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Archiver > HUNGARY > 2001-10 > 1002113968


From:
Subject: Re: [HUNGARY-L] Romanian records
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 08:59:28 EDT


In a message dated 10/1/2001 11:55:10 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
writes:

<< Any ideas on how to get information from Romania? Is it hard getting info
from there? >>

Answer to second question -- depends on what you think is 'hard' or "easy".
Many people have successfully obtained family records from the various
locations of the Romanian Archives. See the following brief description for
one location of the Romanian Archives.

>>>>Archives
Romanian Government Archives, Timisoara

It is possible to obtain access to parish registers for the Romanian Banat in
the Romanian Government Archives in Timisoara. Request permission by writing
(English now accepted) to:
Directia Generala a Arhivelor Statului
B-dul Regina Elisabeta 49
70602 Bucuresti
ROMANIA>>>>>

Also, there is a well-written (and therefore more complex) discussion of
WHERE former Hungarian Kingdom church books are in Romania today, what
restrictions there are to accessing them etc now posted at

http://feefhs.org/ro/genro/gap.html

While this site focuses on Danube Swabian history, the information regarding
Romanian Archives REMAINS pertinent. Please read this information carefully
-- including the references and notes to the article.

Extract from site above
>>>These and the archive documents regarding the Donauschwaben villages in
the Romanian Banat [and other Romanian, Serb or Hungarian villages existing
in the region of Romanian Banat] can be found in the National Archives of
Timisoara, Arad or Caransebes. All the church books [for all the religions]
for the Romanian Banat villages are available in Romanian archives and/or
parishes.

Sometimes the research is difficult, and there is no golden rule. Every
primary source of information must be checked [including the civil
registration], in order to have success [10] in genealogical research:
the National Archives branch from Timisoara, Arad, Caransebes [church records
before 1900],
the parishes in the villages [records after 1895],
the archive for the Bishopric of Timisoara [for the second copy [12] of the
church records after 1895],
the mayoralty from the villages [for the first copy of civil registration for
period after 1895],
the County Civil Registration [where the second copy of the civil
registration is kept].

After the 2nd World War, the church or state authorities transferred some
parish records to archives existing in Timisoara, Arad, and Caransebes
because the villages were depopulated [11] or for other administrative or
political reasons. In a very few cases it is possible that, over time,
original books or part of them, disappeared or in some cases were destroyed.

Only a few of the records were lost during the 2nd World War or in the first
years of the communist regime. In fact, no one [not even the communists]
planned to deliberately destroy these records and archives in Romania. Based
on our experience [10] we can tell that records were no more often destroyed
in Romania than in Hungary, or in other Central European countries. Stories
regarding destruction of records on a large scale are just a myth [12].>>>>

Information to contact the author of this fine article is
Sorin Fortiu
GenealogyRo Group
http://feefhs.org/ro/genro/frggenro.html

The Archives WILL answer requests - it may take many months -- they DO expect
payment wired directly to Romania before they will send documents. But, the
experiences of others demonstrate that the Archive (at least at Timisoara)
does answer and does provide documents IF found.

You will probably find additional Internet sites for information about
Romanian Genealogy by using any good SEARCH engine. google.com, yahoo.com,
dogpile.com etc etc.

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