Ancestry Magazine

Editor’s note: This article was modified on 9 April 2007 to reflect source additions from the author.

Polish, German, Ruthenian—millions of people around the world today can trace their roots to the territory of present-day Poland. But even with the vast numbers of people of Polish descent, researching a Polish ancestral line can sometimes seem like an uphill battle.Politics, wars, and a changing state of independence have wreacked havoc on some records. Shifting borders and disputes that divided the country may make pinpointing place equally tough. And oft-repeated fallacies about research roadblocks can make a tricky task appear downright impossible. But researching your Polish ancestry doesn’t have to be difficult. With a little deeper understanding of the unique circumstances surrounding your effort, as well as a quick review of some of the resources available to you, you might even find that your uphill battle isn’t so steep after all.

Starting Your Research
Two of the most difficult areas of research are determining the correct surname and given names in Polish, and identifying the region and village where ancestors lived in Poland. Family members may be able to assist you with both, but learning more about names, naming patterns, and places can take you even farther.

Names
A common misconception among researchers searching for Polish ancestors is that a surname has a connection to the village from which the family emigrated (e.g., Nowakowski came from the village of Nowakow). As the world’s population increased, surnames, in general, were developed to help distinguish between several people in the same town with the same given name.For example, if your Polish ancestor was named Michal, the Polish equivalent of Michael, he would have been assigned a surname to distinguish which Michal he was. You may also encounter patronymic surnames (those derived from the father’s name), surnames that reflect social status or personal features, trade or occupation, places of residence, or those derived from other sources.Given-name practices are interesting to note, too. Polish Roman Catholics, for example, may have named their child after a saint or baptized the infant with the name of a saint whose feast day was celebrated on or near the date the child was born or baptized.In the Russian and Austrian (Galician) partitions of Poland, children were usually baptized with only one name. In the Prussian partition (depending on the Germanic influence), children may have been baptized with two given names: the first given name in honor of a relative, and the second name for use by the immediate family. Thus, when researching parish or civil records for an immigrant, the given name used in North America might actually be the second given name listed on a birth or baptismal record.Many immigrants Americanized their names upon arrival. Some adopted the English equivalent, while others made the spelling appear more American or chose a similar-sounding name. Despite common myth, Ellis Island immigration officials did not purposely change people’s names. (To learn more, click here.)Some Polish surnames were “updated” by the family when they arrived says genealogist Ceil Wendt Jensen, a specialist in Polish research. For example, Przytula became Przytulski, or the surname “Zdziebko,” which now has branches using Jepko, Japko, and Zipko. First names were also sometimes changed. The names Valentine and Nicolas in the United States were once Walenty and Mikolaj in Poland.

Towns/Villages
Most Poles who immigrated to the United States arrived while Poland was governed by the German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Documents may indicate these individuals are German, Russia, or Austrian when really they were ethnic Poles from East or West Prussia, Posen, Silesia, Galicia, or Kongress Poland (Russian Poland).To address this, says Jensen, researchers should first identify the area and then focus on the village. Poland has many villages with the same name, so knowing, for instance, that you are researching Zarzecze in Galicia narrows the list of villages.Once the name of the ancestral town or village is identified, the next step is to determine its location both pre- and post-World War I, using a selection of maps, atlases, and gazetteers. There are a number of online maps and gazetteers that can be consulted along with printed versions. Check the Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies Map room. Also, the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) has an extensive collection of books and microfilms of maps and gazetteers. Also, check Kartenmeister and the gazetteer.Another way to find a place is to use Shtetlseeker. Although many towns will appear, along with a link to MapQuest, you may find similar town names occurring in more than one district. Also, Shtetlseeker does not contain all places, and you may need to convert between old language and contemporary place names.If your search points to Western Ukraine/Eastern Galicia, you may want to consult Matthew Bielawa’s HalGal. HalGal stands for Halychyna/Galicja and provides information on Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, a region that is often misunderstood or ignored in the United States. Many of the pages may also be useful for Polish researchers of Western Galicia.Building a Foundation
Today approximately 10 million Americans are of Polish descent, making U.S. records one of the best places to start searching for information on Polish ancestors.Census Records. The U.S. census provides a good picture of a family at a specific time period. Since it was common for ancestors to move to communities comprised of other families from the same region of Poland, it may also be helpful to note the neighbors.Civil Records. Birth, marriage, death, and divorce records may contain information about specific towns of origin. Access and availability will vary. Church records (baptism, wedding, and funeral) often list the ancestral town or village and are especially useful if the civil equivalent is unavailable. Also, don’t overlook cemetery, burial, or funeral home records; obituaries in community or fraternal organization newspapers; and state, county, or town histories.World War I draft registration cards are also good documents to check for the place of birth. You can view a number of WWI draft registration cards online at Ancestry.com. Tho se records not viewable online may be viewed on microfilm through the Family History Library or the National Archives Records Administration website.Naturalization Records. Check naturalization records, especially the “declaration of intent” (first papers), for ancestral town information, but remember that they may not always be accurate.It’s important to note that after 1922, the federal government began keeping separate naturalization records for married women. Children under age sixteen will be listed on the father’s naturalization records. Also, if your ancestor was over the age of fourteen and in the United States in 1940, but not naturalized, he or she was required to complete an Alien Registration form.

Immigration and Emigration Records
Polish immigration to the United States occurred in three major waves. The first wave of immigrants, arriving mainly from the late 1800s up to World War I, were considered zachlebem (for bread) immigrants. The second wave of immigration took place after World War II. The third wave of immigrants started arriving in 1980. Immigration and emigration records may show an individual’s place of birth and/or last place of residence. Because your ancestors may have traveled indirectly to their final destination, you should search both port of arrival and port of departure records (when available). Many passenger records can be found online. Check the Ellis Island database for ancestors arriving at the Port of New York from 1892–1924.Some passenger lists for other ports and years can also be searched online at www.ancestry.com and
www.genealogy.com. You can also order microfilm copies of passenger records through your local Family History Center at www.familysearch.org. To obtain specific pages of passenger lists, check with NARA.When searching passenger lists, make a list of all possible alternatives for a name and try searching various combinations. For example, if you are looking for a surname ending in –ski try –ska (the feminine ending). Likewise, if you’re searching for a woman’s surname ending in –ska, try –ski.Sometimes immigrants made more than one trip to the United States. Always check for multiple entries for an ancestor in both arrival and embarkation records, carefully noting the “Place of Residence” and “Destination” columns in U.S. lists and “State of Origin” for departure records.Emigration Records
Passenger lists for the Port of Hamburg are preserved in the German State Archives in Hamburg. These records include both “direct” and “indirect” lists and both should be searched so you don’t overlook your ancestor. Check for these lists (A uswandererlisten 1850–1934) in the FHLC. Portions of these lists may also be found online here. When searching, you will see initial results, but you will need to pay to receive additional details. Hamburg Police records should also be searched. The Hamburg Police Department kept registration records for all non-citizen residents, until such time they left Hamburg, died, or became citizens of Hamburg. Various types of records (some passport applications, registers of laborers, domestics, workers, and other registers) are included in these records, which have been microfilmed by the Family History Library (check the catalog).Unfortunately, most of the records from Bremen have not survived. However, thanks to an ongoing reconstruction effort, some Bremen Passenger Lists (1920–30) can be viewed online here.Likewise, for Antwerp, only one passenger register has fully survived (the one for 1855), and there are some incomplete passenger lists for the period 1920–40 (Rijksarchief Beveren) with no indexes. See the Belgium Roots project available here.

Chain Migration
If you encounter dead ends in your research, a good strategy is to think beyond your own family. Fellow countrymen and women would set out for America to join relatives or former old-country neighbors already here. This is often referred to as “chain migration.” Look for neighbors in census returns, church, immigration, and tax records. Identifying neighbors can also be helpful in the event that your ancestor married the boy or girl next door.

Polish Immigrants to Canada
A substantial number of Polish immigrants settled in Canada; information regarding Canadian census, immigration, and vital records is available online via the Library and Archives of Canada.Many immigrants went to Canada and then crossed the border to settle in the United States, so border crossing records should also be consulted. For Canadian border crossing records, consult the National Archives of Canada website. U.S. border crossing records are available either on microfilm via the FHL or NARA depending on the year. Also check the Immigrants to Canada website.

Records in Poland
Once your research takes you back to Poland, there are four basic ways to obtain information: (1) check the FHLC to see if the records have been microfilmed; (2) submit a written request to the appropriate local parish, civil records office, or the Directorate of State Archives; (3) travel to the country and perform research in the archives yourself, or have a relative in Poland obtain the information for you; (4) hire a professional researcher.A good range of sacramental records from parishes in Poland have been filmed and are available through the FHL. While the majority of ethnic Poles were Roman Catholic, others were Greek Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Calvinist, Mennonite, or Jewish.While church records were kept in Latin, Polish, German, or Russian, there are language guides with s ample forms and translations. You can use a free Polish-English online translation guide online here, or purchase a Polish Genealogical Word List online at minimal cost from the FHL or from your local Family History Center (FHC).If the records you seek are not available from the FHL, you may want to write to local parishes in Poland and/or contact the state archives. Free letter-writing guides can be found on the Polish Genealogical Society of America’s website or downloaded in PDF format for free from the Family Search catalog under “Research Helps.” Performing Your Own Research
If you decide to travel to Poland to perform research youself, it’s a good idea to contact the archives well in advance to find out the facility’s hours, policies, holdings, and any associated fees. Familiarize yourself with the various types of documents available and the various languages. If possible, bring a translator with you. Surf the Web for travel companies specializing in trips to Poland and/or surrounding countries in Eastern Europe.Your trip should include some time to explore your ancestral town or village. Search telephone directories in Poland to make contact with current residents, as well as the mayor or priest of a particular village. Advanced preparation can help you make the most of your experience.

Hiring a Professional Researcher
If you choose to enlist a professional researcher, search for someone familiar with the area’s geography, history, and language who can also access restricted records. While this option may be more expensive, it may prove the most effective for locating multiple records overseas. For information about a professional genealogist’s credentials and fees, consult the Association of Professional Genealogists in America, the Board for Certification of Genealogists, International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, or www.polishroots.com/reference.htm#Professional.Other Research Strategies
You may consider joining a Polish genealogical group to find other people who share your research interests. The Polish Genealogical Society of America is one of the largest organizations; others can be found thoughout the United States and Canada at www.polishroots.com and PolandGenWeb at www.rootsweb.com/~ceneurgw/.Also, use the Internet as a networking tool for posting queries to message boards about surnames and localities. You can find a number of them on Cyndi’s List. Village-based online communities may also help you connect with others who have roots in your ancestral village.Remember, researching your Polish ancestors isn’t always easy. But by following a step-by-step process, you may be able to overcome some of the difficulties inherent to the task. Add a little persistence and the right research strategies and you may be able to bypass some of the most common pitfalls and accomplish your goals with less frustration and greater success.

Search tips
History helps. To get a solid background of Poland’s history, check out “A Brief History of Poland in the Last 200 Years.”

“Don’t believe the myths that all records were destroyed during the World Wars, or that language barriers make research impossible,” says Polish genealogical research specialist, Ceil Wendt Jensen, CGRS. Jensen also recommends Rosemary Chorzempa’s book, Polish Roots, as a good reference for people just starting their Polish ancestry research (see Suggested Reading for additional information and recommendations).Got a tough name? Exotic-sounding names may be deciphered via tools like those developed by Steven Morse that permit “sounds like” searches on last names and towns. William Fred Hoffman’s books Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings and First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins & Meanings (see Suggested Reading for more information) can help with given names in Latin, Polish, and German, and for finding the proper spelling of surnames.

Internet Resources

• Catholic Archives in Poland
• Catholic Canada Directory
• Discovering Roots (Poland)
• Eastern European Genealogical Society
• Federation of Eastern European
  Family History Societies (FEEFHS)
• Gesher Galicia (“Bridge to Galicia”)
• HalGal
• Jewish Records Indexing-Poland
• Michigan Polonia
• Poland GenWeb (RootsWeb)
• Polish Genealogical Society of America
• Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America, Inc.
• Polish Maps and Gazetteers
• PolishRoots
• The Polish State Archives
  

Suggested Reading
J.M. Bazewicz, The Illustrated Geographic Atlas of the Kingdom of Poland (Atlas Geograficzny Illustrowany Królestwa Polskiego, Warsaw, 1907).
Rosemary A. Chorzempa, Polish Roots (GPC, 1995).
Norman Davies, God’s Playground: A History of Poland. Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (Columbia University Press, 1982); and Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present (Columbia University Press, 1982).
Judith Frazin, A Translation Guide to 19th Century Polish-Language Civil Registration Documents, 2nd ed. (Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1989).
Jan and Len Gnacinski, Tracing Your Polish Ancestry (Ye Olde Genealogy Shoppe, 1995).
William F. Hoffman, Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, 2nd ed. (Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1997).
William F. Hoffman and George W. Helon, First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins and Meanings (Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1998).
Kathleen Ann LaBudie-Szakall and Jan Steven Zaleski, Finding Your Polish Ancestors (Heritage Productions, 2002).
Myron Momryk, Archival Sources for the Study of Polish Canadians (Ottawa-Public Archives of Canada, 1987).
Gerald A. Ortell, Polish Parish Records of the Roman Catholic Church, Their Use and Understanding in G enealogical Research, rev. ed. (Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1996).
Iwo Pogonowski, Poland, A Historical Atlas of Poland (Hippocrene Books, 1987).
Kazimierz Rymut, Slownik Nazwisk Wspólczesnie w Polsce uzywanych (Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland) (Krakow: Instytut Jezyka Polskiego, 1992) [Ten volumes].
Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman, Following the Paper Trail: A Multilingual Translation Guide (Avotanyu, 1994).
Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman, In Their Words: A Genealogist’s Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin, and Russian Documents. Volume 1: Polish (Polish Genealogical Society of America, 2000); and Volume 2: Russian (Polish Genealogical Society of America, 2000).