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Poland Emigration and Immigration

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Index cards of German emigrants to eastern Europe, including Hungary, the Banat region (once in Hungary, now in Romania and Yugoslavia), Galicia (formerly in Austria, now divided between Poland and the Ukraine), and Poland. Arranged alphabetically by surname, provide information regarding place of origin and place of settlement, dates and places of birth, death, and marriage, spouse's name, religion, occupation, number of persons accompanying, documentary references, date of and route of emigration, when registered with officials in Vienna, and some biographical notes. Maiden names are cross-referenced to married names.
These records contain data on subjects of the Russian Empire (Jews, Poles, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Finns, and others) who came to the U.S. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Includes passports and passport applications, visas, nationality certificates, certificates of origin, inheritance information, contracts, and correspondence. These documents include name, date of birth, exact place of birth, details on family relationships, relatives living in the U.S. and Russia, physical description, photographs, details of military service, reasons for immigration, date and place of immigration, religion, and other information.

Refugees and Holocaust Records

The German Government initiated a major expulsion from Germany to Poland of Jews designated as Polish, in 1938. This collection contains a list of children who did not have parents. The information contains the children's names, birth dates, parent's names, and last residence in Germany. The fate of these children is not known.
In 1939, a group of people escaped Poland and fled to Russia. Then in 1940, many of these Polish refugees were expelled to Siberia. They were eventually given amnesty and began to move toward the Asian territories. These people suffered cold, hunger, disease, and many hardships along the way. Many children lost family members. This collection contains the names of about 800 children who arrived in Israel in 1943. Other information included are their age, parents' names, and place of birth.

Immigration into Poland

  • Significant numbers of immigrants moved to Poland from 1770–1850.
  • Most of these came from Germany, but others came from the Netherlands, France, and even Scotland'. This wave of immigration was caused by offers to settle new lands in Russia. Many of these immigrants had suffered economic losses or religious persecution in their homelands.

Emigration from Poland

  • People emigrated from Poland to places such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, and South America beginning in the 1820s. *Most early emigrants came from areas under Prussian (German) rule to the United States and, to a lesser degree, France. These included both ethnic Poles and ethnic Germans.
  • The earliest emigrants from Russian-governed Poland were from the districts of Suwalki and Łomża. A great many of these people were Jewish.
  • Most of the early emigrants to the United States settled in Texas; Hamtramck, Michigan; and the Chicago area. Emigration was minimal until 1854, when Poles from Silesia began settling in Texas.
  • A great wave of Polish emigration started in the 1870s.
  • Most later emigrants left from Austrian-governed southern Poland (Galicia) and Russian Poland, destined largely for Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, and other areas of the United States.
  • From 1900–15, many Poles settled in Chicago, New York City, Connecticut, New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
  • From 1870–1914, 3.6 million Poles left from the three empires that controlled Poland. The Russian Poles constituted 53%, those from Galicia 43%, and the Prussian Poles 4% of the total Polish immigration from 1895–1911.

Passenger Lists

The Polish ports of Gdańsk (Danzig) and Szczecin (Stettin) were primarily freight ports. Not many passengers sailed from these ports. Most emigrants went by train to Germany and then embarked from a German port. The major ports of departure for emigrants from Poland were Hamburg and Bremen, but because Hamburg had more agents and advertising in Eastern Europe, it served more Polish emigrants than Bremen did. The passenger lists of Bremen have not been preserved, but those of Hamburg from 1850 to 1934 are preserved and accessible for research. Information in these lists varies but usually includes names, ages, occupations, and destinations. In addition, relationships and last residence or birthplace may be given. These passenger lists and indexes are most fully described in Hamburg Passenger Lists.

Records of Polish Emigrants in Their Destination Countries

Sometimes the best sources for information about your immigrant ancestor are found in the country he or she emigrated to. You should search the records of the place where your ancestor settled, such as passenger arrival records and naturalization records. These sometimes provide the town of origin and other information. To learn about these records, use handbooks, manuals, and FamilySearch Wiki articles, if available, for that country.

Most Polish immigrants to the United States arrived in New York, Baltimore, Galveston, or New Orleans. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of arrival records for these and other U.S. ports. Most are indexed. See United States Emigration and Immigration for more information about U.S. emigration and immigration records. It is very important to note that many immigrants heading for the U.S. arrived in North America at a Canadian port and made their way to the States via rail. If heading to the prairies, many went as far as Winnipeg, Manitoba before turning south into the States. Canada, Australia, and other nations kept similar records of arrivals. The FamilySearch Wiki articles "Emigration and Immigration" for the country where your ancestor went should provide information about that country’s immigration records.

A bibliography of over 2,500 published lists of emigrants and immigrants is:

Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigrations Lists Bibliography, 1538–1900. 2d ed. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1988. (FHL book 973 W33p 1988.)

More than 1000 of these passenger and immigration lists are indexed in:

Filby, P. William, et al.Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. 9 vols. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, Q1981–. (FHL book 973 W33p.) This does not index official U.S. arrival lists. Many of the names are from post-1820 published sources.

There are several immigration lists directed specifically toward persons who emigrated from Poland. These include:

Surname Index. Houston, Texas: The Polish Genealogical Society of Texas, 1988–. (FHL book 976.4144 F25p.)

Geraldine Moser. Hamburg passengers from the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Empire. Washington, D.C.: Landmen Press, 1996. (FHL book 943.8 W2m.)

For Further Reading

A very useful site showing a settlement maps in eastern Poland of people coming in from other areas can be found at the

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