Looking for my relatives

[prince79]

Hi, not sure if this site will be of any use but i have little information of where my grandfather came from but i write on here in the hope i may find out more even a relative.

My grandfathers name was Alexander Maksymuik and he was born on the 17th April 1922, he had 2 brothers peter and michaelo and 1 sister Maria. I was told he was from Ukraine but i am not sure if this was his place of birth. My grandfather came to the UK in 1946 and saw his sister, i have no contact with anyone and am totally lost as to where to go. My grandfather died of motor nureone disease in 1980 and the only other info i have listening to the sound of where he may have lived in Ukraine it does sound similar to Slavyanogorsk.

Not sure if anyone could have any idea of where i could now? Does any of this sound familiar, i would welcome any support

Joanne

[Wayne]

It looks like Slavyanogorsk is a small town in the area of Donetsk in the Eastern most part of Ukraine.
I doubt if they have good birth records going back to 1922. Your grandfather's name could be spelled different than you think. Are you fluent in Russian?

[BillyB]

Welcome to the forum Joanne. I typed in your grandfathers name in Google in quotation marks for exact searches and found the links below. You can also type in your relatives names in quotation marks to see if it turns up any clues.


http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Alexander&gsln=Maksymuik+&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=000&cp=0


http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?uidh=000&rank=1&new=1&so=3&msT=1&gsln=Maksymuik&MSAV=1&cp=0&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&db=pubmembertrees&sbo=t&gsbco=Sweden&noredir=true



Your grandfather was born in Ukraine but to get more information from those sites, you have to pay. The second site has your grandfather's name listed next to a Maksymuik/King family tree. Does anybody in your family tree have the last name of "King"?

[prince79]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, maksymuik could be spelt differently, its how it was written when my grandfather entered the Uk.
I was told that one brother fought with the russians in the second world war and thats everything i know. Im also starting to learn Russian but really im extremely basic, i did think it may help in my search later on

Yes the king/maksymuik tree on ancestry is mine, they have no records other than a death record for my grandfather. Ive tried the Ukranian embassy in the uk as he must have had a immigration card when he entered the UK post war and ive had no responses to my queries

Joanne

[Chicagoguy]

I have been working on Ancestry.com for about two years now off and on. American records are actually quite good once people arrived. And before that the records are good in Europe and Northern Europe. You might have the best luck in finding some cousins. You might start with Ellis Island records if you have any dates. The U.S. started their census in 1790. What happens in Ancestry.com is people volunteer whatever information they have and many have trekked high and low, near and far, to dig this stuff up.
I had to give up in Russia where my wife is from because so many people were from the villages. Peasants if you will. Few could read and write and the czar wasn't that interested. It was the Communists who cared. Also, Stalin burned so many churches where some people kept their records. But I am not sure if Ukraine is the same as Russia.
I have only done two grandmothers and am back to 1300 with both.  Some huge surprises but we had no family stories. People threw so many things away. They did not care. For 1 grandmother there were 6 different nationalities. I am a real mutt.
Good luck.

[Gator]

Prince79,

 

I have a good story to share with you.

Many years ago an Australian man called himself Kuna and came to RWD with questions similar to yours about researching his ancestry. 

He wrote to a few women listed with Ukrainian marriage agencies, telling them that he was planning to travel to Ukraine.  The women were very helpful, such as telling him which government buildings had records, etc.   One UW went to the offices with him and acted as an interpreter and helped him sort through the volumes of information.

He did not report much about his genealogy because the UW became a distraction.  They married and have at least two children today. 

Now is not a good time to travel to eastern Ukraine.  Yet, you still could open some correspondence. 

[ML]

One thing to be careful of when doing genealogy research.

The Mormon records look very nice, and they are enticing.

However, there are many, many errors in their records.

In their zeal to show as many members (dead or alive) as possible, their records will show relationships which are only based on fantasy.

[alex330]

The Mormon records look very nice, and they are enticing.

This will be your best resource tbh. They have the largest and most comprehensive cache of records there is. All the online genealogy websites actually use these records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Mountain_%28Utah%29

They are starting to compile the Ukrainian and Russian records now. Unfortunately many are missing and damaged.

[Larry1]

Prince79,

 

I have a good story to share with you.

Many years ago an Australian man called himself Kuna and came to RWD with questions similar to yours about researching his ancestry. 

He wrote to a few women listed with Ukrainian marriage agencies, telling them that he was planning to travel to Ukraine.  The women were very helpful, such as telling him which government buildings had records, etc.   One UW went to the offices with him and acted as an interpreter and helped him sort through the volumes of information.

He did not report much about his genealogy because the UW became a distraction.  They married and have at least two children today. 

Ah, the great joy of serendipity.

[SANDRO43]

My grandfathers name was Alexander Maksymuik

Are you sure it's not Maksymiuk, rather? I may be mistaken, but the latter sounds more Ukrainian, and there have often been problems when transliterating from Cyrillic .

[mies]

It looks like Slavyanogorsk is a small town in the area of Donetsk in the Eastern most part of Ukraine.
I doubt if they have good birth records going back to 1922. Your grandfather's name could be spelled different than you think. Are you fluent in Russian?

I think you are wrong about that. They do have pretty good birth records.

[mies]

Are you sure it's not Maksymiuk, rather? I may be mistaken, but the latter sounds more Ukrainian, and there have often been problems when transliterating from Cyrillic .

agreed. Must be Maksymiuk.

[prince79]

Hi

Thanks for all the messages, a friend of mine is searching for relatives in Germany and mentioned the Mormons may be useful.

Not sure if the name was spelt incorrectly, my birth certificate is written maksymuik, searching online and ive also seen it spelt Maksymiuk, is the name from a particular area in the past?

Thanks for all your comments much appreciated x

[Vaughn]

Hello Joanne, and welcome.

There is a seasonal show on Russian Channel One called ЖДИ МЕНЯ (ZHDEE men-yah) which translates to Wait For Me. They have the resources for extensive searching and have reunited many relatives, even after several generations of absence.

You will need some coaching to navigate through the Cyrillic on this site - your information can be submitted. The English language link at the top of the page will lead you only to a promotional page about the show itself.

http://poisk.vid.ru/

[prince79]

Amazing thank you, i will definately try it