In the Daily Journal (Park Hills, MO), Donny Hickman has written an article, Tracing family roots over 6,000 miles, concerning two men tracing their family back to Slovakia, and how much they were able to piece together. A very fascinating article.
From the article:
From Fulianka, Slovakia, Michael Ivanko, came to America, following his brother Janos who had come in 1899 in search of a better life. They found it in the lead mines of the Old Leadbelt. Things were going well and so other siblings would also come here.
But then, the Iron Curtain descended across Eastern Europe after World War I, Janos’ little boy and his mother left in Slovakia were cut off from the rest.
More than 80 years later, from his home in rural Desloge, Michael’s grandson, Mike Lukachick would begin to piece his family back together
The Ivankos’ story is not unique in several ways. Millions of Europeans came to the USA, especially after 1880. Many parents left children with grandparents or the husband came alone so that there would be fewer restrictions on living arrangements or expenses and in the expectation of return to the homeland. In some cases that separation became permanent. The death of Janos in 1918 was the true cause for Yurai and his mother being left in Czechoslovakia. It would be interesting to know if the letters written between the World Wars included an offer to sponsor emigration. The blame in this case should not fall on the Nazis or the Iron Curtain, both of which came to Czechoslovakia more than 20 years after Janos’ death.