Stephen Wainer’s Genealogy WeblogBoth my Paternal Grandparents list their birthplace as: Sniatyn, Galicia which is now a part of Ukraine. My Grandmother goes further and lists her nationality as: Ruthenian. The history of Eastern Europe is quite confusing to me. The names and rulers of various peoples and places changed so often that it’s very difficult to get a handle on what was going on at any given time in the past ( or present for that matter).
Here’s a picture postcard from Sniatyn circa 1910:
My paternal Grandmother’s name was Annie Ostafyczuk. She was also born in Sniatyn, Galicia now the Ukraine. I have her Alien Registration card and just sent away to the Department of Homeland Security using the Freedom of Information Act to get copies of her actual registration. When I did this for my Grandfather, it took 2 years for the information to arrive. I’ m hoping that it will take significantly less time this time around. For now, Here’s Annie’s Alien Registration Card:
My paternal grandfather was born in Sniatyn, Galicia which is now in the Ukraine. The name on his passport is: Bazyli Wynohradnyk. He changed his name to William Wainer, officially, when he became a naturalized U.S. citizen – more on that in a future post. Here are images from his passport.
Here are the second and third pages
