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research

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I'm trying to research my husband's grandmother and grandfather.  I'm not sure where to start.  I have found records in America but trying to go to Eastern Europe is very confusing.  His grandfather's last name in America was Pattsner.  Not sure what it was before.  Records I've found list him and his wife as from Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria.  His grandmother'maiden name best I can see was Vojtila.  

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Hello Sheryl, 

The most important step is to find the exact place of origin. Please, track family through the US Fed. Census (1950 -1900) and examine any US record created for the person who lived on both continents. Try to locate him/her in the passenger list to reveal the last residence in Europe and original spelling of the name. The so called first and second naturalization papers should reveal the place (some at FOLD3 and Ancestry). FOLD3 has also WWI and WWII draft registration cards - they can reveal the birthplace. Check FamilySearch.org for records created on both continents.

The CGSI has many recorded videos (how-to) from genealogy conferences, they can be found  under Digital Library. This link can help, too  https://cgsi.org/resources/intro-research/which-records-search. You can join the CGSI Discussion Group on May 6 to hear other people advices. https://cgsi.org/events/cgsi-czech-slovak-research-discussion-group-onl…. Thank you. Iveta B.