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Click here > Polish Cities, Shtetls and Villages Click here > 1929 Business Directory of Ustrzyki Dolne (Note: You may find additional information and sources in my The Jewish presence in Poland goes back a very long time. Even before the Union with Lithuania in 1386, there was promulgated a Statue of Jewish Liberties at Kalisz in 1264. Poland, Polonia, Polska has two Hebrew names, which read like a midrash 1. Po lan jah = "Here is God living (lodging)" or: Before World War II, Poland had a vibrant Jewish community of 3.5 million - 10% of the country's population -- but most were killed in the Holocaust. It was the second largest Jewish community in the world. Only 10% survived! Many of those who returned following the war, fled again after pogroms and the official anti-Jewish measures of 1968. Today, it is estimated that there are between 5,000 to 20,000 Jews living in Poland. From the following web page links, specifically linked to Polish Jewish genealogical informational sites, you can unleash your passion for discovering The uprising of Ukrainian Kazaks, and the peasantry, in the 17th century, meant trouble for the over 300 Jewish communities. Thousand of Jews were murdered and communities destroyed in Poland, Volhynia, Moldavia and adjacent areas. The 17th century, by the way was called "Golden Age" in Poland. During this time, many foreigners found a new homeland in Poland including some Scots (in Polish Szkot) and Dutch known as Holendry. You can find some villages in Poland named Olendy and many people with the name Olendzki. It is the heritage of Dutch settling in Poland. In the Kingdom of Poland (aka Congress Poland or Russian Poland) The problem with finding records in Poland is that the country has had many turmoils and not a lot of documents have survived. Those records that did survive, generally cover the years 1808 to 1865, and have been microfilmed by the Mormons. A set of LDS microfilms, covering Poland, is at the Douglas Goldman Genealogy Center (formerly DOROT) at the Diaspora Museum in Tel-Aviv. It was noted in a discussion between Doug Cohen and Gayle Schlissel in 2002 in a posting that "Polish documents are kept at the local town hall for 100 years, then transferred to the regional archives site." Gayle states: "not always. In the Tarnobrzeg USC you will find birth records for 1889 up until 1935 ... and I found a death register held in private hands for 1903-1928, now on my ShtetLinks web site. SO maybe they can be found elsewhere do not give up hope try everything you may get lucky." During the 1930s, keep in mind in your research, that all of western Ukraine was either located in Poland and/or Czechoslovakia. After Poland-Lithuania no longer existed as an independent state, its inhabitants (Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, gypsies, etc.) automatically became
In 1939, at the start of WW II, there were 3,300,000 Jews existing in Poland, Today there are about 8,000 out of a total population of over 38,600,000. Poland was the first country to oppose Hitler's demands and the first to An inventory of the surviving Jewish Vital Records of Poland records has been created at JewishGen There are two main sources for the available records, the microfilm archives The LDS records include 2,200 microfilms containing over 3 million Jewish vital records of more than 400 Polish cities and towns. These are almost all indexed, and the microfilms can be ordered from Salt Lake City for viewing at your local Family History Center. In addition, there are about 5 million records in the Polish State Archives. These records are being indexed as the money to pay for the indexing is raised.
Created from
microfilm from the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah"
In order to locate the name of your ancestral town, you first need to go to the "Routes to Routes" website On the JRI web site at Altogether, the JRI-Poland reports that they have indexed more than 1.8 million records. The goal is to create a searchable on-line database of the indices of all 19th century Jewish records from current and former territories of Poland. When all of these indices are on-line, researchers will then be able to quickly find the records for their families and - using an on-line order form -- send for copies of records from branches of the Polish State Archives. Further information about the project Another interesting site is Ada Holtzman' s site To obtain genealogical information about your family, you need to contact, at the minimum, three locations. 1. Check the Mormon Family History Library (FHL) to see if they have 2. If the FHL has nothing, then you need to contact the archives in Ordering Records from Polish State Archives - All Archives and branches where Jewish vital records have been indexed and are included in the "Shopping Basket" order processing system. Records available through the Shopping basket System are only those indexed as part of the JRI-Poland/PSA Project. Records indexed from LDS Microfilms or other sources are NOT included in the Shopping Basket System. For questions about the Order Processing System: orderqueries@jri-poland.org PSA Archive Branches Using the System
Each record ordered will cost the researcher $10. However, there is a minimum charge per branch of $15.00. Therefore, if you order one record from Lodz and one from Pultusk, the total charge will be $30.00 Links of value: Ordering Records from the Polish State Archives Order FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions PSA Branches on the Order System Step-by-Step Guide to Order System Express Service Pilot Project Additional links and information may be found at my Galicia web page.
"A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames From the Kingdom of Poland" - authored by Alexander Beider offers a compilation of more than 32,000 Jewish surnames with origins Buy from Amazon.com "A Guide to Jewish Lodz. Warsaw:" authored by Jerzy Malenczyk and published by the Jewish Information and Travel bureau 1994. Describes the history of the Jews of Lodz and offers brief biographical sketches of famous Jews from the community. Also offers four different self-guided walking tours with maps and illustrations. "A Jewish Boyhood in Poland' - authored by Norman Salitz describes his life in Kolbuszowa "American Jewish Yearbook, 5667, 1906-07" - A list of 254 pogroms is included with the name of the town and the Guberniya where the pogrom took place, date of pogrom, general and Jewish population for the town, damage incurred by the Jews of the town, general remarks on the pogrom. The American Jewish Yearbook is published by the Jewish Publication Society. This is a good source for genealogical information. A copy of this Yearbook is located at Asher Library in Chicago, Illinois. "A Brief History of Poland" in the last 200 years http://www.man.poznan.pl/~bielecki/polhistory.htm "And I Still See Their Faces" - a book, like a family album of Jewish life in pre-war published by the Shalom Foundation. "A Peek Into The Polish Past" - author Judith Samson and printed in the December, 2000 issue of SHEMOT and published by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Great Britain. "A Tale of Two Survivors" - authored by Norman Salitz "A Translation Guide to 19th Century Polish Language Civil Registration Documents" - authored by Judith Franzin. There is a sample document translation from this book on the JRI-Poland site. "A Vanished World" - authored by Roman Vishniak offers a wonderful collection of old photographs. "The Black Book of Polish Jewry: An Account of the Martyrdom of Polish Jewry Under the Nazi Occupation," edited by Jacob Apenszlak "The Chronicles of the Lodz Ghetto 1941 to 1944" "Death in the Forest; The Story of the Katyn Forest Massacre" - authored by J. K. Zawodny in 1962 - the story of the Katyn Forest killings by the Soviets - not the Nazis as originally thought. "Do Not Go Gentle" - A Memoir of Jewish Resistance in Poland, 1941-1945 by Charles Gelman and published in 1989 by Archon Book. ISBN 0-208-02230-9 " Evreiskaya Entsiklopedia" - "Encyklopedia.PL" - printed in Polish, contains a lot of information, if you can read the language "Finding Your Roots In Galicia" indicates that some 85% of rural Polish Jews were engaged in the liquor trade, according to author Suzan Wynne's book. And confirmed "In Economic Origins of Anti-Semitism" by Hillel Levine, Yale University Press. But in 1910, Jews were forbidden to sell alcoholic beverages, so 15,000 suddenly lost their source of income and probably triggered the subsequent emigrations to the United Kingdom and the US. "From a Ruined Garden" - Translations of 6 Yizkor book chapters from this book: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry "Gen Dobry" - an e-zine of PolishRoots™. The Polish Genealogy Source this site is in English. For issue 2, change the last part of the URL (address) to "_no2.htm" and so on. "Genealogy and Poland" - an on-line guide authored by Lukasz Bielecki "Geographic Dictionary of the Polish Kingdom and other Slavic Countries" ("Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego Innych Krajow Slowianskich") edited by Bronislaw Chlebowski in Warsaw in 1892. A historical source on shtetls in Galicia. "Ghetto Fighters' House" The story in photos and biographies of about 1,000 fighters and Jewish heroes during WWII including biographies and photos. Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum (Beit Lochamei Hagetaot) available on line. Click on the "Partisans Database" button on the left side of the page to access the data. "Hidden Treasures in Polish Vital Records" authored by Lauren B. Eisenberg Davis offers hints on various tidbits of information that can be found in the vital records of the Kingdom of Poland. "Hippocrene Insider's Guide to Poland's Jewish Heritage" - authored by Joram Kagan and published in New York by Hippocrene Books, Inc. in 1992. "House of the World" - a film that presents a portrait of Jewish Poland before and after WWII. The author and director is Esther Podemski. Contact the Discovery Channel for further information "I am Drenched in the Dew Of My Childhood, A Memoir" - authored by Henry Lawrence Gitelman and published in Montreal, Canada in October 1997. Mr. Gitelman was born in Slawatycze and one of his sources for his book was the "Folks-Sztyme", a Polish-Yiddish publication from Warsaw. "Image Before My Eyes" - a photographic history of Jewish life in Poland from 1864 to 1939, authored by Lucjan Dobroszycki and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Published by Schocken Books in 1977 "In Their Words - A Genealogist's Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin and Documents" - authored by William Hoffman and Jonathan Shea, is an excellent resource. Ordering information at "Jewish Bialystok" - authored by Tomasz Wisniewski
"Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern
Europe" - authored by Ruth Ellen Gruber this is an article published in
National Geographic
"Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II" - history, names and burial places of the Jewish soldiers in the Polish armies, including those who fought in France. Authored by Benjamin Mertchak - a 5 volume set. Published by the association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, 158 Dizengoff, 63461 Tel Aviv - Phone 03 522 5078. For more information check out www.zchor.org/meirtchak/meirtchak.hrm While researching the Jewish presence in the "First Polish Armored Biezuner, Szoel b. May 6, 1921 Zuromnia p.Sierpc "Jewish Roots in Poland: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories" - authored by Miriam Weiner. Published by the Miriam Weiner Roots to Roots Foundation, Inc. Buy from Amazon.com The book lists the records on a town by town basis in the various branches of the Polish State Archives and town Civil Records Offices (Urzad Stanu Cywilnego). For information on available records of various types, on a town-by-town basis, check the Polish State Archives "SEZAM" database "Jewish Trade in Krakow at the end of the XVI Century and in the XVII, 1593 to 1683" Selected records from Krakow customs registers and published in Krakow in 1995. "Jews-Officers and Enlisted Men in the Polish Army, Prisoners of War in German captivity 1939-1945" - authored by Eng. Benjamin Meirtchak and published in Israel by the Association of Jewish War veterans of Polish Armies In Israel. More details at "Konin - A Quest" - authored by Theo Richmond, published by Jonathan Cape Ltd in England in 1996. Later published by Vintage, Random House, in paperback in 1996 and also in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. ISBN 0-09-940981-X. The book contains fairly detailed local history including history of the town from its founding. "The Lords' Jews, Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 18th Century" - authored by M. J. Rosman. It an informative work of research on the "Arrendator" or lessee system. "Modern History Sourcebook: Jan Slomka: The Life of a Polish Peasant, c. 1900" Photos of Jewish Life In Eastern Europe - the collection can be viewed at http://www.avotaynu.com/postcards Another source that offers a list of business owners (mostly Jewish) from circa 60 shtetls - cities in Eastern Poland (1919 - 1939 ) from years 1923, 1925, 1928 and 1933. In this collection there are also views pre-1939 (on old postcards, photographs, or negatives) of many places especially from Eastern Poland including some with synagogue postcards. Contact: Tomek Wisniewski 15-001 Bialystok, Poland Email tomekwisniewski@telbank.pl "Pinkas ha-Kehillot" of Poland" - Volume 6 describes the regions of Posen, Pomerania (Pommern) and Danzig (Gdansk). It was published in Jerusalem in 1999 by Abraham Wein of the Yad Vashem Institution and describes thoroughly the main 66 communities of both north western provinces of Poland and a short summary about the 25 smaller communities. "Poland" - authored by James A Michener and published in 1983 by Fawcett Books in New York ISBN 0-449-20587-8 "Polyn: Jewish life in the old country" - authored by Alter Kacyzne - many Warsaw photos along with photos of scenes in Makev; Lublin; Rayshe; Vashe; Vilna and more.. "Preserved Evidence: Ghetto Lodz" - Volume 1 authored by Eilenberg-Eibeshitz of Haifa in 1998 indicates in 368 pages, evidences, events, notes and those surviving and dying in the Ghetto of Lodz. "Slownik Geograficzny" - originally published in 1880 and reprinted in Warsaw in the 20th century. It is a dictionary of Greater Poland (includes modern Poland, Ukraine, Galicia, etc.) covers every farm or group of houses that had a name "The Jewish Tavern-Keeper and His Tavern in Nineteenth Century Polish Literature", authored by Magdalena Opalski and published by The Zalman Shazar Center for the Furtherance of the Study of Jewish History in Jerusalem in 1986. See also the Encyclopedia Judaica. Those in the alcohol trade were known as Propinacjz (small production, transport, inns often all together). Usually when vital records use the term "leaseholder" (arendar) this involves inn keeping in the alcohol trade. It is a common (and often not necessarily flattering image) of the rural Jew in Polish literature and art. "The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835" "The Political History of Poland" - authored by E. H. Lewinski-Corwin and published in 1917. A preface in available at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~koby/political/poland.html "Studies in Polish Jewry - Volume 8: Jews in Independent Poland 1918-1939" authored by Antony Polonsky and published in Washington, DC by The Littman library of Jewish Civilization in 1994. "Translation Guide to Nineteenth Century Polish Language Civil Registration Documents" (Birth, Marriage & Death Records) - a book by the Jewish Genealogical Society "The Vatican and the Jews" - authored by Arieh Doobov and published by the Jerusalem/World Jewish Congress in 1998. ISBN 0793-2596 (Policy Forum, 15). Memory or reincarnated responsibility? "Warszawa Business Directory - 1870" "Words to Outlive Us" ; Eye Witness accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto". Of great interest in particular is a register of about 200 names of prisoners in Pawiak Prison together with their places of residence prewar throughout Poland. "Yiddishland" - contains hundreds of postcard reproductions and many show names of shops. The book is available on-line at major on-line book stores. "Yizkor Books for our Region" - authored by Warren Blatt. A complete bibliography of all Yizkor Books published for towns located in Kielce or Radom Guberniya. There are many more publications available relating to specific Polish subjects, Archive holdings and cities. A list of these publications can be found at Poland Genealogy The 1784 Polish Census is located at the Historical Archive in Vilnius, Lithuania according to Galina Baranova, Head Archivist. From a posting by Howard Margol on JewishGen 3/25/2002 List of towns whose 1790s census data in the at Warsaw's AGAD (Archiwum Glowne Akt Dawnych; Central Archives of Historical Records) include lists of Jewish names: In reviewing the Oswiecim (Oshpitzin) Yizkor book, there is a reference made of these censuses. The Oswiecim Jewish Center indicates that in the State Archive in Oswiecim, there are documents (forms with the information about the people) regarding the 1900 and 1910 Austro-Hungarian Census. I would suggest to the researcher of the following sites, to also check the other two Baltic Country sites, including Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Belarus and Russia as there may very well be some cross references as the country borders changed many times between wars. A valuable site to help find a person, maps, etc. - and type in the name of any country you wish to research. This service is free. Global Gazetteer is a great web site. It is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country. 1890-1891 Index of New York Immigrants from Austria, Poland and Galicia. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/1890ny.htm 1923 Polish Directory On-line on the Library of Congress website 1929 Business Directory of Ustrzyki Dolne - Click Here Abbreviations - Polish when searching towns in Poland: Powiat = district and is usually followed by the gmina (township)
Archives Before writing to the Polish Archives, Irene Newhouse newhoir@mail.auburn.edu suggest that one should be aware that the easy sources of vital records for individuals have already been microfilmed by the Mormons. There is only one class of vital records for individuals not microfilmed, according to Irene, and that's the duplicate church registers that were filed in lieu of civil records pre-1874 in those parts of Poland under Prussian/German rule. Some of these have survived when the originals, which have been filmed, have not. Also, Irene notes that Jewish vital records in Poland were often not in Polish. Note that to write to the Archives, you can write in English. To a registry office, local official, etc., write in Polish. Writing in the language of the person that you are writing to is always best ... it exhibits respect and courtesy. Make it as easy as possible if you want the quickest response. Six to eight months for a reply, is not uncommon. Addresses For Archives in Western Ukraine and South-Eastern Poland http://www.lemko.org/genealogy/addresses.html A description of the holdings of the Polish State Archives in available on-line in their new searchable SEZAM database. To view the fond descriptions of interest to you, follow these steps:
(You are at the SEZAM database whose purpose is to gather information on the national archival holdings preserved by various institutions. It includes all elements of a traditional list of Fonds to be found at State Archives as well as additional data, which have been, up until now, included into a fond card or neglected in current finding and registration aids.) Additional information about SEZAM can be found at http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/index.eng.html 4. Under 'Fond Name' enter the town name you are interested in Note that the results will be in Polish To have the Archives do the research for you, click on 'Intro' from the menu on the left side of the web page, then Click on the "How to Get Access to Archive Collections?' Note that inquiries commissioned by private persons (and pertaining to genealogical and property records) are subject to payment according to a standard price list binding in all state archives. Further information on how to order research can be found at Poland Vital Records InfoFiles on JewishGen at Also, note that before you commission research at the Polish State Archives, be aware that there are more than 2,000 microfilms of Jewish vital records of Poland in the LDS collection -- mostly from 1825 to 1865/1875. These can be ordered and viewed at the LDS Family History Centers around the world. About half of these films, mostly from pre-1865, are available at the Douglas Goldman Genealogy Center at Beth Ha'tefutsorth, Museum of the Diaspora in Tel Aviv. Should you contact the Polish State Archives, the following information should be of value. Len Markowitz priluki@voicenet.com offered the following in a posting at Gesher Galicia SIG: 'I guess that it is time to repeat the method that I have used successfully to send money to Poland. Admittedly, it has been about five years since I have last done this, but it was done on at least 4 occasions. To pay for information from the Polish State Archives, purchase a Postal Money Order at your local post office for about $1 - not an International Postal Money Order, which costs about $8.50 (five years ago). Address the Postal Money Order to the bank, including the bank account number, suggested previously by the Polish State Archives. Also make a copy of the Postal Money Order and send it with your next letter to the Polish State Archives' Another method of handling payment to the Polish archives is to check out a personal PayPal account AGAD Archives - Archiwum Glowne Akt Dawnych (The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw) (see also below "Jewish Record Indexing) - this site will provide you with the ability to order records from their archives. This is a repository of 2,010 Jewish metrical books for the area of the former L'viv, Stanislawow, and Tarnopol Voyevodship (now L'viv, Ivano Frankivsk, and Ternopil oblasts in Ukraine. These registers are mainly for the period from 1877 to 1899 when these areas were a part of the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. Other Jewish metrical books for this area will be found in the L'viv branch of the Ukraine State Archives. While the number of records in each volume varies widely, the overall total is estimated to be close to two million. The web site is AGAD/PSA Archives page - scroll down a bit for a map where you can click to view a list of towns with records JRI-Poland database has added more indices from these records - over 20,000 - which include Tarnopol birth and marriage indices and Trembowla birth indices. Also included are Kozowa births from 1877 to 1892; Tarnopol births from 1866 to 1897, Marriages from 1878 to 1897 and Trembowla births from 1877 to 1891. Archiwum Glowne Akt Dawnych The Archives is the repository of 2,010 Jewish metrical books for the area of the former Lwów, Stanislawow and Tarnopol Voyevodship (now known as L'viv, Ivano Frankivsk and Ternopol Oblasts in Ukraine). These registers are mainly for the period from 1877-1899 when these areas were a part of the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. Other Jewish metrical books for this area will be found in the L'viv branch of the Ukraine state Archives. The overall total of records is estimated to be close to two million and are generally written in Polish. There are separate books for births, marriages and deaths. Information about the JRI-Poland AGAD Archives Project can be viewed at There is an Excel spreadsheet that includes a good deal of information about the records of these 90 district and sub-district towns and a status report for each town is constantly being updated. Each year, the Warsaw Srodmiescie USC Archives transfers vital records registers to AGAD. These are registers that only include vital records that have now become more than 100 years old. This transfer occurs in compliance with Polish privacy laws that permit public access to vital records only after 100 years. Recently, AGAD had received many registers that contain records mainly for 1898 and 1899. These registers will be available for indexing about September 2001. Polish Archives CD - the CD will not only contain data on basic facts such as births, marriages and deaths, but also on remaining series of documents preserved in Polish State Archives and will include Jewish records - http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/books/km_i_sc.html The CD will be searchable by town name, religious group and other methods. There will be two language modes: Polish and English. Check this web site for further information at http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/index.eng.html CCW Collection is a collection of the 'schedule of payments to maintain the synagogue in many Jewish cities and these rosters exist in the Main Archive of Old Acts (AGAD) in Warsaw as well as in regional archives. The Polish Archives web site is in Polish, although there is a link shown to convert it to English, however, it does not work at the present time. At this site, though, you can discern Names and phone numbers for various personnel at the Head Office of the State Archives including email address Archives of Poland - a list and a map of Poland with all the regional state archive locations including address, telephone numbers, opening hours, etc. Central State Historical Archives L'viv - address is Director is Orest Laroslavoych Matsiuk; Deputy Director (Directress) is Diana Peltc who, it has been noted, forwards personal researcher requests to a "freelancer" who then increases the price, but the cost is still relatively reasonable Hours are Monday through Friday 9 to 3 pm.
Director of the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine - 110 Solomianska Street, 24, 252601 Kiev, Ukraine It is recommended that both addresses be also written in Ukrainian. A sample of how to address the Archive can be found at Polish Archives website State Archives - in Warsaw Archives - List of archives in former German or German occupied territories. The list includes: General request or uncertain cases can be directed to the Central State Archives in Prague: Phone (0042-2) 57 32 03 38 See also JRI-Poland Polish State Archives Project below ... Aliyah Passport of the 1930s - Surname List and Town List http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/jhi/aliyah-passport_town.htm The American Jewish Historical Society H Has some records of the Federation of Polish America Andres Forces - Jewish soldiers who were in Iraq during 1942-43. Information about and between members of this group and the Jews of Iraq
who befriended them Anti Semitism in Poland - Check these web sites: Arenda - Information about an Arenda Contract can be found at http://www.heritagefilms.com/POLAND.html Birth Records Information - Contact the Registry Office (Urzad Stanu Cywilnego, USC) in Poland directly, rather than a Consulate. The USC will perform the search for records and will send it to the Polish Consulate nearest to your residence. You will be billed for their efforts, Upon payment by money order or certified check, the Consulate will then send any material that the Registry Office has. Request from the manager of the USC a complete extract of the entry, rather than a brief certificate. Breweries - Tarnobrzeg had a brewery. I have a postcard of it. There is a very small book, in Polish at the FHL in Salt Lake about the Breweries in Poland, only part two. I do not remember the name of the book from a posting on JewishGen 1-6-03 by Gayle Schlissel Riley key2pst@pacbell.net Cemeteries in Poland -
Polish shtetl's burial ground. http://tinyurl.com/bzqj Consolidated Jewish Surname Index,
The site includes the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland; All-Lithuania Database; All-Belarus Database; All-Latvia Database and JewishGen Family Finder is available at Death Certificate - Click on the forward arrow to see additional slides Deliveries -
Meest-Boston delivers US dollars, sea and air parcels, food parcels, equipment and electronics, letters and small packages to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Poland and other countries. More services are available East European Genealogical Society Emigration to British Mandate Palestine in the 1930s - the names of many of these Jews who were able to leave Poland for Palestine are available on an index of the passports issued at that time. The are taken from the holdings of the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI) in Warsaw. Eventually this index will be searchable as part of the JRI-Poland on-line database. Because Inter-war Poland included areas that are now part of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine, there are passports from towns such as: Ejszyszki (Lithuania) Europages - business 2 business company directory and business in Europe, yellow pages access, international and European business directory (professional services, addresses and business classifieds Extermination of the Jews of Galicia (Poland) Finding Relatives Living in Poland Today - write a simple letter request in English and address it to: Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnetrznych i Administracji Folks-Sztyme - a weekly publication of the Social and Cultural Society of Jews in Poland. It is now "Dos Yiddishe Vort". The editor is Mr. Adam Rok or for the Yiddish web page Gen Dobry - an e-zine developed for PolishRoots researchers and may have value to your Polish research at http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber to manage your list membership. All you then need do is enter the e-mail address where you want your copy of Gen Dobry sent. Reply to the automated confirmation e-mail. Be sure to read and reply to this confirmation e-mail. Genealogy and Poland - A Guide is an excellent site to start your Polish ancestral search Genealogy & Poland on the Internet and elsewhere http://www.man.poznan.pl/~bielecki/geninfo6.htm GenPol - a Polish Genealogy Discussion Group - you will need to register to use this site. It appears to be information that would be of value to a Jewish genealogist researching efforts. Ghetto Fighters' House - The story of about 1,000 fighters and Jewish heroes during WW II, including biographies and pictures. Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum (Beit Lochamei Hagetaot) is available on-line History of Poland in the last 200 years - this site, which includes a number of maps from 1772, 1795, 1815, 1920 and 2000 as well as a very clearly defined history is available at http://members.core.com/~mikerose/history.html http://members.core.com/~mikerose/waryears.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland http://www.fact-index.com/h/hi/history_of_the_jews_in_poland.html http://www.heritagefilms.com/POLAND.html http://www.infokalisz.internetdsl.pl/statut/history.htm Jewish 19th Century Vital Records from Poland. This site is "in process" to create a computer database of indices to the 19th century Jewish vital records of Poland. It is a joint effort between the Jewish Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland) and the Polish State Archives (AGAD, the Archiwum Glowne Akt Dawnych - The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw). Over half a million Jewish Vital Records of Poland and data from more than 115 towns are now searchable Jewish Cemeteries in Poland A message to the Israeli youth, The web site contains some beautiful photographs of typical Matzevot in Poland. Jewish Community in Poland - A web site is in Polish Social & Cultural Association of Jews in Poland The Union of Jewish Congregations in Poland Jewish Demographics - "In a statistical studies of Jewish demographics in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth during the 18th century, it shows that early teen marriages were the norm among one-quarter of the Jewish population, ostensibly the more affluent class, i.e. it was in those families best able to support grandchildren while they still had children to support that the mother's age at first birth tended to be lowest." "The traditional ages for Jewish marriages were 18-20 for boys, 16-18 for girls. The couple was billeted in their parental home, usually the bride's, at least until the husband was old enough to support his family on his own." From a posting on JewishGen by Norman H. Carp-Gordon on 2/14/01 Jewish History of Poland - From ancient times until WW II can be found at http://www.heritagefilms.com/POLAND.html The Early Settlements Jewish Historical Association Established about fifty years ago as Poland's Jewish community sought to re-establish its institutional life after the Holocaust. The Association owns a vast archival collection, rich with primary source materials on the lives and deaths of Jews and Jewish communities throughout Poland and in adjoining regions historically connected with Poland. These holdings, ranging from the 18th century to the present day, survived thorough a combination of luck, ingenuity, the heroic deeds of historians and archivists (i.e. the Warsaw ghetto historian Emanuel Ringelblum his 'Oneg Shabbes' conspiracy to preserve the history of the Holocaust experience), the compulsive record-keeping of Nazi operatives and deliberate post-war efforts of scholars and communal institutions. Now, times have changed and it is possible in theory to research Jewish history and Jewish family ties freely. Further information available from Yale J. Reisner, Director of Research & Archives, There are Youth Centers in Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz, Warsaw and Wroclaw and a summer camp and educational retreat in Srodborow that is sponsored by the Lauder Foundation. Jewish Museum in Warsaw - contains many items from the Holocaust. One of the main instigators in developing this Holocaust memorial Museum was Dr. Emmanuel Ringelblum. He is noted for his thesis on the Jewish community of Warsaw during the Middle Ages. During the war, Ringelblum was in charge of soup kitchens for distressed Jews in Warsaw. In May 1940, this became a full-fledged underground organization. In November, 1940 he created an archive project known as "Oneg Shabbat," because meetings were held on the Sabbath. Members of the group began to record current events and those who escaped from concentration camps also recorded their experiences. The group recorded various aspects of life including mutual help, cultural and religious life, relationships between Poles and Jews, and between Germans and Jews. In August 1942, when massive deportations escalated, the first part of the archives was hidden in ten tin boxes in the cellar of a house. On the eve of Pesach in 1943, the second part of these documents were hidden in the same house in two aluminum milk cans. The third section was hidden days before the final destruction of the ghetto, somewhere near 34 Swietojerska St. The first two sections of the archives have been found and the third lost section is now believed to be buried in the ground of what is now the Chinese embassy in Warsaw. An attempt is being made to recover these important documents. This information was obtained from an article published in The American Jewish World (Minneapolis) on May 2, 2003 and authored by Rabbi Bernard Solomon Raskas. Jewish Music in Poland Between the World Wars, Muzika Yehudit B'Polin Bein Shtei Milchamot Haolam. It is listed under the Miscellaneous category in the Index Jewish Occupations/Professions in Poland Jewish-Polish Heritage - Mike Rosenzweig, Ph. D. Check out his web site re Jewish-Polish Heritage; Early History of the Jews in Poland; Jewish History in Poland - from 1800 - 1939; Jewish History in Poland - from 1939-1945; Synagogues in Poland; Synagogues in Eastern Europe; Poland Revisited Tips; - http://members.core.com/~mikerose/index.html Jewish Records Indexing (JRI - Poland) is a searchable database of indices to 19th century records from current and former territories of Poland. Over 1,200,000 vital records from towns are now indexed and more are added every month To determine if your shtetl has been microfilmed, check the 'LDS Film List' on this site. It is color coded to indicate the status of the indexing. Then check the 'Database Center' which records have indexed. Bear in mind that this is a project in progress and perhaps only 15% percent of all records that exist have been indexed to date ((10/25/01), so don't get discouraged if your search fails. |
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