Poland Church Records: Difference between revisions

(akta zgonów i pogrzebów) Burials were recorded in the church record of the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of the death. Burial registers give the name of the deceased person and the date and place of death or burial. Often the age, place of residence, cause of death, and names of survivors are given. Occasionally the date and place of birth and the parents’ names are included. Early death registers usually do not indicate the date and place of birth. The birth date and place of the deceased person and information about parents in a burial record may not be accurate. Burial records may exist for individuals who were born before birth and marriage records were kept. Burial records often start later than christening and marriage records of the same parish.  

=== Locating Church Records  ===

Original Catholic records are usually found in individual parish or diocesan archives. Protestant records are often in state archives; some are in the possession of Evangelical Church archives or officials. Civil transcripts are generally kept in the local civil registration offices (Urząd Stanu Ciwilnego) for 100 years; then they are transferred to state archives. To use church records, you must know the town and religion of your ancestor. You must also determine the parish that your ancestor’s town belonged to so that you will know which parish registers to search. Your ancestor may have lived in village that was part of a parish located in a nearby larger town. Over time, some villages may have belonged to more than one parish as jurisdictions changed. Some gazetteers indicate parish jurisdictions. For help identifying parish boundaries, see the [[Poland Gazetteers]] and [[Poland Maps]] and the following information on church record inventories. The town where the church building was located is considered the parish headquarters. Although the church building was often named for a saint, the Family History Library Catalog refers to a parish by the name of the town where the parish church was located. In large cities where there may be many parishes for each religion, the catalog uses the parish name (such as St. John) to distinguish records of different parishes.  

== Church Record Inventories  ==