Hi Bernd

The cost of the contract was broken down into two parts. The first was to confirm where my late father came from and cost 100 Euros. I had the advantage of finding Chutor Wasilewsky to help narrow the search! The second cost was to find a living relative and was 200 Euros. I also had to pay all bank charges. I chose Interinfo as they were based in Kiev and they were very patient while I made up my mind about spending the money.

Interinfo obtained copies of various marriage and death certificates. One of their researchers visited a cousin to find out family details and this allowed them to forward various photographs and letters to me as well.

My problem now is my father's family speaks only Ukrainian or Russian. As a further twist, my mother is German (from Westphalia), but sadly my German is very poor . If you are still curious, my parents met each other in London, England in 1952 and German helped to bring them together, my father learning it in Austria between 1941-7.

Please email me if I can give any more help.

Regards
Michael Wasilewski

Hi Michael,
could you please say something about the cost?
Thanks in advance
Bernd

Hi Ivan

Last year I was able to trace my relatives in and around Zhytomyr. I used a company called Interinfo, whose email address is info@genealogy.kiev.ua. They were very efficient, completing the entire job in slightly less than a month. I suspect they know what type of approach works best and which address to use!

Good luck
Michael Wasilewski

Thanks

I sent an e-mail to the State Committee on Archives of Ukraine and they don't know which ZIP code is correct.

Hi Ivan,

I got response 4 month after sending a letter.
A reply to my email I got the next day (Archives Kamenenz Podolsk).
I send both inquirys in german and english.

Greetings Heidi

Ivan,
lassen sie sich doch per Mail die Postadresse von dem Archiv schicken.
Und den Brief dann per Einschreiben und mit Rückschein an das Archiv schicken ,
so hat man dann die Gewissheit ,das der Brief angekommen ist.

The site of the State Archives of Ukraine gives 2 different ZIP codes for the adress of the State Arvhive of Zhytomyr:

10003 > http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/Archives/#Zhytomyr
10014 > http://www.archives.gov.ua/Archives/index.php?ra06

Which one is correct??

On July 2006 I wrote a letter (in Ukranian) to the archive asking for the birth certificate of my grandfather. A few weeks ago I sent them an e-mail and they answered me they hadn't received the letter. So, I sent the letter again, but this time in English.

How long is the delay for getting an answer??

Greetings, Ivan.