Researching ancestors who lived in Eastern Europe involves having an understanding of the geography, history and political affairs of the area. Having this knowledge will provide for a more thorough knowledge of ancestors' lives.
The borders and ruling powers for the countries of Eastern Europe have changed many times, due to war and politics. The destruction from the two world wars can add challenges for finding records to conduct genealogical research.
An added challenge to genealogy in Eastern Europe is the effects of political affairs that impacted the people of Eastern Europe. The political terror faced in this area of Europe taught some people to not talk about the past.
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The geography of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe covers the vast area of Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the western portion of Russia. In the past, these countries were known as the Russian Empire, Prussia, Bessarabia, Czechoslovakia, Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
These countries border the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland in the northern portion of Eastern Europe, while the southern portion borders the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. The area of Russia that is considered Eastern Europe shares its borders with the Barents and Kara seas.
Mountains also play an important part of geography in Eastern Europe. The main mountain ranges are the Carpathian Mountains, Balkan Mountains, the Great Hungarian Plain and the Dinaric Alps. The Carpathian Mountains are noted for being the second longest mountain range in Europe. These mountains spread through seven countries in the space of 210,000 square kilometers.[1]
History of Eastern Europe
A large portion of Eastern Europe was once under the Russian Empire. Russia's neighbor to the west, Poland, struggled for its own independence. Poland was under the control of Russia, Prussia and the Hapsburg Monarchy from 1795 to 1918. That explains why Warsaw, now Poland's capital, was once identified as part of the Russian Empire.[2]
Meanwhile, Belarus was under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for centuries and Poland controlled a portion of Belarus even until the late 1930s. [3] The country of Bulgaria only became independent in 1908. Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg declared himself the ruler of Bulgaria after it became free from the Ottoman Empire. [4]
Ten years later in 1918, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire collapsed at the end of World War I and this led to the creation of Czechoslovakia. Then Czechoslovakia broke apart in 1993 to become two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. [5]
To the east, Moldova was once part of Romania as the principality of Moldavia but Moldova was proclaimed as an independent republic in 1991. Moldova was previously known as Bessarabia, which was under the control of the Ottoman Empire and Russia Empire before becoming part of Romania. [6]
Today, Ukraine struggles with its borders with Russia. Crimea and the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been occupied by Russia since 2014. Russia launched a full-scale attack of Ukraine in 2022 and the war has resulted in massive destruction to the country.
Political affairs that affected Eastern Europe
People who lived in this area of Europe struggled with challenging political environments that led to the mass murders.
The intentional mass murder of Jews in the 19th and 20th century, most notably in areas now in Russia, Ukraine and Poland, is remembered as pogroms. [7] During Word War II, Jews faced even worse mass murders by the millions under Nazi occupation in Eastern Europe as they were killed in their own communities, ghettoes and concentration camps.
Under the leaders of the former USSR, unknown millions of citizens were sent to collective camps called gulags and/or killed for false crimes. Databases have been posted online to reveal the names of the victims, most notably by Memorial, a now defunct organization in Russia. The largest database has more than 3 million names of victims. The State Archive Service of Ukraine has been building its own database to remember the victims on the Ukrainian Martyrologist of the 20th Century database. The efforts to build this database was announced in 2020. [8]
Another form of political terror in the former USSR was Holodomor in 1932-1933. Large amounts of food grown by peasants in Ukraine were intentionally taken so millions of Ukrainians would starve to death. Peasants had been protesting the policies of the communist-run government. [9]
Finding the correct ancestral village of Eastern Europe
The use of gazetteers play an important part in determining the correct location where ancestors had lived. Once information is found in these publications, it is important to also look at old maps for the area.
Basic information from relatives can be used to confirm ancestors' homelands such as churches or synagogues attended by the family, well-know markets that were visited, lake and rivers that were used for entertainment and noted weather events that affected the communities. Old family photos, journals and letters can detail this type of information.
Those who are researching Jewish roots can use yizkor books to find communities that were destroyed in the Holocaust. The New York Public Library has posted 85 percent of yizkor books online.
Records available for genealogical research
With the various challenges from history, politics and war in Eastern Europe, it is important to look beyond birth, marriage, death and census records to research ancestors.
Searching for records that cover all the various acts of life are just as important. Records can exist for schools, military, voting, property ownership, taxation, local merchants and trade unions. The details found in these records can be just as valuable or even more valuable as censuses and civil acts records.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, business directories and address books were published. Many of these types of directories can be found on Genealogy Indexer.
Those researching ancestors who were displaced or faced Nazi persecution during World War II can find valuable records from Arolsen Archives- International Center on Nazi Persecution. Millions of scanned records can be found on its database that details displaced persons and persecution victims' experiences during World War II and their families' personal details.
Explore more about researching ancestors in Eastern Europe
References
- ↑ Adaptation in Carpathian Mountains https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/countries-regions/transnational-regions/carpathian-mountains/general/index_html
- ↑ History of Poland (1795–1918), Wikpedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland_%281795%E2%80%931918%29
- ↑ Boris Kleyn, Poles in Belarus: Revival of Heritage and Search for Ancestors, Polish Roots https://www.polishroots.org/Research/History/belarus_history?PageId=267
- ↑ Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Bulgaria, Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State, https://history.state.gov/countries/bulgaria
- ↑ Czechoslovakia, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Czechoslovakia
- ↑ Moldova, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Moldova
- ↑ Pogrom, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom
- ↑ State Archive Service of Ukraine, https://archives.gov.ua/um.php
- ↑ Holodomor Basic Facts, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, https://holodomor.ca/resource/holodomor-basic-facts/