MASARIK, STIPAK in Hlohovek / Galgocz / Frastak
My great-grandmother Anna MASARIK (born circa 1849-1869) married Janos STIPAK circa 1870-1888 and they lived in western Slovakia. When I was a teenager my grandmother, Josephine Antonia (TERTINSKY) STIPAK, told me that Anna was closely related to Czechoslovakian Pres. Tomas MASARYK, but I forgot exactly how, and am now trying to figure it out. Anna's father was probably a brother, uncle, or first cousin of Tomas MASARYK. In order to place my Anna in the Masaryk/Masarik family, I need more info on the names of Thomas' brothers, sons, and cousins, and their children.
What I do know is that my grandfather Joseph STIPAK, son of Janos STIPAK and Anna (MASARIK) STIPAK, was born 16 Feb 1889 in Frastak (old name Freystadt, also called Galgocz) (now Hlohovek, in Trnava area), Nytra County, Hungary (now western Slovakia).
By the way, Jan MASARYK, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia and son of Tomas, wrote my grandparents telling them it was no longer safe for him to stay there because of Stalin's pressure and all the communists. He wrote that he was going to flee Czechoslovakia to join them in New York City. But soon after, he was found dead after a fall from a building, and the communists claimed "he committed suicide." I can still see my grandmother fuming about this lie! She maintained that first of all Jan was Catholic and didn't believe in suicide, and second that Jan had written to them that he knew his life was in immediate danger, hence his escape plan. Jan's friends and associates said he had been depressed, and many of them accepted the suicide theory. Of course Jan was depressed, because he couldn't beat the communists and had decided he must leave his beloved home; but he was murdered by the communists!!
Unfortunately, when my grandparents died my uncles and aunts threw out all those historically important letters from Jan and others because they couldn't read them. : (
Now my father is also gone, and I am trying hard to research my MASARIK roots in western Slovakia, as well as my STIPAK roots there. In addition, I am trying to research my grandmother's TERTINSKY family in eastern Slovakia (Nagy Mihaly, now called Michalovce, my father also said "Kiskemancs"). I only know English, so I am having trouble accessing information about these families in Slovakia. My grandmother refused to tell us the names and addresses of our Slovakian cousins, because she was afraid more of them would be arrested and/or killed by the communists (she died before the fall of the communism in Czechoslovakia).
Any help, suggestions, or collaboration would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Thank you, and best wishes,
--Alice Stipak, a grateful granddaughter of Slovakia
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Re: MASARIK, STIPAK in Hlohovek / Galgocz / Frastak
Alice Stipak 8/24/04