German Settlers in Alberta and from Galicia, Volhynia, Bukovina, Poland, and Russia

Settlers from Germany had begun arriving in Alberta during the early 1880s. The completion of the Edmonton-Calgary Railway line eased the way for large groups to settle in the areas around Edmonton, Wetaskiwin and even Camrose but, generally speaking, these German settlers set up homes throughout the province. The foothills south of Fort Calgary provided familiar scenery to the first wave of German-speaking people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And, in 1883, they established a colony at Pincher Creek.

When my great grandparents with their two sons first arrived on their homestead near Andrew, Alberta, in the late fall of 1897, my great grandfather, Elko Kalynchuk went to work for German farmers near Bruderheim, AB and brought back some wheat, flour and a pig’s head. I was told that Elko walked to the German farm, breaking tree branches along the way. When I look on Google maps, I am surprised at the distance that he had to walk through the bushes. Bruderheim was a German colony at the time and became a town in 1905.

At the recent annual conference of the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS), I was approached by some people who are researching on their German ancestors. Also, two local German genealogy societies (HSGPV and AHSGR) asked to be put on my mailing list, which I have done. I occasionally send out email updates on Ukrainian Canadian Genealogy. If you want to be added to this mailing list, you can email me at kalyna(at)outlook(dot)com

At this conference, I was happy to meet in person fellow researchers who are on my distribution mailing list or have attended the Zoom sessions which I put on. I am in the process of booking new speakers for the upcoming 7 or so months. I will post the details on this blog and through an email update.

 

Anthony and me chatting at the 2023 AGS Conference

When we are researching from the same regions as Galicia, Bukovina, Austro-Hungry, etc. then it is good to share information and resources with each other. I have visited the HSGPV/AHSGR office and am looking forward to networking with them. 

Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton Branch, German Special Interest Groups
German Heritage and Germans from Russia groups
https://www.abgenealogy.ca/special-interest-groups

Historical Society of Germans from Poland & Volhynia (HSGPV)

Library open by appointment on Thursdays, 587-454-0825
10014 – 81 Avenue, Edmonton.
https://hsgpv.org

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR)
Edmonton & District Chapter
https://www.german-russians.org/home
https://ahsgr.org/about/chapters/edmonton-and-district-chapter/

Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
Focuses on Germans from Russia, Poland and Volhynia, located in Calgary, Alberta
www.sggee.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1812539775626960 (private group)

The Volga Germans – Alberta
https://www.volgagermans.org/history/immigration/canada/alberta

Society for German American Studies
https://sgas.org/

Germans from Russia Heritage Society
Based in Bismarck, ND, USA
https://www.grhs.org/pages/home

German Genealogy – Prussia, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Swiss & More
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Germany.Prussia.AustroHungary.Denmark.Russia.Swiss (private)

Germans from Russia Societies - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germans_from_Russia_Societies

Germany Research Tips and Strategies - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Research_Tips_and_Strategies

Germany Genealogy - Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Genealogy

A Profile of Alberta’s German-Speaking Communities
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/historyframetop.html

German Canadians – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Canadians

German – Canadian Association of Alberta
https://www.gcaa.ca/

Polish Settlers in Alberta and from Galicia

An immigration movement from Poland to Alberta was initiated in 1895. The Polish people were mainly Roman Catholic and came mostly from Galicia. According to the 1911 Census of Canada, there were 2,243 and in 1921 there were 7,172 Polish people in Alberta. The first two significant waves of Polish immigration to Canada were from 1854-1901 and 1902-1915.

When I started my genealogy and family research on the Kalynchuk family branch over 30 years ago I was told that my great grandparents, Elko and Anastasia Kalynchuk’s first son Wasyl, married a Polish girl from Vermilion, Alberta. When I traveled to the Ukrainian Catholic cemetery at Northern Valley with my Father, he pointed to a spot next to her husband, Wasyl’s grave and said that Anilia was buried there. She had no gravestone nor marker. A black cross has since been added.

Anilia Zaraska was born in 1895 in Mostys'ka, L'vivs'ka and came to Canada in 1913 with her father, Ivan (John), stepmother, Mary and two brothers, Wolodymir (Walter) and Michael (Mike). Mostyska is still in the Lviv Oblast (province) and close to the Polish border.

Screen Shot from Google.ca/maps

In 2002, I took on a big project with assisting my friend, Anne V. (Thoms) Lummerding with her Thoms Family History book. Her father’s family village is Stare Selo (Siolo) which is in the Przemysl Oblast and now in Poland. Stare Selo means Old Village. I made a trip to Salt Lake City to attend a FEEFHS Conference and in my spare time, researched in the Polish microfilms for Anne. I learned so much during this process. The records were in Latin which is easy to read (at least for me). Here is an example of what I found at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City. Now, a lot of this information is available online and has been digitalized.

The Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS)
https://feefhs.org/
https://feefhs.org/index.php/resource/poland



One of the issues in genealogical researching in the northwestern part of Galicia is that there was a population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine. Ethnic Ukrainians were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR and ethnic Poles and Jews were transferred to Poland. The population transfer took place between 1944 to 1946.

Population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange_between_Poland_and_Soviet_Ukraine

World War II and Its Aftermath: Western Ukraine under Soviet and Nazi Rule
https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Ukraine/World-War-II-and-its-aftermath

Organizations:

Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society
https://kpkalberta.com/

Canadian Polish Historical Society
https://www.cphsalberta.org/

https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/

Canadian Polish Research Institute
http://www.canadianpolishinstitute.org/

Polish Genealogical Society of America
https://pgsa.org/

Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Association)
https://genealodzy.pl/index.php


Resources:

Polish Settlers in Alberta, Joanna Matejko (ed), 1979

Polonia in Alberta 1895-1995: The Polish Centennial in Alberta, Andrzej M. Kobos and Jolanta T. Pekacz (eds), 1995

The Polish Community in Canada, R.K. Kogler, 1979

History and Integration of Poles in Canada, W.B. Makowski, 1967

A Member of a Distinguished Family: The Polish Group in Canada, H. Radecki and B. Heydenkorn, 1976

The Poles in Canada, L.K. Zubkowski, 1968

In Their Words, A Genealogist’s Translation Guide. Vol. 1: Polish, Vol. 2: Russian, Vol. 3: Latin, Vol.4: German, J. Shea & W. Hoffman

A Translation Guide to 19th Cent. Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents, Judith R. Frazin

Polish Parish Records of the Roman Cath. Church, G. Ortell

A History of Poland, Oskar Halecki, 1992

Poland: The First Thousand Years, P.M. Dabrowski, 2016

Jewish Roots in Poland (book), Miriam Weiner, 1997
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Roots_in_Poland

Polish Pioneer Settlements
https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/the-beginning-of-a-community.html

Polish Immigration to Alberta before the Second World War
https://www.cphsalberta.org/publications/polish-immigration-to-alberta-before-the-second-world-war/

Poles in Kalyna Country - From Krakow, Poland, to Krakow, Alberta: Kalyna Country’s Polish Connections
https://www.kalynacountry.com/poles-kalyna-country/

Polish Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/poles

Polish Canadians – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Canadians

Poland Genealogy
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Genealogy

Poland Online Genealogy Records
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Online_Genealogy_Records

Association of Polish Professional Genealogists
http://progenealogia.org/en/main-page/

Geneteka Genealodzy
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php

Metryki.Genealodzy.pl
http://metryki.genealodzy.pl/

Polish Roots
www.polishroots.org/Home/Index

Polish Origins
https://polishorigins.com/

Researchers in Poland and Translation Services
Polish Genealogical Society of New York State
https://pgsnys.online/research/polish-researchers-translators/

Facebook Polish Genealogy Group (private group)

https://sites.google.com/view/polishgenealogygroup/home

Monument honouring Polish immigrants erected at
Pier 21 in Halifax, Copyright of Globalnews.ca

Jewish Settlers in Alberta and, from Galicia and Bukovina

From the 1880s to 1919, was a start of the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews to Alberta.

The Alberta Ukraine Genealogical Project has information on the religious affiliation and primary language of conversation in the villages. If you go to their website at https://sites.ualberta.ca/~ukrville/Family_History_Portal/fhp.htm then click on “Maps”, then click on your District, then click on your village, it gives you the stat’s for the year of 1900.

In my Baba’s family village of Maliatyntsi, District of Kitsman there was 21 Catholic, 1274 Greek Orthodox, 45 Jewish and one “other”. Also, interesting to note that 49 listed German as their primary language of conversation. The majority spoke Ukrainian (Ruthenian).

In 2019, when I was in Ukraine I took a city tour of the city of Chernivtsi, and my tour guide Vasyl Kuzyk showed me the Palace of Culture and Jewish History Museum. We then went to the Turkish Square, and he pointed straight ahead and said that the Jewish Quarters is that direction pass the Turkish Square. I was too tired to walk that far but on my next trip to Chernivtsi, I will be checking it out. Vasyl does genealogical research for clients, has a car, is a driver and translator. He also can pick you up at the Chernivtsi Airport and translate documents for you. https://www.ace-interpreter.com/

Note that at its peak in 1941, more than 45,000 Jews lived in Chernivtsi. Today the Palace of Culture (also known as the Jewish National House) houses a museum dedicated to the history of Bukovina’s Jews.

Palace of Culture - Jewish People’s House (Chernivtsi) - 2021,
Copyright of Tripadvisor.co.uk

History of the Jews in Chernivtsi - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Chernivtsi

With doing more family research I am learning the importance of broaden my scope on local history. The Priest’s Grotto is near my Kalynchuk family village of Strilkivtsi, in the former district of Borshchiv (it is now in the district/raion of Chortkiv).

Borschiv was occupied by the Axis troops in July 1941 and several mass executions of Jews were carried out in the town. In April 1942 a Borshchiv Jewish ghetto was established here. Between spring and summer of 1943, approximately 400 Jews were sent to the Ivanovka camp and more than 2,300 Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery. On the eve of the war there were about 3000 Jews living in the town.

Borshchiv Ghetto - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borshchiv_Ghetto

The Jewish Ghetto, Borshchiv, Ukraine (then Borszczow, Poland)
Museum of Family History
https://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/ghetto/borszczow.htm

When I was at the Borshchiv Museum in the town square, I purchased a book on the Priest’s Grotto Caves. One of my nephew’s was interested in caves, so at the time I was thinking more of him. However later I learned more about these caves and about the stories of the several Jewish families who lived in the caves during the WWII, with some up to 511 days.

Priest’s Grotto – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest%27s_Grotto

The Cave - the Secret of Priest's Grotto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9UypyhdbHg

The Portal of Life Entrance to Priests Grotto Cave in Western Ukraine

Copyright of the "Europe Between East and West"

Reference:

Jewish Federation of Edmonton

https://www.jewishedmonton.org/

Jewish in Alberta, Canada
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/alberta

History of the Jews in Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Canada

Jewish Canadians
https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/ethno-cultural/pages/jewish-canadians.aspx

Jewish Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jewish-canadians

Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova; Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories, Miriam Weiner, 1999, out of print, used copies of this book can be purchased online. It can be viewed at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/jewishrootsinukr0000wein and a summary on the book is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Roots_in_Ukraine_and_Moldova

The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation Inc.
https://www.rtrfoundation.org/index.shtml
Ukraine section - https://www.rtrfoundation.org/archps3.shtml

Ukraine Jewish Records – Family Search Wiki
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ukraine_Jewish_Records

JewishGen
https://www.jewishgen.org/

M. Rubin, "Alberta's Jews: The Long Journey," in: H. and T. Palmer (eds.), Peoples of Alberta: Portraits of Cultural Diversity (1985), 329–47

H.M. Sanders, "Jews of Alberta," in: Alberta History, 47 (1999), 20–26

Irving M. Abella, A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada (1990)

Howard Adelman and John Simpson, eds, Multiculturalism, Jews, and Identities in Canada (1995)

Gerald Tulchinsky, Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community (1992)

History of Ukraine

Ukrainians started coming to Canada in the 19th century. The Canadian government was promoting the immigration of farmers from Eastern Europe. The first major immigration occurred between 1891 and 1914, primarily from the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Galicia and Bukovina. This resulted in around 170,000 rural, poor immigrants settling primarily in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

The following books are meant to assist you with your understanding the history of Ukrainian lands and why your ancestors came to Canada. Many of these books are available through the Edmonton Public Library, CUIS and University of Alberta Press, on Amazon etc.

Books

History of Ukraine-Rus, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, https://www.ualberta.ca/canadian-institute-of-ukrainian-studies/centres-and-programs/jacyk-centre/hrushevsky-translation-project/index.html

A History of Ukraine, Michael Hrushevsky, 1941 (reprinted version 1970)

Encyclopedia of Ukraine, edited by Volodymyr Kubijovyc and Danylo Husar Struk, 1984 (five volumes and Map & Gazetteer) https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/default.asp

Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopaedia (two volumes), editor-in-chief was Volodymyr Kubiyovych, reprinted 1970 and 1971

A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples, Second Edition, Paul Robert Magocsi, 2010

Ukraine: A History, Orest Subtelny, Forth Edition, 2009

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, Serhii Plokhy, Revised Edition, 2021

Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation, Andrew Wilson, Fourth Edition, 2015

Ukraine: Past and Present, R.P. Samoil, 1996

Outline of Ukrainian History, Clarence A Manning, Second Edition, 1964

Women in Russia and Ukraine, edited by Rosalind Marsh, 1996

Eighteenth-Century Ukraine: New Perspectives on Social, Cultural, and Intellectual History

Edited by Zenon E. Kohut, Volodymyr Sklokin, and Frank E. Sysyn with Larysa Bilous, 2023
https://www.ciuspress.com/product/eighteenth-century-ukraine/?v=3e8d115eb4b3

Galicia and Bukovina

Galicia and Bukovina: A Research Handbook About Western Ukraine, Late 19th, and 20th Centuries, John-Paul Himka, 1990 https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/11849/file.pdf

Galician Villagers and the Ukrainian National Movement in the Nineteenth Century, John-Paul Himka, 1988 https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/14478/file.pdf

Peasants with Promise: Ukrainians in Southeastern Galicia, 1880-1900, Stella Hryniuk, 1991
https://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/860-9780920862742-peasants-with-promise

Galicia: A Historical Survey and Bibliographic Guide, Paul R. Magocsi, 1985

Videos

Timothy Snyder: The Making of Modern Ukraine (23 classes)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_
https://snyder.substack.com/p/syllabus-of-my-ukraine-lecture-class

The View Here on the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with Dr. Larry Wolff, 2 March 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81U9gCyx1CA

The Myth of Galicia, Dr. Martin Pollack, Toronto, 9 March 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yxHexRa4tQ

Bukovina, a Ukrainian Land (1939) documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbVIN2WraXQ

Discover Bucovina: The Homeland of Romanian Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujolOedFOkU

The Outcast Polish Ukrainian movie 1933 English subs
This rare Polish film deals with some serious misunderstandings in a Ukrainian Hucul village.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrlGSw4a8CY

Courtesy of Internet Archive, 2016,
Book Image, Public Domain

Courtesy of University of Alberta Press,
1991, Book Image, Public Domain