I am looking for help on family member. I cannot get my family tree back more than 1 generation on
My great grandfather Vladimer (Walter) Gardiga from and possibly born in Berzanki, Russia in 1885 or 86. Came to US in 1913. He died in Colchester 3/1965. I cannot find any European records on him. It is possible the birth name was changed to Gardiga (multiple spellings) from Atamanchuk. Every search comes up empty. Can some one point me in a direction. Thank you. Where do I begin for European records.
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@Racheal Mcinnes I am going to move this conversation over to the Russian Empire Genealogy group so that they will be able to help you better. I am assuming you meant Colchester Connecticut, and not Colchester England, so I am also going to tag the @New England group so that they can be in on the conversation. I wish you well in your search!
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I notice there is no Berzanki Russia, but there is a Berezniki (Березники). Do you know for sure your grandfather was ethnically Russian? The reason I ask is that huge numbers of Germans migrated to Russia in the 1700's and 1800's. Coming to the US in 1913 would be consistent with when the times got worse for Germans there. By the end of WW II most Germans living in Russia were killed or sent to camps. Also, names of villages occupied by Germans were changed after WW II, and Berezniki may not be the ancestral name. I have more resources for you if you think your Grandfather may be ethnically German.
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Hi,
Thank you so much for your reply. It is possible the family came from Germany, but I have always heard my grandfather talk about his father as Russian and he spoke Russian. My father, had many Ashkenazi Jewish traits (?). While there is no known family history of Jewish ancestry we do know my great grandfather is buried in a St. Mary's Old Ukranian Cemetery in Colchester, Ct. The record I have attached shows my great grandfathers arrival into the U.S. with his residence listed as Berzanki, Russia. I do not know if this is an error in translation, a town that no longer exists, or is perhaps Berezniki. My grandfather, was a Captain in the US Merchant Marines. It is possible that there was family that served in the military on the European side. Two last points, my aunt recalls my grandfather speaking of "Dnipropetrovsk Oblast", and she also could read some Russian. A family tale had always circulated (I heard it as a child) that the family name was changed from Atamanchuk (sp) to Gardega (various spellings) and that a family member was involved in a plot to overthrow the Czar (if I recall the story correctly). I am told a passport and letter good at any bank in the world was given. This is all I have to go on as there are no living relatives except for an Aunt who provided the town. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi,
Gardiga is a very uncommon surname. In Russian/Ukranian, it would probably be spelled something like this: Гардига. I did a little bit of research in U.S. records and found that he is often listed as being from Ukraine, so I checked the Ukrainian Citizens Database for the surname. Results suggested the surname came from the village of Бережанка (transliterated - Berezhanka). This closely matches the town name that you have. The "i" ending could simply be genitive case, signifying that they were "of" that place.
As for Atamanchuk, it would be spelled like this in Russian/Ukrainian: Атаманчук. It's a surname with Ukrainian and Belarusian roots which seems to fit the story of the family coming from Ukraine. I'm not finding Atamanchuk in Berezhanka, but the surname does appear in the same rayon and oblast (country and province). This is a crowd-sourced family tree, so it could be that there just isn't enough data on there yet.
Hopefully this helps! I think that there's a good chance that Berezhanka could be the Berzanki that you are looking for.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
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Also, a lot of those links up there are in Russian or Ukrainian. You can translate using the Google Chrome browser. Just right click anywhere on the page and press Translate to English. If you do not have Google Chrome, just go to translate.google.com, change your language settings to translate from Russian or Ukrainian to English and then paste the URL into the Russian/Ukrainian box. Then click on the link that pops up in the English box
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Thank you so much for your help, I truly appreciate it. This may sound like a stupid question, but where should I start to research the lineage? Im sorry I am very new at this research, but keep hitting dead ends.
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Oh, I linked to the wrong wiki page for Berezhanka. This should be the right one according to this reference.
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This is a good place to start: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ukraine_Genealogy
I'll see if I can round up some other resources for your research!
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Do you know of any resources where I could pay someone to assist me with this? Would the attached be an obituary from the wiki reference? I hate to pester you with a million questions especially since this is the most Ive gotten yet! thanks again, Racheal
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This is also a great blog with lots of good information: https://lostrussianfamily.wordpress.com/
Also, just from some quick google searches, I've found these. Perhaps they could be possible relatives who remained in Ukraine?
https://pandia.ru/text/79/508/33041.php
and this appears to be a man with the Gardiga last name that still (?) lives in Berezhanka. https://work-info.com.ua/fop/680803-fop-gardiga-anatolij-ivanovich
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It came from a database called Genealogical Research Centre, they collect information on people born in the former Russian Empire to help researchers. I'm not sure where their information comes from.
I would recommend looking at the researchers on this list. They are not paid to be on this list and have been vouched for by the author.
I also have a friend who lives in Ukraine and does research, but I can't remember which areas she specializes in. I will send you her email address in a private message
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Ellie,
I cant thank you enough. This has been so helpful after years and numerous attempts and roadblocks! This was sort of my last attempt at trying to piece this together and your gave me many possibilities to explore. Thanks again, Racheal
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Racheal, I like how you continued to ask questions and showed gratitude at the end. This makes my day to see people getting the answers that they need from Community.
Thanks Ellie and Gail for sharing your knowledge! I think you made Racheal's day!
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You are very welcome! Good luck with your research!
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