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THE
FINK, SAK AND ZORAN IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR Descendants FROM THE HABSBURG EMPIRE
(AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE)

Descendants of Andreas Fink
 

By:
Frederick William Billerbeck, Jr., Ph.D.
With
Gerry Kubinski Stiteley &  Margaret Victoria Zoran Luzbetak Maday

Published in June of 2006, this first edition carries an ISBN of 978-0-944619-79-7 and is a 8½x11" hardbound book. This work contains 428 pages and  includes photographs, maps, sketches, appendix, references, and both an historical and Fink genealogy indexes.

This beautifully bound volume has been manufactured to stand the test of time utilizing the American Library Association (ALA) Certified Library Oversewn method to assure this book will be with your family for generations to come.  The limited first edition carries many of the marks of a showpiece as it has decorative spine bars, and is rounded and backed with a rich black material and is stamped in old gold foil (both front and spine).  Additionally, this special first collector's edition carries the author's hallmark on the front cover.  Subsequent orders/printings, while maintaining the high standard for durability, will not be such a deluxe production. The regular retail price is $76.00.  Gregath Company's standard shipping and handling is in effect.

This volume is the second of five volumes concerned with Dr. Billerbeck's  family lineage to be issued within the next few years. 

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Preface

For the most part, the early Fink, Sak and Zoran family members and their relatives emigrated from Slovenija (Carniola, Krani) which was at the time divided among several Austrian provinces within the Habsburg Empire (Austro - Hungary). All were Slovenes with but few exceptions.  In order to understand one’s place in time, it is essential to come to terms with and to appreciate our Slovenian historical legacy which is our birthright. When placed in perspective, Slovenes were and are still only a tiny tribe of Slavic people who have survived throughout challenging centuries and even today number only a few million people scattered throughout the surface of the earth. The uniqueness of these people is in their known beginnings, language, love of music, literature, industry and devotion to the Roman Catholic Church. They have been called the “quiet people.”  The miracle is that the Slovenes have survived as an entity and have through their own ingenuity, political acumen and daring proclaimed their national independence in June, 1991, and created the Republic of Slovenija, a member of the European Union.

By the 6^th and  7^th centuries, the Slovenes were the first of several Slavic tribes to move south of the Carpathian Mountains and to settle in Pannonia and the eastern Alps towards the Adriatic.  The region is Alpine and is drained principally by the Drava, Sava and Mura Rivers and includes northern Istria, where it juts upon the Adriatic. Those other Slavic tribes which followed settled in regions immediately to the south of the Slovenes forming the modern areas occupied by Croatians and Serbs.  Collectively, these groups of people have been called South Slavs or Yugoslavs. Though the Slovenes have been thought of as being a branch of the South Slavs, they have their own distinct complex language which differs from Serbo-Croatian.

Traditionally, it has been alleged that the Slovenes, a Slavic tribe, first appeared in history sometime between the 6^th and 7^th centuries A.D., after migrating from the region of the Pripet Marshes, north of the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Poland and far Western Russia. This scenario is increasingly being regarded as a fictionalized concept promoted by stronger powers of Europe in order to suggest that Slovenians were only intruders without prior rights in Central Europe.  But, the recent introduction of the Venetic theory encourages a new understanding of Slovenian peoples historical and linguistic past. This book presents these two concepts for the reader’s enlightenment and appreciation. Only time and continuing research will eventually determine which of the two concepts is valid and enduring. (9, 136, 144, 145, 146, 147, 174 & 179)

The Avars, a well organized Turkic people, initially dominated the new Slavic settlers until their defeat in 626, when they failed in their siege of Constantinople.  The Slavs thereupon renounced their subservience to the defeated Avars.  The story that follows to the modern stage is one of continued struggle by the Slovenes to develop an independent nation free from domination of Germanic and other Slavic communities which understandably left their mark on this struggling culture. But, the ‘quiet people’ persevered and eventually Slovenija achieved independence in 1991, and created a successful modern democratic republic that has been embraced by the world. The Fink, Sak and Zoran family’s story is wrapped up in this long struggle; however, they were not present for the last great struggle for independence.  Mathias Fink, Sr., left Slovenija which was then under Austrian domination in 1885, for America. All of Mathias’ family members eventually followed him to Joliet, Illinois, were they settled.  In June, 1991, the author and some of his family where at the Slovenian border when the struggle for independence began and were forced to rearrange their travel itinerary because the border was closed.  The purpose of this trip was to learn more about the country and family. To this date no Fink relatives have ever been located, but Marija Jurjevčič’s relatives have been located and visited.  Mathias Fink, Jr.’s, first wife, Maria, was an immigrant from Vrhnika, Notranjska, Slovenija.

Thus, the wonder of genealogy is the unknown family linkages and accumulated stories contained in one’s here-to-fore unfathomed and opaque inverted pyramidal family tree, a top of which the researcher stands in the beginning of his or her journey.  It is through persistent investigative work that often reveals unique personalities and events that may confirm one’s own place in time within the fabric of human history that may have been only dimly sensed at an earlier date. So, it was with the author’s own investigative work into his family history that was at first seen only dimly and with great uncertainty, if at all. With only meager clues and tenacious research over a long period of time was it possible to reveal a linkage to the Fink family of Slovenija, whose known roots first began in the 1700’s with Andreas Fink.

This book, The Fink, Sak and Zoran Immigrants and Their Descendants from the Habsburg Empire (Austro-Hungarian Empire), Descendants of Andreas Fink, is really a collaborative work of many direct descendants of this family line from various areas of the United States.  Many interested descendants from the Fink, Sak and Zoran families generously provided essential information to the author that was vital to the development of a serious and complete publication. All of their communications and coordination was done by telephone, mail service, FAX or by means of the Internet. Even after about three (3) to four (4) years of effort to write and assemble the book, this publication may not be entirely complete, but it will certainly establish a foundation for others interested in doing further family research and story development. This work is divided into two (2) major parts or books in order to present this comprehensive story. Until additional information becomes available and is reported upon, this volume should serve as the Fink, Sak and Zoran’s family story and genealogical report. So, the text that follows is the fascinating historical story of the Fink, Sak and Zoran families of Austro - Hungary, as it was once known.

Also, this book provides the reader with detailed background information so that there will be a clear understanding of one’s heritage through the course of Slovenian history, as well as the through the immigrant experience.  The genealogical section of this book details the Fink Family Genealogy beginning with our earliest known ancestors, Johann Fink and Gertraud Gimpel, both born about the 1750.  Just after this book was finalized, Branka Lapajne, Ph.D., who was conducting research for the author in Slovenija during the summer and early fall of 2005, submitted her findings, which extends the family back a further generation.  Dr. Lapajne reports that Johann’s father was Andreas Fenk (Fink / Főnk ) and that his mother was Agnete Kobbe.  Her report also included additional information relating to the Hočevar, Turk and Zoran lines.  The completed Genealogical Section of this book will allow readers to place themselves in known family lines and clarify one’s family relationships.  

This book is as complete as the author could make it with the resources and time available.  The book is the result of four plus decades of work. The ability to extend the family line beyond our earliest known ancestor has been limited by language knowledge, availability of Slovenian genealogical records, distance, time, etc.  Actually, genealogical work on the Fink and Zoran family lines continues through the services of Branka Lapajne, Ph.D., Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, who spends summers in Slovenija researching family lines.  Branka is a specialist in Slovenian genealogy, who the author and his wife, Barbara J. Aust Billerbeck, met in the central research library in Ljubljana, Slovenija, during the summer of 2002.  Also, the Fink, Sak and Zoran family members have generously provided in depth family information, pictures and insights that have been essential to completing the book in front of you.

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Table of Contents

Author Introduction
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Map of Slovenija 

Part I - Historical Perspective

Chapter One: Slovenian Historical Perspective
The Slovenes
The New Concepts of Slovenian Origins
Slovene Christianization
Slovenian Democracy
Slovenia’s Development Outside Turkish Influence
Austrian Rule
The Yugoslav Experiment
Gottschee and The Finks
Slovenian Historical Initiatives and International Impact
Slovenian Missionary Service
Chapter Two: Physical Conditions of Slovenija
Geography
Environment
Chapter Three: Social Conditions within Slovenija
Slovenija’s Hilltop Churches
Slovene Nationalism
Slovenija’s Government
Province of Carniola, Cities and Villages
       Ljubljana
       Vrhnika
       Novo Mesto
       Jurka vas
       Vavta vas
Slovene Population and Ethnic Concentration
The Slovenian Language
Education within Slovenija
Slovenian Culture (Literature, Art and Music)
Foods and Drinks of Slovenija
Chapter Four: Slovenian Economic Conditions
Economy of Slovenija
Slovenian Trading Partners
Tourism in Slovenija
Currency of Slovenija
Chapter Five: Symbols of the Slovenian Nation
Slovenija’s National Symbols
The Red Carnation – Slovenija’s Native Flower
Chapter Six: Immigration to America
Slovenija to Amerika
Fink / Sak / Zoran Family Immigration to the United States
Shipping Companies and Ships
       North German Lloyd (Norddeutcher Lloyd) – 1858 to 1939
       Red Star Line
Ships of Immigrant Passage
       S.S. Aller, built 1886
       S.S. Carpathia, built 1903
       S.S. Konigin Louise, built 1896
       S.S. La Bretagne, built 1885
       S.S. La Touraine, built 1890
       S.S. Moravia, built 1883.
       S.S. Saale, built 1886
       S.S. Werra, built 1882
Castle Garden and Ellis Island
The Citizenship and Naturalization Process
Chapter Seven: Joliet, Illinois
Slovenians of Joliet, Illinois – St. Joseph Slovenian Roman Catholic Church Parish

Part II – Fink, Sak and Zoran Genealogy

Information
How to Trace Your Lineage
Descendants of Johann Fink (Fonk)
       Generation One
       Generation Two
       Generation Three
       Generation Four
       Generation Five
       Generation Six
       Generation Seven
       Generation Eight.
Notranjska and Dolenjska, Slovenian Maps
        Map of Slovenija (detailed)
        Dolenjska map showing Vavta vas, Jurka vas, Potok, Pravreče and Dolenjske Toplice
        Dolenjska map showing Žužemberk Region
Part II - Chapter Notes: Fink, Sak and Zoran Genealogy
        Generation 1:  Johann Fink / Fenk / Fönck, Sr., # 1
        Generation 2:  Anton Fink / Fonk / Föenk, # 2
        Generation 2:  Maria Turk, # 2W
        Generation 3:  Mathias Fink, Sr., # 7
        Generation 3:  Marija Hočevar, # 7W
        Generation 4:  Matijas ‘Matt’ / Mathiam Fink, Jr., # 10
        Generation 4:  Marija Jurjevčič,  # 10W
        Generation 4:  Josephine ‘Josephinam’ Sula or Szulya, # 10W
        Generation 4:  Michael Zoran, # 11H
        Generation 4:  Mary Fink, # 13
        Generation 5:  Angela ‘Ruth’ Fink, # 19
        Generation 5:  Friedrich ‘Fred’ Wilhelm Billerbeck, Sr., # 19H
        Generation 5:  Josephine ‘Sophie’ Deloris Fink, # 22
        Generation 6:  Frederick ‘Fred’ William Billerbeck, Jr., # 55
General Notes
References
Part I - Historical Perspective Index
Part II - Fink, Sak and Zoran Genealogy Index
Educational Achievements by Fink, Sak and Zoran Family Members
        1^st  Generation of Immigrant Descendants
        2^nd Generation of Immigrant Descendants
        3^rd  Generation of Immigrant Descendants
        4^th  Generation of Immigrant Descendants
        5^th  Generation of Immigrant Descendants
Human Genetics and Genealogy

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