I have translated many of the column headings in the Croatian birth records on the Familysearch.org site.  When I look through the handwritten parts, I am having a very difficult time finding any recognizable characters.  Does anyone have a handwritten example of the cyrillic characters?

I also need help reviewing information I have.  Jugoslava has been helping me but it has been some time since I've heard from her.  I have a biological Great Grandfather who I know as Vaso Popovich.  He also signed his name as B.V. Popovich.  His birth date is written on a picture, August 15th.  I estimate his birth year was 1899 because he was noted to be 7 years older than my Great Grandmother who was born in 1906.

I don't know when he came to the United States but I guess it would be between 1920 and 1924.  I know he wouldn't have been granted a passport before the age of 15.  With WWI starting in 1914 and ending in 1918, he wouldn't have turned 15 until after the war started.  Then with obligatory service, I'm assuming starting at the age of 18, he wouldn't have been able to leave Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia until 1920 at the earliest.

The earliest communication I have between Vaso and my Great Grandmother is December 31, 1925 but I believe they met earlier in that same year.  In a family letter, it says Vaso worked in the Iron Pit mines in northern Minnesota.  He didn't like that work and so found himself working as maintenance staff in a hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  That is where he met my Great Grandmother.  She didn't go to Milwaukee until 1924 and didn't move into the hotel to work for room and board right away.

There was speculation that Vaso's mother was German and father was Yugoslavian but I have been told that is highly unlikely as most people married within their ethnic backgrounds....IF they did not, I believe I was told they would have had to move away.  He said he wanted to become a Doctor but WWI changed that, I'm not sure how.  I have not found any record of him attending a medical school in the United States much less in the Milwaukee area.

I do have a copy of a postcard and letter he sent to my Great Grandmother.  The post card was dated May of 1927 where he said he found work on a steamship and planned to return to Europe.  In the letter he noted he planned to send money to help care for my Grandfather.  To my knowledge, that was the last she heard from him.

My Grandfather was born in November 26, 1926 in Milwaukee in a hospital for unwed mothers.  I have been unsuccessful in finding a birth certificate that has Vaso's name on it.  I can't say it doesn't exist, but I don't have permission to request this from any agency that might have it.  So my issue is what the B stands for in his name.  I don't know how to find any other information without knowing that that is.  I've tried finding any and all information that would help in the U.S., but I doubt he was here very long.  Maybe not even long enough to become a naturalized citizen or to fill out a draft card for military service.

I don't know how I can find the region where he lived or the patron saint of his family when I don't know his full name or his parent's names.  I realize this may be a long shot, but I will do whatever I need to do to help find information on him.  I will do the leg work if someone can tell me how to get to that information.  I was THRILLED when I saw the records on the Family Search website...but the handwriting is very difficult for me.  Please help if you can.

Melanie