Fallingbostel and Munster-Lager DP Camp Church Records

This collection contains records of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church parishes in the Displaced Persons Camps in Munster-Lager and Fallingbostel, Germany, including official correspondence, sacramental records, relief aid distribution records, and a remarkable DP camp census list.

Summary Information

Creator Ukraïnsʹka avtokefalʹna pravoslavna t︠s︡erkva
Title Fallingbostel and Munster-Lager DP Camp Church Records
ID r.5
Dates 1943-1950
Dates (bulk) 1948-1950
Quantity 0.25 Linear Feet, 4 folders, 1 bound volume
Languages Materials are primarily Ukrainian, but also include German, English, Serbo-Croatian, and Polish.
Repository Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives

Biographical / Historical

The Fallingbostel Displaced Persons Camp was located in the Lower Saxon town of Bad Fallingbostel, and served as an emigration/transit/resettlement center for displaced persons who were about to emigrate. The Munster-Lager DP camp was located in the small garrison town of Munster located approximately 40 km northeast of Bad Fallingbostel (not to be confused with the much larger city of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia). It is not clear why the register book in this collection shares records from both camps. It is possible that they were served by the same priest in this time period.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains records of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church parishes in the Displaced Persons Camps in Munster-Lager and Fallingbostel, Germany which provide a glimps into the life of Ukrainian refugees in the waning years of the DP era. It contains official correspondence, vital statistics records, relief aid distribution records, and a census record that provides a snapshot of the entire Orthodox population of the Fallingbostel Camp on July 14, 1950.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 5 series as follows:

Missing Title

  1. Fallingbostel Camp church correspondence and records
  2. Fallingbostel Camp church financial records
  3. Fallingbostel Camp church relief aid distribution records
  4. Fallingbostel and Munster-Lager Camp church register book
  5. Fallingbostel Camp census records

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Fallingbostel and Munster-Lager DP Camp Church Records; box number; folder number; Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives, Somerset, New Jersey.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for researcher use. Please contact the archivist (archives@ukrhec.org) for more information and to make arrangements.

Controlled Access Headings

Subjects

  • Refugee camps
  • International relief

Places

  • Germany--Lower Saxony

Genres

  • Church records and registers

File Plan

The loose paper documents were originally housed as part of portfolio т147 in cabinet "И", shelf 5. The 4 notebooks were originally housed as part of portfolio т164 in cabinet "И", shelf 5.

Status of materials

These materials belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, and are on deposit with the Ukrainian History and Education Center for processing, preservation, and access.

Container List

Series 1.  Fallingbostel Camp church correspondence and records, 1948-1950.

Scope and Contents

Records of Fr. Serhii Gerus who served as prior at the church in the Fallingbostel Resettlement Processing Center. Contains correspondence with the central Church Administration, circulars, receipts, birth and marriage affidavits, civil marriage certificates, and emigrant lists.

  • shared-box 1 folder 1
Series 2.  Fallingbostel Camp church financial records, 1948-1950.

Scope and Contents

Notebooks of financial records, including the church elder's records, income and expense records, and records of the sale of church publications and icons.

  • shared-box 1 folder 2
Series 3.  Fallingbostel Camp church relief aid distribution records, circa 1950.

Scope and Contents

Records of the distribution of food aid from the World Council of Churches.

  • shared-box 1 folder 3
Series 4.  Fallingbostel and Munster-Lager Camp church register book, 1943-1950 (bulk 1948-1950).

Scope and Contents

Baptism, marriage, and funeral records for the UAOC parish at the Munster-Lager DP camp (1945-1949), and baptism and marriage records for the UAOC parish at the Fallingbostel Emigration Centre (1948-1950). Also includes affidavits of pre-war baptisms and marriages, as well as loose Nazi and post-war government-issued vital records documents (1943-1948) that have been sewn or pasted in.

  • volume 1
Series 5.  Fallingbostel Camp census records, 1950 July 14.

Scope and Contents

Handwritten lists of all Orthodox residents of the Fallingbostel DP Resettlement Processing Center along with their ages and nationalities generated as part of a census taken on July 14, 1950. List is organized by block and signed by each block leader.

  • shared-box 1 folder 4