Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:13 pm
Post subject: How to search for Grandmother Marie Piwetzkie
Hi, I am new to this forum so please bear with me. My father was born in Frankfurt on the Oder, Brandenburg, East Germany which, I believe, borders Poland. He was born in January 1922 and his name was Marian Pajor. On his death certificate names of parents are Albert Pajor and Marie or Maria Piwetzkie which I suspect is a Polish surname. Unfortunately all I have on my grandparents are their names and have no idea when or where they were born. Can anyone help point me in the right direction as to how/where to look?
Any help or information would be much appreciated.
Thank you
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JamesPolishOrigins Team
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Replies: 226
Location: WEST VIRGINIA , USABack to top |
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:03 am
Post subject: Frankfurt on the Oder
Hi bpajor,
Your fathers Birth certificate should have his parents names, and would probably have the name of the town / city where they were living.
Your grandparents Death certificates should have the location of their birth place.
You might want to start by contacting the archive for Frankfurt on the Oder, or Brandenberg, Germany.
( An approximate date for your fathers birth would be helpful )
You may be able to do this via the internet.
Most Polish archives are accessible via the internet, and will perform a search for a fee, but I am not familiar with German archives.
Maybe another member here at PO will have more info for you concerning German archives.
Good luck with your search,
James
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:28 am
Post subject:
Hi James
Many thanks for your reply and help offerred. I have my father's date of birth but unfortunately not his birth certificate but will try the archives you suggested. I hope the spelling of his mother's maiden name, Piwetzkie was correct as he died in Scotland and there is always the possibility it was just written down as it sounded by the registrar's clerk. Also the name Pajor could have been changed from something else and have no idea if it is German or Polish. Any ideas on that.
Kind regards
Karen
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JamesPolishOrigins Team
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Replies: 226
Location: WEST VIRGINIA , USABack to top |
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 8:33 am
Post subject: Name changes
You never know about name changes.
Sometimes they were misspelled, because of a language barrier, sometimes the family changed it themselves ( to " Americanize" it )
I've had both occur in my family research.
Two separate ship manifests from Ellis Island, and two from the Hamburg Passenger list, all had the correct spelling for my family name, Cybulski. The only difference I found was the feminine ending of "ska" , for my great grandmother, as compared to the masculine "ski" for my great grandfather. At first I could not locate my great grandmothers record at Ellis Island, but I was searching for Julia Cybulski, the name I knew her by. When I realized that she would have spelled her name with the feminine ending of " ska " , I found her right away.( except that her first name was spelled " Julya " on the manifest)
The real name changes appeared in records from the USA.
The 1910 US Census spelled the name " Sabruski ", and the 1920 US Census spelled it " Cybulsky " and had my great grandfathers first name as " John " instead of Antoni. but all of the important information matched up; ie. wife and children first names, dates, ages, location, etc...
My dads uncle changed the spelling of our name to " Cybul ". This seems to be a pattern with some Polish immigrants, to drop the ending of " ski ", to be more American, or hide the fact of being Polish, maybe because of unfair treatment, or harassment, or easier to find employment.
My cousins have told me that they do not know the reason for their dad changing the spelling of their name.
These changes made me realize that I had to focus on all of the information, not just the surname.
I hope that this is helpful.
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ZenonPolishOrigins Team Leader
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Replies: 1532
Location: PolandBack to top |
Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:55 am
Post subject:
Karen,
Pajor is quite popular surname in Poland and for me it seems to keep its original spelling. Click here: http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/pajor.html to see distribution of the surname in present-day Poland.
As for Piwetzkie it looks to my Polish eyes as Germanized Polish surname Piwecki occurring close to west border with Germany, also nearby Frankfurt by Oder. Click here for distribution of Piwecki surname: http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/piwecki.html . Of course, the spelling is only my guess which needs verification.
Good luck and let us know about results of your search 
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