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BANAT FAQ 14

ENGLISH - SERBIAN
SAMPLE LETTERS

Latest Update: 15 March 1997(Links updated)

This file will contain sample letters in English and Serbian addressed to a Pastor (S1 ans S2) and an archive (S3 and S4). Please give special attention to the diacritical marks needed by a Croatian to understand your letter.

S1: English Letter to Pastor:

Date

Dear Pastor,

In order to complete my family history, I would need information about my ancestor _________, born _______________ in ______________.

May I kindly ask you to send me a complete extract of the birth record from the parish register for the above named.

Should it be possible to send me extracts of the birth, marriage or death records for his parents, who are supposed to have lived in the same town, I would be most grateful for this help.

I am enclosing 10 DM to cover the necessary fees. Should you incur additional expenses, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your aid.

Respectfully yours,

Your name

Address


S2: Serbian Letter to Pastor:

(Instructions [same as the Croatian letter]:
1. After the word "pretku", fill in the name of your ancestor, after "roden", his birth date, and after "u", his place of birth.

2. Enclose the equivalent of 10 DM (or if in the States, a money order and 2 International Postal Reply Coupons [IPRC's]).

3. Address envelope to
???
Town
Croatia

4. Note that Serbo-Croatian has some diacritic marks which are not present in English. In particular, note the use of the following representations below. When you write your letter, you should modify the copy as follows:

c/ represents c with an acute (i.e. slanting up) accent
cV represents c with an inverted circumflex above it (hacek)
sV represents s with an inverted circumflex above it (hacek)
ZV represents A with an inverted circumflex above it (hacek)
zV represents z with an inverted circumflex above it (hacek)
d+ represents d which is crossed like a "t" in English (eth?)

5. Note that this letter is framed as if written by a man. If a woman sends this letter, all words ending in capital O should be changed to end in -la (i.e. "zamoliO" becomes "zamilila").

6. Finally, if you wish to ask about a female rather than a male ancestor, please write "rod+ena" rather than "rod+en".)
PosVtovani ocVe,

ZVelec/i da popunim neke praznine u istoriji svoje porodice, trazVim informacije o svom pretku _________, rod+en ___________ u ___________ .

Ja bih Vas zamoliO da mi posValjete kompletan izvod iz matricVne knjige koji se ticVe visVe imenovanog.

Ako je moguc/e da mi posValjete i izvode koji se ticVu roditelja visVe imenovanog, koji su navodno zViveli u istom mestu, doknadno bih Vam zahvaliO.

SValjem Vam __________ za trosVkove. Ako ima visVe trosVkova, molim Vas da me obavestite.

SrdacVno VasV,


S3:English Letter to Registrar's Office and Archives:
Date

Gentlemen:

In order to complete my family history, I am in need of more precise official data on the family of _________ born _______________ in _____________________.

I would kindly like to ask you to send me a complete excerpt from your birth-/ marriage-/ death registers for the person mentioned above.

Should you be able to let me have, in addition, the birth-, marriage- or death records of his/her parents, who are said to have lived in the same place, I would be most grateful for your assistance in this matter.

To cover your fees, I am enclosing 10 DM. Should you incur additional expenses, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Your name

Address

S4: Serbian Letter to Registrar's Office and Archives:
Translation needed

0 - 0 - 0

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