Canada, Phone: 250-546-9752, Email: george_bavle@telus.net, Searching: Bavle
C Niesner, Adam, 282 Plainsview Dr., Regina, SK, S4S 6N1, Canada; Phone: 306-586-2204; Searching: Niesner
C Schwarz, Joe & Elisabeth (Herf), 21881 Briarwood Drive, Fairview Park, Ohio, 44216, USA, Searching: Schwarz, Herf
Please note the following updates and corrections:
C Niessner, Adam, #218 – 868 Sturgeon Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2Y 0L2
C Rudy Schmidt searching: Hoffmann, Heckl, Hammes, Schmuck, Sabo.
C Harold Miller phone: 651-488-1963; email: hmiller63@attbi.com
C Stephen Schultz box number “77” instead of “7”
C Terry Dash email terrydash@shaw.ca
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Paid for 2002: M. Kainer, J. Shenher, J. Miller, L. Grzyb, G. Schwartz, B. Harle, F. Dornstauder, E. Flichel, A. Busch, D. Ewen, L. Lang, T. Dash, M.Borkan, A. Niesner, J. Molter, C. Ortman, C. Noll, K. Niedermayer, B. Petz, A. Fulford, A. Neison, D. Giroux, S. Weishuhn, J. Rick, M. O’Brien, S. Kragh, R. Borschowa, J. Stoeber, J. Busch, J. Mayer, J. Molyneaux, E. Henheffer, B. Daniels, D. Connelly, D. Halliday, J. Hayhurst, J. Devine, G. Bavle, S. Schultz, J. Schwarz, P. Eichhof, A. Busch, N. Stetner, K. Hohban, J. hugel, D. Fleury, M. Rist, E. Hugel, J Molter, F. Koenig.
REGINA BRANCH MEETING
Regina Branch will meet at 2pm on Sunday, September 22, at Access Communications (Cable Regina), 2250 Park St (north door by the ball diamonds). Mark your calendar and bring some Zichydorf friends.
Zichydorf Village Association News
edited by: Glenn Schwartz
2274 Baldwin Bay, Regina, SK, S4V 1H2
Internet: http://feefhs.org/zva/frg-zva.html email: gschwartz@accesscomm.ca