I am searching for information on Mazury, in Podkarpackie, Poland. It was formerly in the Kolbuszowa administrative district of Galicia. The village is located 8.25 miles W/NW from the town Kolbuszowa. I know that there is a Catholic church in Kolbuszowa, and also one in Podlesie (2.5 miles NE of Mazury). I am wondering if anyone knows anything about other churches in the area, as I am trying to locate the closest, and therefore most likely to be helpful, church to Mazury. My great-great-grandparents, Jan Bak and Mary Malec, came from Mazury in 1903. Other family names include Skwira, Skiba and Wilk. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

To locate a town in Poland :

www.pilot.pl this way you will see the names of neighboring villages.
www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm (mapquest)
The Pilot website is locating a village named Mazury in the Podkarpackie woj. and Kolbuszowski powiat.

Some websites to help you in your research :
www.pgsa.org
www.halgal.com
http://maxpages.com/poland
www.galizien-online.de
www.sggee.org/index.html
www.rat.de/kuijsten/navigator

Check LDS-Mormons (Family History Center) website for the church records from neighboring villages.
Hope you also posted on Poland's Ancestry and Genforum board.

www.herby.com.pl/herby
The surname BAK, MALEC, SKWIRA, SKIBA and WILK does exist in pretty good numbers in Poland.

Hi Missy,
The church for Mazury/and parish also/ 100 yrs ago was in town Ranizow.Now the post code for Ranizow and Mazury is the same:36-130 Kolbuszowa county,podkarpackie Province -Poland.My regards. Stan.

I'm also interested in church records from Mazury. Were you able to contact a church in the area?

Lainey,

I've procrastinated in writing to the church in Mazury, but I do have the church name and address. I want to make sure you're talking about the same town though. There is a region Mazury in Poland, and also a few towns with that name, also. Mine is near Kolbuszowa in Podkarpackie (?). The town Mazury is very small, and doesn't actually have its own administration, post office, church, etc. The church is in Ranizow, a town about 4 miles away. If this is the Mazury you are looking for, I would be glad to share the address with you.
I see that you also listed Bak as a surname of interest in your message. Are you related to the Bak family, also? What names? My mother's maiden name is Bak and her great-grandparents immigrated from Mazury in 1903 (Jan Bak and Mary Malec), settling in Passaic (then Garfield), NJ.

Hi Melissa,

I've just been looking on mapquest.com and yes, we are talking about the same town (not the region) of Mazury, about 4 miles east of Ranizow.

I'm looking for a John Ofiara from Mazury, Poland who immigrated in 1909 to Franklin, NH.

John Ofiara married Antonia Bak who also immigrated in 1909 and whom I believe was from Trezbuska, Poland. Trezbuska is just about 4 miles south of Mazury. John Ofiara and Antonia Bak were married in 1908, so perhaps the nearby church you mentioned would have record of it. (John and Antonia were my mother's grandparents, who raised her.)

Joseph Bak, Antonia Bak, and Anna Bak were siblings. Their parents were Michael Bak and Mary Wieglosz. Joseph, Antonia, and Anna immigrated through Boston and then settled in Franklin, NH. They changed their surname to BONK upon arrival. Our families could very well have some connection back in Poland.

I don't speak/write Polish, nor do I know anyone who does. But please go ahead and send the address for the church, and perhaps I'll find someone who can help me out with writing a letter.

Thank you-Lainey

Lainey-

I've come across those names when I was searching through the Ellis Island records. I don't have my Bak information with me, but I'll check when I get home later (I'm at work now). The address for the church in Ranizow is also at home. Unfortunately, the LDS Family History Center doesn't have the Catholic church's records on microfilm. They only have the Protestant church's records. In my case, that doesn't help.

Some members of my family changed the spelling of their name to Bonk, too. That is because, when written in Polish, Bak is actually pronounced like "Bohnk". The "a" has a little tail on it, and makes a different sound than just "a". Perhaps you already knew that. If not, just a little tidbit :-)

I don't read/write Polish either, but I know someone who does. I just have to get around to writing the letter... I've been working on a different family for the past few months and kind of put the Polish research to the side.

Hey, that's really interesting about the "Bohnk" pronunciation. I do have a picture from 1909 and on the back the surname is written "Bak" with a little swiggle attached to the "a." I was wondering what that was about. I also wondered how they got from "Bak" to "Bonk", so that sorts that out. I'll pass that information on to my mother, she'll find that interesting.

And, yep, the Bonks and Ofiaras that immigrated in my family were Catholic, too. In fact, Anna Bak/Bonk was a nun. I haven't done any research at genealogy libraries yet. So far I've been sorting through old photos and documents my mother has, as well as looking through the census records. I'd love to hear any other interesting "tidbits" you come across.

Lainey

Lainey-

I'm smacking myself this morning because I forgot to look up the address last night and bring it with me. I'll have to find it tonight. I may be able to find it online today, though.

I'm glad you found the Bak/Bonk spelling helpful...

Have you found the immigration records for your Bak ancestors? With the town you mentioned being so close to Mazury, there's always a possibility they are related. I asked about the immigration records because for most of the records after 1903, they include the person's hometown and next of kin. I'm not sure if that's how you knew the three were siblings or not.

My Bak relatives include:

Jan Bak, son of Martin Bak and Maria Malec. Born 1889 in Mazury. Immigrated in 1903 to Passaic, and married Marianna Malec in 1906. (my great-great grandparents)

Jan Bak, son of Jacob Bak and Mariana Skiba. Jacob Bak was Martin Bak's brother-- presumably, because Jan/Jan were cousins. This Jan Bak was also born in 1889 in Mazury. He immigrated to Passaic in 1904 and married Sophia Malec (Marianna's sister) in 1908.

My great-great grandfather, Jan Bak (son of Martin) had at least three brothers: Leon, George and Adam. George eventually settled in Detroit.

I know, too, through immigration records that the Malecs were also related to the Wilk family. I found an immigration record where the girl was going to her cousin Sophia Malec in Passaic.

I'll try looking for the church address online. It was given to me by someone who has a friend in Poland (who was kind enough to look it up).

Melissa

Lainey-

I sent you an email yesterday, but I don't know if you received it. I have the parish address with me. It is:

Parafia pw. MB Nieustajacej Pomocy
Mazury 127
36-130 Ranizow

Phone: (017) 772 99 07

The parish chief vicar is Wiesaw Dopart


That is the information given to me. According to the source, the parish name is "Matki Bozej Nieustajacej Pomocy", which translates roughly to "Mother of God, the Everlasting Help" or something like that.

I'm debating whether I want to try my luck in calling the parish. I tried that with a family in Hungary (same town, same last name) that I thought was related. The lady doesn't speak English but luckily she speaks German, which I studied in school. She's not from the same family but I ended up talking to her for 45 minutes and now her granddaughter has been helping me via email. Who knows? Maybe the priest speaks English or German. :-)