Welcome to the Zichydorf Village Association
Zichydorf was a village in the Banat about 70 km northeast of Belgrade, Serbia, originally settled in the middle ages as Bioseg and later by German immigrants in 1787. Zichydorf has had many names: Bioseg, Morminz, Zichydorf, Zichyfalva, Mariolana, and today Plandiste.
This is the web site of the Zichydorf Village Association. We are dedicated to the history and family histories of our ethnic German ancestors who originated from this town and its surrounding towns lying in modern Serbia. To learn more about our town and our organization, please see About ZVA in the main menu.
Banat Tours - 2019
Stasa Cvetkovic is again leading tours to visit ancestral towns in Banat this year. Travel is on a Sprinter minibus, as last year, with a capacity of 15 to 17 people. All the places to be visited are as requested by participants. Please book early and send Stasa your town names so he can coordinate the trip. There are two trips to choose from:
Tour 1: 25/26 May 2019 to 15/16 June 2019
Tour 2: 31/Aug - 01 Sep 2019 to 21/22 Sep 2019
For more information:
Stasa Cvetkovic
http://www.synergia.rs/ <http://www.synergia.rs/>
Tel/fax: +381 21 553 265
Mobile: +381 62 598 517
Novi Sad, Serbia
There is much more detail about the 2018 tour at this web page:
https://zichydorfonline.org/genealogy/35-overview/390-banat-tour-september-2018
NOTE: I have had positive experiences with Stasa as a guide and interpreter on four group tours that I arranged. I have also heard many positive reports regarding individual tours he has conducted. He also has a strong reputation for conducting research. However, I did receive one complaint about his previous tour in May 2018. The complainant felt that Stasa did not research her request prior to the tour and did not devote enough individual time to rectify the situation. I have forwarded her comments to Stasa and trust that he will make the appropriate adjustments. I trust that this was an unfortunate miscommunication that hopefully will not be repeated in the future. This also points out the importance of researching and getting answers before you go. I can provide additional detail on request.
Research and Travel in Banat
It is vitally important to have local expertise and a local interpretter when operating in Serbia and/or Romania. ZVA has had excellent experience with two individuals in Banat: Staša Cvetković and Sorin Fortiu.
Staša Cvetković
Staša is our go-to guy in Serbia. He has excellent contacts in archives and village offices throughout the Serbian Banat. He has an extensive personal database of the lcoations of various records. He is also an excellent tour planner, proposing detailed itineraries full of local interest. Staša can transport groups of up to seven people in his Mercedes Vito and is willing to travel in Romania. His web site is at http://www.synergia.rs/
Sorin Fortiu
Sorin is the premier and most professional researcher in the archives of Timisoara and Arad. He is also an expert historian. Sorin does not drive, but will conduct tours if you can arrange transportation. His web site is at http://www.genealogy.ro/
Find more detailed information on our site at Zichydorf Records Research (you must be logged in to view this link)
Newsletter 23-2 September 2018
Membership Renewal
ZVA keeps the memory of Zichydorf and its people alive on its web site through your generosity. It also provides information on many associated villages. Please help us keep the site alive by paying our annual membership fee of a paltry $10.
Membership is based on the calendar year. Please check your dues status on the web site. Log in and go to “Your Profile” in the user menu and scroll down to "Dues paid to the end of: ____" If you have not yet paid for 2018, please remit your dues using one of the options described on the Membership page. I will downgrade unrenewed members on the web site in April of each year to give you plenty of grace. From September on, I will credit new members for the following year. We are continually adding new content to the Members Only parts of the site. If you are not connected to the Internet, send your dues to the address below and I will update you. Thanks for contributing to our common cause.
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Library Listing
SGS volunteer Rae Chamberlain has completed the monumental task of compiling a list of all the items in the SGS library. You will find the PDF file here:
The first section lists items by subject - there is no associated location. The second section sorts items by location, then subject. Our Banat items are in the second section, listed under EUROPE – BANAT, except for family histories, which are in the first section listed under FAMILY HISTORY and the family name. Thanks for your efforts Rae.
Helmut Kaiser Familienbuchs
The Familienbuchs that Helmut has compiled for Zichydorf, Gross Gaj, Setschanfeld, Deutsch Stamora, and Ürmenyhaza have been invaluable aids for people researching these villages. Some of the books are in print, but all of them were online. However, the recent European General Data Protection Regulations have thrown genealogy throughout Europe into confusion. Many site owners, including Helmut, have taken down their information due to the uncertainty of how these new privacy regulations will affect them. It seems that even the Mormon Family History Library has been affected. While Helmut’s information is no longer available on the site, he will answer individual requests. I have adjusted references to this on our site accordingly. There may be further developments on this subject in the weeks and months ahead.
Zichydorfers in St. Paul MN
I would dearly love to expand our web site content regarding St. Paul, home to a large Zichydorfer community. If you can contribute anything of general interest to our members, please contact me at the address below.
Thanks to Mike O’Brien
Mike is our web host and tech guru. Mike does everything to make our web site run except provide the content. Special thanks for his recent success in eliminating the spam registrations we were receiving. I was having to manually assess and delete up to a dozen false robot registrations a day. Thanks to Mike for finding a way to filter them.
ZVA Regina Branch Meeting
Regina Branch will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 1, at Access Communications, 2250 Park St. (north door by the ball diamonds). Please press the buzzer to notify an employee to open the door. Please mark your calendar and bring along a Zichydorf friend.
Zichydorf Village Association Newsletter
edited by: Glenn Schwartz
2114 E Laurier Cres., Regina, SK, S4V 0P6
Internet: http://zichydorfonline.org
http://www.facebook.com/ZichydorfVillageAssociation
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.