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Finding Jewish Ancestors in Poland: Difference between revisions
Finding Jewish Ancestors in Poland (view source)
Revision as of 12:35, 1 February 2022
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In order to research your family in Poland, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. It is not enough to know only ‘Poland;' you must know the town name and the district/province name. The name of a nearby larger town can also be very helpful. | In order to research your family in Poland, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. It is not enough to know only ‘Poland;' you must know the town name and the district/province name. The name of a nearby larger town can also be very helpful. | ||
Some ways to determine your ancestor's pre-immigration origins is to interview elderly relatives. Also search records that might give clues about your ancestor's birthplace which include ''Ship Arrival Records'' (aka Passenger Manifests), especially if your immigrant ancestor arrived after July 1907 (when the manifest was expanded from one page to two pages of information); if your ancestor came before July 1907 AND they departed from the port of Hamburg, then search the ''Hamburg Ship Arrivals'' which often include town of origin. Other sources for ancestral town names are: ''World War I Draft Registrations, World War II Draft Registrations'', and ''Social Security Applications''; among the citizenship documents, search the ''Declaration of Intention'' and the ''Petition for Naturalization'', both of which often include town of origin, arrival data (date of arrival, name of ship, port of departure, names of relatives, and sometimes, a photo). Secondary sources for locating ancestral town names are marriage records, obituaries, and other documents such as cemetery records. In Jewish cemeteries, the burial plots are often named after a town of origin and people tend to be buried in these specific plots. '''Note''', keep in mind that usually a husband and wife are buried in the same burial plot, but often only one of them originally came from that town. | |||
See the [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/admindist.shtml Administrative Districts and Divisions] article on Routes to Roots Administrative to learn more about jurisdictions in the Russian Empire and their modern-day equivalents. | |||
[[File:Bialystok.png|left|thumb|585x585px|'''Bialystok, Poland''' Soviet-era Town Plan Map example from Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation. '''Source:''' Miriam Weiner Archives. To see the full version of the Bialystok_1 map click [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/gugk/Bialystok_1/ here.] To see the Bialystok_2 map click [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/gugk/Bialystok_2/ here.]]] | |||
===Maps of your Ancestor's Town=== | ===Maps of your Ancestor's Town=== | ||
Miriam Weiner's website offers select '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/maps1.shtml historical maps of Poland]''', as well as a variety of '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/imagesearch.php historical images]''' from towns in Poland that may prove useful in your family history.<br><br>Maps will help you locate places where your ancestors lived and give you context for the records you are using. Maps can identify political boundaries, place names, geographical features, cemeteries, synagogues, etc. Historical maps are especially useful for understanding boundary changes or finding communities that no longer exist. | Miriam Weiner's website offers select '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/maps1.shtml historical maps of Poland]''', as well as a variety of '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/imagesearch.php historical images]''' from towns in Poland that may prove useful in your family history.<br><br>Maps will help you locate places where your ancestors lived and give you context for the records you are using. Maps can identify political boundaries, place names, geographical features, cemeteries, synagogues, etc. Historical maps are especially useful for understanding boundary changes or finding communities that no longer exist. | ||
== Surname Databases == | == Surname Databases == | ||
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[[File:Krakow, Poland - census record, 1870.png|alt=|thumb|560x560px|Krakow, Poland - census record, 1870. Source: Miriam Weiner Archives. ]] | [[File:Krakow, Poland - census record, 1870.png|alt=|thumb|560x560px|Krakow, Poland - census record, 1870. Source: Miriam Weiner Archives. ]] | ||
[[File:Poland document images.png|alt=|none|thumb|520x520px|Example of documents you may find through the Standard Surname Database at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation. Source: Miriam Weiner Archives. ]] | [[File:Poland document images.png|alt=|none|thumb|520x520px|Example of documents you may find through the Standard Surname Database at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation. Source: Miriam Weiner Archives. ]] | ||
===OCR Surname Database=== | === OCR Surname Database === | ||
*Use the [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/newwebsite/ocrsearch.php OCR Surname Database] (optical character recognition) to search for your ancestor's surname. This database is comprised of information from business directories, address calendars, telephone books, typed name lists, and name lists from books and from archives. | *Use the [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/newwebsite/ocrsearch.php OCR Surname Database] (optical character recognition) to search for your ancestor's surname. This database is comprised of information from business directories, address calendars, telephone books, typed name lists, and name lists from books and from archives. | ||
**To search, type in the surname, and you'll find an automatic translation of the surname into Cyrillic appear in the second search box. Repeat the search twice - once using the Latin Letter search, and again using the Cyrillic Letter search. Searches may yield different results. Once search results appear, you may want to use Google Translate to help you navigate search results. If using the Chrome browser, right-click anywhere on the page and select '''Translate to English'''. Keep in mind if you are looking at a telephone directory, the original directories have been donated to the U.S. Library of Congress. View the original by selecting the '''Get Page Scan''' button. | **To search, type in the surname, and you'll find an automatic translation of the surname into Cyrillic appear in the second search box. Repeat the search twice - once using the Latin Letter search, and again using the Cyrillic Letter search. Searches may yield different results. Once search results appear, you may want to use Google Translate to help you navigate search results. If using the Chrome browser, right-click anywhere on the page and select '''Translate to English'''. Keep in mind if you are looking at a telephone directory, the original directories have been donated to the U.S. Library of Congress. View the original by selecting the '''Get Page Scan''' button. | ||
[[File:Poland OCR Directory.png|thumb|535x535px|Poland OCR Directory. ]] | |||
[[File:Poland OCR search.png|alt=|left|thumb|543x543px|OCR Surname Database at Routes to Roots,https://www.rtrfoundation.org.]] | |||
[[File:Poland OCR results.png|center|thumb|405x405px|OCR Surname Database at Routes to Roots, https://www.rtrfoundation.org. ]] | |||
== Find Records for your Town == | |||
[[File:Poland Archive Search Example.png|thumb|400x400px|Sample search results from Archive Database at Routes to Roots, https://www.rtrfoundation.org. |alt=]] | |||
[[File:Poland Archive Entry Example.png|thumb|513x513px|Sample entry from Archives Database at Routes to Roots, https://www.rtrfoundation.org. |alt=|left]] | |||
==Find Records for your Town== | |||
[[File:Poland Archive Search Example.png | |||
[[File:Poland Archive Entry Example.png|thumb| | |||
===Archive Database=== | ===Archive Database=== | ||
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This database contains documents such as army/recruit lists, family lists and census records, Jewish vital records (birth, marriage, death, divorce), immigration documents, voter and tax lists, property and notary records, Holocaust documents, police files, and pogrom documents, school records, occupation lists, local government, and hospital records. | This database contains documents such as army/recruit lists, family lists and census records, Jewish vital records (birth, marriage, death, divorce), immigration documents, voter and tax lists, property and notary records, Holocaust documents, police files, and pogrom documents, school records, occupation lists, local government, and hospital records. | ||
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=== Holocaust Lists Database === | === Holocaust Lists Database === | ||
[[File:Poland Holocaust Database.png|thumb|400x400px|Sample Holocaust Lists database from Routes to Roots, https://www.rtrfoundation.org. ]] | [[File:Poland Holocaust Database.png|thumb|400x400px|Sample Holocaust Lists database from Routes to Roots, https://www.rtrfoundation.org. |alt=|left]] | ||
[[File:Poland Holocaust Lists Database Entry.png | [[File:Poland Holocaust Lists Database Entry.png|thumb|400x400px|Sample Holocaust Lists database entry, https://rtrfoundation.org. |alt=]] | ||
Use the new '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/holocaust.php Holocaust Lists Database]''' at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots to determine the location of Holocaust documents such as victim and survivor lists, survival testimonials and more. Holocaust Collections included in this database are from select towns in Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine. | Use the new '''[https://www.rtrfoundation.org/holocaust.php Holocaust Lists Database]''' at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots to determine the location of Holocaust documents such as victim and survivor lists, survival testimonials and more. Holocaust Collections included in this database are from select towns in Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine. | ||
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Also, after you have determined that Holocaust documents for your town are available, consider searching for your surname in the Surname Database. Miriam Weiner has digitized many Holocaust lists and they are accessible through the Surname Database. Keep in mind that this is an ongoing project, so check back often for new information and updates. | Also, after you have determined that Holocaust documents for your town are available, consider searching for your surname in the Surname Database. Miriam Weiner has digitized many Holocaust lists and they are accessible through the Surname Database. Keep in mind that this is an ongoing project, so check back often for new information and updates. | ||
To request a search from the relevant archive (identified in the search results), click on the archive name which will lead to a list of archives and you can then choose the exact one. Contact that archive to request a search of the specific documents (provide year and files numbers) for your surname(s). | To request a search from the relevant archive (identified in the search results), click on the archive name which will lead to a list of archives and you can then choose the exact one. Contact that archive to request a search of the specific documents (provide year and files numbers) for your surname(s). | ||
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==Historical Photos== | ==Historical Photos== | ||
The [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/newwebsite/imagesearch.php '''Image Database'''] on Miriam Weiner's website contains photographs and postcard views of many towns and cities throughout Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, and other select countries dating back to the early 1900s. These include pre-WWI and current town views, photos of synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and Holocaust memorials. It's a great way to see what your ancestor's shtetl may have looked like at the time they lived there. | The [https://www.rtrfoundation.org/newwebsite/imagesearch.php '''Image Database'''] on Miriam Weiner's website contains photographs and postcard views of many towns and cities throughout Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, and other select countries dating back to the early 1900s. These include pre-WWI and current town views, photos of synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and Holocaust memorials. It's a great way to see what your ancestor's shtetl may have looked like at the time they lived there. | ||
[[File:Plock cemetery.png|left|thumb|500x500px|Plock, Poland. Remnants of Jewish cemetery at Mickiewiza Street, 1994. ]] | [[File:Plock cemetery.png|left|thumb|500x500px|'''Plock, Poland'''. Remnants of Jewish cemetery at Mickiewiza Street, 1994. ]] | ||
[[File:Lublin gate.png|thumb|500x500px|'''Lublin, Poland.''' Grodzka gate (Jewish gate) to the Old Town, c. 1990. ]] | [[File:Lublin gate.png|thumb|500x500px|'''Lublin, Poland.''' Grodzka gate (Jewish gate) to the Old Town, c. 1990. ]] | ||
[[File:Bialystok, Poland market.png|center|thumb|500x500px|'''Bialystok, Poland.''' A busy day at the local market square, c. 1930. '''Source:''' Miriam Weiner Archives. ]][[File:Tarnow Jewish Cemetery.png|thumb|500x500px|'''Tarnow, Poland.''' Jewish cemetery, 1993.]] | [[File:Bialystok, Poland market.png|center|thumb|500x500px|'''Bialystok, Poland.''' A busy day at the local market square, c. 1930. '''Source:''' Miriam Weiner Archives. ]][[File:Tarnow Jewish Cemetery.png|thumb|500x500px|'''Tarnow, Poland.''' Jewish cemetery, 1993.]] | ||