This information is current as of September 1988.

               INFORMATION ON GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH

The  Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic has the  honor 
to inform you about genealogical research made by the Czechoslovak 
State District Archives.

This research is based on vital statistics registers (registers of 
birth, marriage, and death) and can provide you about names of the 
searched  persons,  dates and names of their parents  and  usually 
their occupations (only in certificates of birth),  names of their 
wives  and husbands and names of the witnesses of  their  marriage 
(only  in  certificates  of marriage),  cause of  death  (only  in 
certificates of death), etc.

Research can be made either:

1. In the form of a running account
2. In the form of individual vital statistics records

      GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE FORM OF A RUNNING ACCOUNT

This research is based on information about one ancestor  (usually 
on  the date and place of his or her birth).  From this record  of 
birth  it is possible to trace the parents of the searched  person 
and under certain circumstances his or her brothers or sisters (if 
they were born at the same locality), etc.

In order to commence genealogical research about descendants of  a 
known ancestor,  it is,  however,  important to know the date  and 
place  of  his or her marriage or the date and place of  birth  of 
children.

It  is advisable to enclose to your application a deposit  of  not 
less than $50.00.  The extent of the research, however, depends on 
your limit,  up to which you are willing to finance it.  According 
to my best knowledge the adequate limit for the beginning research 
is $100.00.

The  research  fee corresponds with the number  of  working  hours 
spent  for this research by professional archivists plus  postage. 
The  administrative processing of your application(s) is  free  of 
charge.

Owing to the fact that research always depends on the accuracy  of 
information indicated at the application,  in certain  exceptional 
cases  it  is  possible that the report will be  very  limited  or 
completely  negative.   For  this  reason,   please  let  us  know 
everything,  which  could  help us identify  the  searched  person 
(numbers  4  and  5 of  the  application).  The  most  appreciated 
assistance will be,  however,  if you enclose to your  application 
copies of documents issued in Czechoslovakia.

                     VITAL STATISTICS RECORD

This  research is a step-by-step procedure,  from  the  applicants 
point of view more time consuming, but less expensive.

The deposit for certificate of birth,  marriage or death is $10.00 
per document.  It is possible, however, that because of inadequate 
information or incomplete application,  etc,  special surplus will 
have to be paid. This surplus depends on the number of hours spent 
for this research by professional archivists.

                       GENERAL INFORMATION

1.  Please  pay appropriate attention to the localization  of  the 
place  of  birth,  marriage  or  death.  If  this  information  is 
incorrect, it will be impossible to receive positive report.

2.  Certain  localities (small villages or settlements)  can  have 
exactly  the  same or very similar name.  These  names  have  been 
changed   over   the  last  centuries   after   Germanization   or 
Hungarization  of  geographic expressions  and  subsequent  change 
could have occurred after the independent Czechoslovakia came into 
being.  The misspelling of geographic expressions could happen  in 
the United States too.  For these reasons it is highly recommended 
to try to find the name of the county, parish, post office, bigger 
town or other identifiable element. It is not sufficient, however, 
to advise only Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Austria-Hungary, etc.

3.  It is not necessary to know the exact date of birth,  marriage 
or  death  and  the  research can  be  made  in  vital  statistics 
registers  for a certain period of time (several  years).  A  more 
precise date of event can make,  however, research faster and from 
the financial point of view more inexpensive.

4.  Vital  statistics  records  were administered  over  the  last 
centuries  by several churches and that's why a locality can  have 
several  registers.  Although the registers of the Roman  Catholic 
Church were dominant, in certain areas other churches were more or 
less  important  too.  Because of this fact the  religion  of  the 
researched  person is very important too and this information  can 
save much money to the applicant.

5.  the  current  capital of the Czechoslovak  Socialist  Republic 
Prague  was  divided  among many  subdivisions  having  their  own 
parishes till the beginning of the 20th century.  If your research 
concerns  Prague,  it is necessary to know the locality where  the 
searched person was born,  married,  or died.  The most  important 
localities are Stare,  Mesto,  Nove  Mesto,  Vinohrady,  Vysehrad, 
Smichov, Karlin, etc.

6.  The  Embassy will confirm the receipt of your  application  in 
about  14  days.  In  this confirmation you will  be  advised  the 
reference number of your file.  If you wish to contact the Embassy 
in this case, it is necessary to know this number.

7.  If  you  do not have the above confirmation  in  a  reasonable 
period  of time,  please make sure the Embassy had  received  your 
application.  It is advisable to send the application by certified 
or registered mail.

8. The research can be made in about 6 months. Your inquiry before 
this period cannot expedite the procedure.

9.  As  soon as the Embassy receives your report (vital  statistic 
Record) from Czechoslovakia,  it will be immediately sent to  you. 
Providing  your  deposit  does not cover  the  fee,  you  will  be 
notified  about  the unpaid balance.  As soon as this  balance  is 
paid, the Embassy will send the report (vital statistic record) to 
you by certified mail.

10.   The  Embassy  would  appreciate,  if  you  could  send  your 
application in two duplicates.

                                   Dr. Gabriel Brenka
                                   Czechoslovak Consul

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The above information was received from the Czechoslovak  Embassy. 
To start your inquiry, get a set of applications for research from 
 
    Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
    3900 Linnean Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20008

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If  you  have any information on the following surnames  from  the 
Koterbachy/Porac  area of Slovakia,  leave E-mail to GREG  on  the 
GEnie  Network  or  post in Category 10,  Topic 47  of  the  GEnie 
Genealogy Roundtable:

Kopchak Macala Cebula Stanislav Galayda Smik Baluch Varmega

Post any inquiries or comments on research in Category  10,  Topic 
47 of the Genealogy Roundtable on Genie.
 
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Gregory Joseph Kopchak
2233 Keeven Lane
Florissant, MO 63031
September 24, 1988

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This file was downloaded from GEnie's Genealogy RoundTable, File
1168, 25 Sept 1988.
