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== Historical Background ==
==Historical Background==
The history of Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 until the early years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created in 1569, Poland was one of the most tolerant countries in Europe, and became a shelter for Jews persecuted from various European countries.  
The history of Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 until the early years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created in 1569, Poland was one of the most tolerant countries in Europe, and became a shelter for Jews persecuted from various European countries.  


Between 1772 and 1795, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided between three of the surrounding major powers: the Habsburg Monarchy (Austria), Kingdom of Prussia (Germany), and Russian Empires.  
Between 1772 and 1795, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided between three of the surrounding major powers: the Habsburg Monarchy (Austria), Kingdom of Prussia (Germany), and Russian Empires.  


Historians estimate that during the 19th century, more than 85 percent of the world’s Jews lived in Europe.
Prior to World War II, over 3.3 million Jews lived in Poland, the largest Jewish population in Europe. Over the course of WWII, nearly all of Polands Jews were murdered during the holocaust. Only close to 11% of Poland's Jews (about 369,000 people), survived the war. Today, just over 3,000 Jews remain in Poland.<ref>"History of Jews in Poland," Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org, accessed May 2021. </ref> 


Genealogical research in each of these three areas or partitions of Poland is a bit different. This Wiki page includes general records that can be used for research in Poland as a whole, while the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian Jewish records pages contain resources and information specific to research in that area. Use the map and the links below to access the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian Jewish records pages.  
For more information about the history of Jews in Poland, consider the following sources.
<br />
 
===Specific Regional Jewish Records===
*To read the Wikipedia.org article ''History of the Jews in Poland'', click [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland here].
{{Poland Regional Jewish Records}}
*Take the [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Poland.html Poland Virtual Jewish History Tour].
*Explore the [https://yivoencyclopedia.org/ YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.]
 
==== Importance of and Locating the Town ====
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 only know 'Poland;' you must know the shtetl, or town, they came from. It will also be useful to determine which partition of Poland your ancestors came from as genealogical research in each of these three areas or partitions of Poland is a bit different. This Wiki page includes general records that can be used for research in Poland as a whole, while the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian Jewish records pages contain resource and information specific to research in that area. Use the map and the links below to access the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian Jewish records pages. If you aren't sure which partition of Poland your ancestors came from, see the heading '''How do I know which partition of Poland my ancestors came from?''' below. {{Poland Regional Jewish Records}}


*[[Austrian Poland Jewish Records|'''Austrian Poland Jewish Records''']]
*[[Austrian Poland Jewish Records|'''Austrian Poland Jewish Records''']]
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*[[Russian Poland Jewish Records|'''Russian Poland Jewish Records''']]
*[[Russian Poland Jewish Records|'''Russian Poland Jewish Records''']]


===Jewish Records [''Akta żydowskie'']===
<br />
====How do I know which partition of Poland my ancestors came from?====
 
===== '''JewishGen Gazetteer''' =====


'''Records of vital events pertaining to the Jewish community:'''  
*The [https://www.jewishgen.org/communities/loctown.asp '''JewishGen Gazetteer'''] can help you determine which partition of Poland your ancestor came from. To view an entry page, search for your town name, then click on the '''Jewish star''' to the left of the town name. Pay special attention to the jurisdictions '''Before WWI'''. The '''Country''' column will let you know which partition of Poland. If there are multiple towns with the same name in different parts of Poland, see the heading below for more information.


*Chiefly these consist of transcript records created in accordance with the laws of each of the governments that controlled Poland after the partitioning.
====='''Records in Country of Immigration'''=====
*Prior to the introduction of civil transcript laws (and occasionally after), Jews were sometimes included in Christian church books.
One of the best ways to determine information about your ancestor's pre-immigration origins is to investigate records in the country of immigration. Records that might give clues about your ancestor's birthplace include vital records like marriage or death, vital records of children or spouses, census, church records, obituaries, naturalization/immigration and so on. Find a Wiki page for the country, state, or county that your ancestor immigrated to in order to discover what types of records might be available for the area they lived in.
*By the 1820s and 1830s many Jewish congregations were keeping their own distinct civil transcript records.
**In the former Russian territory, rabbis were designated as official registrars of Jewish civil transcripts after 1826.
**Austrian laws allowed Jews to maintain registers under Catholic supervision from 1789, but most Jewish registers date from the 1830s or later. Jewish records were not given the status of official legal documents in Austria until 1868.
*Other types of Jewish records include circumcision records, marriage contracts, as well as holocaust memorial records, There was little consistency to the keeping of birth, marriage, and death records which was by the whim of the local religious Jewish leaders until the introduction of civil transcript laws.


'''Contents:'''
As you locate your ancestor in records in their country of immigration, you might notice some variation in their birthplace. The list below illustrates some of the commonalities you might encounter that will help you determine which partition of Poland your ancestor was from.


*Civil transcripts and/or civil registration: record contents are similar to Christian civil transcripts.
* '''Austrian Poland:''' Austria, Austro-Hungary, Galicia, Poland
*Circumcision records (mohalim books): given Hebrew male names of children, circumcision date (Hebrew calendar), father’s given Hebrew name, sometimes surname.
* '''Prussian Poland:''' Germany, Poland, Prussia, names of provinces including:
*Marriage contracts (Ketubbot): marriage date, names of groom and bride, contractual agreements.
** Brandenburg, East Prussia (''Ostpreußen),'' Pomerania (''Pommern''), Posen (''Poznan''), Silesia (''Schlesien'') West Prussia (''Westpreußen)''
*Death memorial records: names of deceased individuals and death date in Hebrew calendar with month and day but sometimes not year.
* '''Russian Poland:''' Poland, Russia, names of provinces including:
*Kahal records: Records of the Jewish governing bodies, including lists of those who voted for the head rabbi, lists of community inhabitants, etc.
** Grodno, Kalisz, Kielce, Łomża, Lublin, Piotrków, Plock, Radom, Suwałki, Warszawa


[[Image:Rozan town square.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Rozan town square.jpg]]  
==Jewish Records [''Akta żydowskie'']==


'''Finding Records:'''<br>
* Chiefly these consist of transcript records created in accordance with the laws of each of the governments that controlled Poland after the partitioning.
For information regarding locations of Polish Jewish records, see:  
* Prior to the introduction of civil transcript laws (and occasionally after), Jews were sometimes included in Christian church books.  In Russian Poland, for example, between 1808 and 1826, Jews may have been recorded in the records of the Roman Catholic Church. By 1826, Jewish congregations kept their own records.
Weiner, Miriam. ''Jewish Roots in Poland, Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories.'' New York, New York: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research, 1997. (FHL book 943.8 F2wm.)
* By the 1820s and 1830s many Jewish congregations were keeping their own distinct civil transcript records.
*
* Other types of Jewish records include circumcision records, marriage contracts, as well as holocaust memorial records, There was little consistency to the keeping of birth, marriage, and death records which was by the whim of the local religious Jewish leaders until the introduction of civil transcript laws. See below for more information about record types and content.
** '''Civil transcripts and/or civil registration:''' record contents are similar to Christian civil transcripts.
** '''Circumcision records (Mohalim books):''' given Hebrew male names of children, circumcision date (Hebrew calendar), father’s given Hebrew name, sometimes surname.
** '''Marriage contracts (Ketubbot):''' marriage date, names of groom and bride, contractual agreements.
** '''Divorce records (Get or Gett):''' a document in Jewish religious law which effectuates a divorce between a Jewish couple. The document frees the woman from the marriage, and consequently, she is free to marry another.
** '''Death memorial records:''' names of deceased individuals and death date in Hebrew calendar with month and day but sometimes not year.
** '''Kahal records:''' Records of the Jewish governing bodies, including lists of those who voted for the head rabbi, lists of community inhabitants, etc.


Between 1808 and 1826 Jews may have been recorded in the Roman Catholic Church. By 1826, Jewish congregations kept their own vital statistics records.
==JewishGen Resources==
JewishGen is one of the most important sources in Jewish genealogical research worldwide. The site is free and easy to use, but requires registration. For video tutorials on many of the resources of JewishGen, see the following free, virtual classes:


===History of the Jews in Poland===
* '''[https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/rtc2021/session/intro-to-jewishgen-org-and-jewish-genealogy Intro to JewishGen.org and Jewish Genealogy]'''
** JewishGen.org offers both archival and networking components that are relied upon by thousands of people each day. Explore common challenges that people encounter when researching their family history, and how JewishGen can help.


*To read the Wikipedia.org article ''History of the Jews in Poland'', click [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland here].
===JewishGen Family Finder===
*Take the [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Poland.html Poland Virtual Jewish History Tour].<br>"Before the outbreak of World War II, more than 3.3 million Jews lived in Poland, the largest Jewish population of Europe and second largest Jewish community in the world. Poland served as the center for Jewish culture and a diverse population of Jews from all over Europe sought refuge there, contributing to a wide variety of religious and cultural groups. Barely 11% of Poland's Jews - 369,000 people -survived the war. Today, approximately 3,200 Jews remain in Poland."
The [https://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/ '''Family Finder'''] is a database of both ancestral hometowns and surnames that have been researched by their descendants world wide. The Family Finder allows you to connect with others who are researching similar ancestors and origins and collaborate your research.  
*To visit the Galicia Jewish Museum online click [http://www.en.galiciajewishmuseum.org/ here]. The Galicia Jewish Museum exists to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to celebrate the Jewish culture of Polish Galicia, presenting Jewish history from a new perspective.
*http://www.dutchjewry.org/genealogy/ashkenazi/index.shtml Ashkenazi Amsterdam in the Eighteenth Century] "Research of the family origins and heritage of Dutch Jewry (A.R.)"
*Historians estimate that during the 19th century more than 85 percent of the world’s Jews lived in Europe.
*Most of these lived in Poland and Russia. Many books have been written about Jews in Poland. You can often find these in a public or university library.


{{Template:Jews in Eastern Europe}}
'''To add the surnames and locations you are researching:'''


==JewishGen Resources==
*Click on '''Modify (Edit your existing entries)''' or '''Enter (Add new entries)'''.
{{Template:JewishGen Family Finder}}
*Type in the surnames and/or locations of interest and hit '''Submit'''.


===The JewishGen Poland Database===
'''To search the database and see if you can connect to family members and other researchers:'''


*More than five million records for Poland, from a variety of sources, including: vital records, business directories, voter lists, passenger manifests, Yizkor books and other Holocaust sources. A joint project of Jewish Records Indexing - Poland and JewishGen. ''Requires free registration.'' To search, click [http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/#Poland '''The JewishGen Poland Database'''].
* Choose '''Search (Search the database)''' from the Town Finder home page. You can search for a surname and/or a town.  


===[http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/ JewishGen Complete List of Databases]===
* Search results will appear in a chart format giving you the surname, town, country, and researcher information (often includes contact information) and the date they last logged into JewishGen.


Poland's historic borders extend into Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and also into parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire known as Silesia. For this reason, use the database specified on your community page to find indexed records. Search for your community page at [http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/Search.asp JewishGen Communities Database]. Nonetheless, persons may show up elsewhere due to migration or deportation internal to Eastern Europe.
===[http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/GivenNames/ JewishGen Given Names Data Bases (GNDB)]===
===[http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/GivenNames/ JewishGen Given Names Data Bases (GNDB)]===


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*Get ideas and help with the Facebook Polish Genealogy Research Community [https://www.facebook.com/PolandGenealogy here].
*Get ideas and help with the Facebook Polish Genealogy Research Community [https://www.facebook.com/PolandGenealogy here].


<br />
<br />Record Sets and Indexes
==Record Sets and Indexes==
===Ancestry.com===
===Ancestry.com===


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*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6219 Poland, Martyred Jewish Physicians, 1939-1945], index
*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6219 Poland, Martyred Jewish Physicians, 1939-1945], index
*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6584 Poland, Jewish Children Survivors of the Holocaust, 1945], index
*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6584 Poland, Jewish Children Survivors of the Holocaust, 1945], index
<br />


==[https://www.jri-poland.org/ JRI - Poland]==
==[https://www.jri-poland.org/ JRI - Poland]==
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