| 9. RESEARCH IN POLAND |
| Tracing Your Polish Ancestors |
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| Using the Family History Library (LDS, see page 6.) is the cheapest, most accessible, and can be done in English. Most of their records, however, are from the Austrian-Hungary partition of Poland (1784-1870). Also, that the LDS map collection for Poland refers to the 1919 border boundaries and their indices use 1945 boundaries. |
| The Polish Archive System |
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| Headquarters are located in Warsaw with branches in main cities. Civil records are kept on the local level for 100 years at the local office and then transferred to the archives. The information is trustworthy, but expensive. |
| Civil Registry Office |
| urzedy stanu cywilnego |
| The Civil Registry in Poland is similar to our vital record offices in the United States. Most are located in a larger town and serve surrounding villages. Successful research on this level is mixed; you might not get a response if the clerks cannot understand English requests. Also, one registry might contain birth records and another marriage records, etc. Research at this level is more successful if done in person or by a relative who is familiar with the genealogy process. |
| Parish Records |
| parafii Rzymsko katolickief (Roman Catholic) |
| parafii prawoslawnief (Orthodox) |
| Church records are mainly located in the local parish office, but are increasingly being transferred to Diocesan Archives. Each diocese decides policy on what records are kept and for how long, but generally those less than one hundred years old are kept at the local level. In some cases, pre-1900 records were transferred to archives, in other places pre-1800 records were transferred. Some kept all their records. |
| If you know or find a relative or a parish who is willing to research parish and civil records, send them an ancester chart and family group sheet in Polish. Do not include events that happened in the United States--it may confuse the researcher if they are not proficient in the English language. Specify the information that you want: birth record; baptismal record, etc. |
| Be prepared to cover the researcher's expenses, but do so in increments, not the complete charges at once. Records are usually written in Latin and Polish, you may have to pay a translator. Be prepared that most relatives or contacts are not interested in researching beyond the first request. If a relative declines or ignores you, ask them to find someone who will research for you. Ask also if they will provide the addresses where you might write for records: parish, civil registry, archive. Be prepared to be patient. It is not uncommon to wait 3 to 6 months for a reply. Researchers in Poland usually gather all the information vs. sending a report now and then on success or failure. |
| Research by proxy |
| Ecclesiastical Archives in Poland |
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| Polish Register Approach |
| Begin with the baptismal record of your earliest known ancestor from Poland. Next seek the marriage record of his or her parents. Build a family group with baptismal record of the ancestor's siblings. Finally, search for the parents' death records. |
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| Gl'owna Akt Dawnych |