Information on family 'Dedina' or 'Wilczynska' town in Poland
Drohobycz address 45 Wolskiego Ulica year 1900/1934

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Clarification of Question by smudge1-ga on 15 Dec 2003 15:12 PST

I have found out the area in Drohobycz was Schodnica. Family names
Dedina or Wilczynska. Several members of family left for America prior
to 2nd World War. All information gratefully received - no matter how
small. I am trying to build up a picture of my family on my mother's
side. Thankyou.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 15 Dec 2003 17:22 PST

Hello there,

There is a smattering of information available in genealogical records
for Wilczynska/i, and quite a lot of information for Dedina's.

As a "for instance", some of the Wilczynska records include:

Estelle Wilczynska b. 1/2/1916 Niagara Falls, NY
...F: Anthony   M: Lilian Ciesielski  H: John Szczes

Jadviqa Wilczynska  b. 1926 
...F: Michael (John) H: Felix Moszkato

Marcella Wilczynska b. 4/22/1863  Rochowajce Poland


There are other Wilczynska records, but not a great deal of
information beyond birth dates, parents and spouses.

For the Dedina clan it's another story.  There are hundreds of records
from passenger lists, census records, death indexes, and so on.  It's
not feasible to post all this information here, or sort through it and
summarize it for you.  You would really need to access it yourself and
decide which leads seemed the most promising.

Perhaps you can suggest a way to move forward on youor question.  If
you'd like, I can certainly post an answer that explains how to access
some of the key genealogical data sources so you can search for
information yourself.  But if you prefer another approach, just let me
know your preferences, and I'll do my best to help out.

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Clarification of Question by smudge1-ga on 16 Dec 2003 04:25 PST

Hello,
I need to explain that I am working very much in the dark regarding
tracing my family Dedina and Wilczynska. Areas that are relevant to my
enquiry seem to be centred around Schodnica - Drohobycz - Boryslaw. My
mother died in 1986 and memories were there but confused and muddled
about dates.

My mother came from around the above areas.
She spoke of her father being killed in a mining accident(?). Her
widowed mother had to buy Polish(?) Nationality for her brothers and
sisters. Some emigrated to USA. Her own mother died before WW2.
My late mother had recollections of being driven to a nearby Convent
where she was taught many skills. In fact she was an excellent
needlewoman of many needle crafts.
She married an older man and a daughter was born to them. This would
be my half sister - Czeslawa or Natalia either Dedina or Wilczynska.
Date of birth could be around 20.12.1934.
I suggest my late mother may have been of the Catholic/Orthodox Faith.
She spoke many times of her Jewish friends in the area and joined them
to celebrate various feast days and vica versa.
Outbreak of WW2 they were all seperated and never reunited. Simply no
trace of them after the war.
My mother married before the war a Stanislaw (either Dedina or
Wilczynski surname) who was last traced to a Stalag V-A as a prisoner
of war - possibly a corporal of 22nd Artillery Regiment.
The address of 45 Wolskiego Ulica does keep cropping up.
As for my late mother she was taken to a Russian Labour Camp. After
they were released she continued with her nursing career in the 8th
Army.

Any further leads you can give me would be appreciated so I can build
a family tree for my own family.

Thankyou.

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Clarification of Question by smudge1-ga on 17 Dec 2003 05:17 PST

Information on register that holds details of Polish Citizenships. I
am searching for details from the Drohobycz area prior to WW1. THE
FAMILY NAME IS DEDINA and purchase of citizenship came about due to
the death of my Grandfather for his surviving children. He was killed
in a mining accident in the region of Drohobycz.

As you probably know the male version of the family name Wilczynska is Wilczynski.

As Drohobycz is part of the Ukraine there a several names for this
city, depending on the language:
http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/97/Roman_Zakharii/drohobych.htm

Just in case it is you who is interested in the history of the Convent
in Drohobycz Town (I do not know if this was the only Convent in
Drohobycz):
http://www.bonifratrzy.pl/drohobycz/

Please confirm you have received my Clarification beginning
Hello,
I need to explain that I am working very much..... etc

Please add to this clarification that my mother's name was OLGA,her
husband most probably Stanislaw and daughter either Natalia  or
Czeslawa.
Again thanks very much.

Hello,
I need to explain that I am working very much in the dark regarding
tracing my family Dedina and Wilczynska. Areas that are relevant to my
enquiry seem to be centred around Schodnica - Drohobycz - Boryslaw. My
mother died in 1986 and memories were there but confused and muddled
about dates.

My mother came from around the above areas.
She spoke of her father being killed in a mining accident(?).
 Her widowed mother had to buy Polish (?) Nationality for my mother
and her brothers and sisters. Some emigrated to USA. Her own mother
died before WW2. My late mother had recollections of being driven to a
nearby Convent where she was taught many skills. In fact she was an
excellent needlewoman of many needle crafts.
She married an older man and a daughter was born to them. This would
be my half sister - Czeslawa or Natalia either Dedina or Wilczynska.
Date of birth could be around 20.12.34.
i suggest my late mother may have been of the Catholic/Orthodox Faith.
She spoke many times of her Jewish friends in the area and joined them
to celebrate various feast days and vice versa.
Outbreak of WW2 they were all seperated and never reunited. Simply no
trace of them after the war.
my mother married before the war a Stanislaw (either Dedina or
Wilczynski surname) who was last traced to a Stalag V-A as a prisoner
of war - possibly a corporal of 22nd Artillery Regiment.
The address of 45 Wolskiego Ulica does keep cropping up.
As for my late mother she was taken to a Russian Labour Camp. After
they were released she contined with her nursing career in the 8th
Army.
My mother's christian name was Olga.

Any further advice on leads would be very much appreciated.

I would like to build up a family treee for my own family.

Thankyou.

Apparently, although I'm not quite sure about it, Dedina was a Czech
name, whereas Wilczynski was a Polish name.

Both Drohobycz and Bohemia were part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
As Czechoslovakia and Poland gained their independence after WW1 it
seems plausible that your grandmother had to acquire Polish
citizenship.
There may be a website somewhere giving details of Polish citizenship after WW1.

Dear Smudge, 

I did extensive research but didn't find much, so I am posting it
here. If you would like this information  posted as an answer (I will
also do my best to research it further in that case), please post the
question again, as this one is about to expire.

First, I found the name Wilczynska among names of people murdered by
the Ukranian Nationalists. That could be family member, but could be
also a coincidence. It should be mentioned that "In 1939, the town's
population was made up of 10,000 Poles, 10,000 Ukrainians and 15,000
Jews [...]" (See: http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/97/Roman_Zakharii/drohobych.htm).
Of those, after the war, mostly Ukrainian were left in the town. Only
400 of the town's Jews survived the concentration camps, and many
Poles fled.

About the area itself and the address: the names - both the Polish and
the Slovak (Dedina means a village in Slovak. It is probably not a
Czech name, but a Slovak name found among Czechs) - add up since the
region is influenced by thos enations by proximity to Eastern Poland
and to the Slovak border. (See:
http://www.calle.com/info.cgi?lat=49.2333&long=23.3500&name=Schodnica&cty=Ukraine&alt=1978).

None of the two names is mentioned in the 1929 business Directory for the town. 

This is the church of Schodnica : http://www.dante.krakow.pl/~foto/cerkiew.htm 
This man once researched the Church and might have knowledge on the
whereabouts of birth and marriage records :
http://www2.uj.edu.pl/IRO/SYLFF/Fellows/Rafal_Quirini_Poplawski.html

Schodnica's Ukrainian name is Skhidnytsia.