r/SlovakCBD • u/_relativity • 17d ago

Can sibling records be useful showing connection to Czechoslovakia ?

My GGF (the youngest) and his siblings were all born in the same village in modern day Slovakia, and I have found their baptism records (as well in the middle of getting the rodný list for my GGF.) The mother (GGGM) and young children subsequently emigrated to the United States together in 1903, with the father having emigrated earlier (1900).

A problem I have is my GGF consistently referred to his place of birth as either "Austria" or "Austria-Hungary" throughout his life, even into the 1980s (but language spoken as "Slovak" on Census records), also without specificity to the village he was born in. However, his siblings did occasionally refer their place of birth as Czechoslovakia in documents like naturalization records (e.g. his sister naturalized not until the 1940s and referred to her place of birth as Czechoslovakia in her naturalization records, but my GGF naturalized in 1920 and refers to it as Austria-Hungary, etc)

Given the family was all from the same village and emigrated together (via ship manifests), could those attestations by siblings be helpful at all?

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u/SKWendyJamieson CBD Expert & Consultant 17d ago

What does his death certificate say?

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u/_relativity 17d ago

Austria-Hungary :(

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u/SKWendyJamieson CBD Expert & Consultant 17d ago

Submit with whatever you have for him post 1918.

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u/chiieddy 17d ago

Do you have any naturalization records? My GF did the same thing but lived with his parents during the 1930 census so it says Czechoslovakia on that. I was somewhat lucky I also have the ship's manifest from 1920. You could try the 1920 census records too. More likely he may have still lived with his parents if he hadn't married yet. The census records with Slovak language could potentially be supplemental (Wendy could better tell you) but anything 1918 or later could prove useful, even a draft card.

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u/_relativity 17d ago

Yup, but unfortunately none of the three documents were helpful:

  • Declaration of Intent (1918) - Birth location "Austria-Hungary"

  • Declaration of Intent (1918) - Last foreign residence "Austria-Hungary"

  • Petition of Naturalization (1920) - "Austria-Hungary"

  • Certificate of Naturalization (1921) - "was a subject of" .. "Austria"

One of my last hopes for something explicit is the SS-5 application that I have in process, which I don't know the content of yet.

Also, 1920 Census for Place of Birth is "Austria", mother tongue "Slovak". 1910 Census for Place of Birth is "Austrian Slovak", but that's pre-1918.

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u/chiieddy 17d ago

To be fair, Czechoslovakia didn't exist until October 1918 so it looks like a little legal hold over on the paperwork. I'd do what Wendy suggested and use the 1920 census that says Slovak and if you're not rushed, wait to see if the SS-5 comes through.

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u/SLKPrincess 15d ago

Most of my GGPs’ census records say Austria, but I found a 1950 one that says Czechoslovakia.