Newsletter 27-2 November 2022

Introduction

I normally plan our Fall newsletter and meeting for early to mid-October, so I apologize for being tardy this year. I hope you can sympathize with my state of always having more to do than time allows. Contributing to this late publication is the fact that I do not have much to report. I hope you will find these few items useful.

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 2022, 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. If you prefer snail mail, send your dues to the address at the bottom of this letter and I will update you. Thanks for contributing to our common cause.

New ZVA web site

I must apologize again for being too busy as I have made little progress on finalizing the upgrade to a new web site. The existing site still functions pretty well for users, but it is a little more cumbersome for site management. We will try to sort out the final details and get the new site up and running by spring.

Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin Archives

Many of our Banat ancestors came from Alsace in today’s France. If you trace your people back far enough it may lead to the Bas-Rhin (Lower Rhine) or Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhein) Archives. These archives have been online for some time. I have learned from mailing lists for Alsace-Lorraine and Germans from Russia that there have been problems accessing them recently. Although no one seems to know for sure, it may have to do with a consolidation of the two archives in conjunction with a government reorganization of the two départements (provinces) into one. Another message says that “Access from abroad has been restricted for security reasons” and Familysearch says “Access is currently limited to users in France.” There is no indication what the problem is or when it might be resolved.

Someone said that indexed Bas-Rhin records are available at FamilySearch.org. (You must set up a free account first.) From the home page click on Search > Records > Find a Collection and type in France, Bas-Rhin. However, the FamilySearch page says that they are only available in France. I do not have personal experience with this, so I cannot provide definitive guidance.

For those of you with the technical know-how, I have been told that you can access the archives using a VPN (virtual private network) through a server in France.

ZVA Regina Branch Meeting

 Regina Branch will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 13, 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.

Research and Travel in Banat

It is vitally important to have local expertise and a local interpreter 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)