My Search for Orthodox Church Records: Monks in rural Croatia direct me to Family Search

The local church is usually a great source for information about one's ancestors.  However in Lika province where are family is from, the churches were all destroyed.  During the conflicts in the 1940s and the 1990s the Orthodox churches (along with most everything else) was destroyed.

There was never a church in Kurjak (as far as I can tell), but here are the pictures of the churches in Komić, Mutilić, and Mogorić (these are the churches that would have had family records for our Kljaić line).

Orthodox Church in Mutilić (Area in front still used for baptism)

Ruins of Orthodox Church in Komić

Ruins of Orthodox church in Morogić

Because the churches had been destroyed, I decided to pay a visit to the Krupa Monastery, which is about an hour south of Kurjak.  The monastery is located in a picturesque valley next to a national park (and so worth a visit in its own right).  

Krupa Monastery

I went to Krupa, however, because they have kept their own archives, and I thought that if anyone knew where to find the Orthodox church records, they would be the ones who would know.  Apparently, this is a question they get often and the answer they share with everyone is to go look at familysearch.org.   

Unfortunately for us, there are no Orthodox records from our family’s hometowns on Family Search.  So church records are not likely to prove a source for information for us.