Once we were Austrians
We have always believed that my great grandfather, Vladimir, was of Austrian decent, but so far nothing in my search has been able to provide me with any links.
Until I received the EWZ records.
It turns out that Mikhail, Vladimir’s father, was not born in Khotyn, Bessarabia, but an entirely different place. Unfortunately the ink has faded, so I am not able to read if the name is Kastowitz or Kattowitz – most unfortunate as both are city names.
Kastowitz is a small town of Bohemia, in the circle of Prachin, known for its cattle market twice a year 1). Unfortunately it doesn’t seem as if this small town still exists today. I can only find one reference to it (a book published in 1819). The area used to be part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy, and today it is part of the Czech Republic.
Kattowitz (Katowice) is located in the southern Poland. It was part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy until 1742, and gained city status under Preussian ruling in 1865. Today it is a rapidly growing city and emerging metropolis 2).
Both places had a fair amount of German inhabitants.
Most importantly right now, is the information from the EWZ records that Mikhail’s son, Vladimir, was an Austrian citizen. With all probability Mikhail would be so too.
This also makes Kastowich, Bohemia, the most likely birthplace. But enough of that for now.
These information helps us to find other answers;
Since Mikhail was not born in Khotyn, Bessarabia, the probability of him being related to Jewish Mekhel and his two brothers in Khotyn is very slim.
In other words, nothing points at Mikhail being Jewish at this moment.
We can also establish that Mikhail indeed did emigrate and landed in Khotyn some time between 1859 and 1884 (the time between the Revision list and Vladimir’s birth). This certainly narrows things down.
And takes my search in a complete new direction. I shall now head for Austria…
On a note, it has also been established that Mikhail’s father’s name was Michael. Now, this is from a German document, so it bears the German spelling. Mikhail lived in Bessarabia and bore the Russian spelling. But which of the spellings are the correct ones?
Perhaps there was a reason as to why they chose names that both have a German and a Russian version…
The Genealogy Quest 