A Blog of Ukrainian Genealogy
Perhaps the most basic problem in dealing with pre-World War I records from Mosty Wielkie concerns language. I have a basic high school familiarity with Latin, but I don’t read, writie, or speak any Slavic language. Most of my Ukrainian ancestors spoke and wrote (if literate) Ukrainian, but they also had some familiarity with Polish, Yidish, and German (the latter language required in schools, or so my grandfather used to say). Names written in Ukrainian were written in the Cyrillic
Ukrainian genealogical research lacks the huge resources that compliment using the vital records of many other places, especially New England or Québec. For those areas there are published indexes, compilations and abstracts, and many published family records to help the researcher. Alas, not so with the Ukraine! Bear in mind that Ukrainian genealogy didn’t even exist 30 years ago. For anyone with Ukrainian ancestors there are some tools that you should become familiar. Above all, there’s one indispensable guide, John