#55 - So Far Away - Romania

So Far Away 

Remember the USSR? Remember the Cold War? The Communist Bloc? If you do, as I do, you are amazed at how things change--and other things are immovable. Like families, kids, loving home food, and your own langauge.

Let's get back to genealogy. 1900 was the year my last immigrant arrived. For my husband, the date is in the 20th century, but they just slipped over the Canadian border so it hardly counts.

But one of my sons married an immigrant, and so the cycle begins again. And it's true, that saying of immigrants universally.
"I thought America's streets were paved of gold, then I arrived in America and they weren't. Then I was paving the streets."

Girls in Romania 1950s.

 Here's what I understand of my daughter-in-law's grandparents: 

1

 Some of her ancestors had come from the eastern part of Romania, which is now part of Moldova, and were forcibly moved after World War
2
Another group was from the Western part of Romania, in or around Arad (N of Timisoara), not far from the Hungarian border.                                                
I suppose it's possible she's got Hungarian ancestors. Linguistically, Romanian is a Romance language (unlike Hungarian), as are Italian, Spanish, and French which Hungarian from the Finno-Ugric family Finnish, Estonia, and a few others). The other languages of the area (Moldava and Ukraine) are Slavic family group.

It's hard to wed someone whose language is so far from yours. More likely when the country of Hungary was formed (remember the Austrian-Hungarian Empire?) of course the locals ignored politics as best they could, and kept speaking the language of their forbears.

DNA:

My daughter-in-law did a DNA test which we attached to the family tree. Predictably the results are meager. Romania is a poor country.  None of her 9 siblings have done a DNA test (yet!).

Her DNA ethnicity profile as of 2020:

- 72% Eastern Hungary, Easter Slovakia, Northwest Romania, and Western Ukraine
- 25% Albania, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia (a portion of Romania)
- 3% from Germanic Europe (Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland)

She's done both sides of her family as far back as she can recall. It only goes to her grandparents. This is her mother's side.

Gen 1 
Teresa Tomescu (female)

B. Romania 1897–1949

Marioara (d Vasile and Floare)

Married  Unknown? Iovescu (male) b. Romania 1895–1957

Gen 2:
1 Vasile Iovescu (male) Born: Banat, Timis, Romania, 1922. Died, Romania, 1987
2 Aurelia Iovescu (female) 1928–1987
3 George Iovescu (male) 1932–1985

Vasile Iovescu (male) (#1 Gen 2) Married Floare Tamsa

Gen 3:

Their children:
1 Marioara (female) Born in Ususau, Arad, Romania (her mother)
2 Aurelia (female)
3 Ion (male)
2 Vasile (male)
3 Florica (female)
4 Viorica (female)
5 Doina (female)
6 Daniela (female)