geraldgalovic
Do you have your ancestor's arrival manifest or any other US document that would have his place of birth? We do start in the location.
It is written in Cyrillic. Why not post on the Ukraine's board as well.
try to hear the pronouncation
http://ivona.comto translit your ancestral surname into Cyrillic try
http://ua.translit.cc/Which SZANKA in yours arriving NY Ellis Island?
SZANKA is written in Hungarian grammar so why are you looking in Russia/Ukraine for your ancestor? The Byzantine Catholic church's language is/was Cyrillic as well.