Search for content in message boards

Looking for roots in America, descendents of WWII immigrant

Looking for roots in America, descendents of WWII immigrant

Posted: 21 Apr 2008 4:27AM GMT
Classification: Immigration
Surnames: Bugayenko, Bugajenko, Bugaenko, Buhayenko, Buhajenko, Buhaenko
I'm working on behalf of a dear Ukrainian friend. I lived in Ukraine for two years, working as a village schoolteacher. My good friend, the school vice principal, is looking for any possible descendents in America.

Her great uncle fled to the United States at some point after the start of the war. All that is known for sure is that he joined the Red Army in Dec. 1941 and that was the last her family had heard of him until they got a notice in the late 1980s from America looking for his relatives in Ukraine. For some reason, likely due to telecommunications and postal service of the turbulent Glasnost era, contact was never established.

My questions are these:

1. I've got 6 possible variations of the surname so far, and none of them are turning up the desired results in Ancestry. They are:

- Bugayenko
- Bugaenko
- Bugajenko
- Buhayenko
- Buhaenko
- Buhajenko

What other resources could I search?

2. What would be the process for a former soldier immigrating to America? Would he have to have clearance from the military? Would he be declared as a refugee seeking political asylum? Would there necessarily be naturalization records?

3. Are there special databases for political emigrees?

4. I hit a big dead end with the Red Cross, who I was counting on for help. Because I'm not a family member, merely a liaison for the descendent in Ukraine, they cannot help me. And the Ukrainian chapter of the Red Cross doesn't provide assistance easily. Are there any other organizations that dealt with displaced immigrants during World War II?

Re: Looking for roots in America, descendents of WWII immigrant

Posted: 22 Apr 2008 8:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
If he was of the Austria/Hungary former empire, you might try the Carpatho Rusyn Society which has a website http://www.c-rs.org/
or try the Latter Day Saints files online at familysearch.org
It's a start. If you can narrow down the area he is from you can also try to contact the local churches in America which practiced that faith because it is likely if he was religious, he would have become a member of a similar sect.
You can also send a freedom of information request to the immigration department requesting information, but if he is still living, you may not get too far.

Good Luck

Re: Looking for roots in America, descendents of WWII immigrant

Posted: 24 Apr 2008 12:31AM GMT
Classification: Query
Got to Zabasearch.com. You will find two or three of your variations with US residency. Telephone calls or letters may elicit helpful responses.

http://www.zabasearch.com/

David

Disappearance during WW2 ?

Posted: 30 Apr 2008 6:37PM GMT
Classification: Query
As per my personal experience, mail was vigorously censored in the period after WW2 until mid/late sixties??? During Glasnost there were no problems communicating by mail.
_____________________________________________________

Intl Privacy Laws are working against your success.

It would be more effective if the family in Ukraine made the inquiries for themselves.

Contacting the Tracing Service & Family Reunification Division of the Intl Red Cross in Washington DC is a gd bet. Searches are lengthy and can take up to three yrs.

There are Red Army Conscription records online.
These records are in Russian & will confirm family
history re relative's disappearance.
http://www.obd-memorial.ru/

Since their relative landed up in USA, he might have been listed in the records for DP (Displaced People) in post WW2 Germany. Turn around time can take as much as three-six months.
ITS-AROLSEN.ORG | Homepage
http://www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html

Re: Looking for roots in America, descendents of WWII immigrant

Posted: 23 Mar 2015 8:16PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Bugaenko, Buhayenko
Yelyzaveta Bugaenko, niece of Vladimir is looking for information on Konstantin Bugaenko. She is here in the USA for 2 months of study. She is from Lugansk, Ukraine. He was born 1917, went to war in 1941 and never returned. Uncle Vladimir received a will in 1988/89 that was confiscated and is lost. He may have spent some time in German camp, before going to US.
per page

Find a board about a specific topic