Genealogical research in Poland

Nearly 20 million Poles and people of Polish origin live outside Poland what makes this diaspora one of the largest in the world.

Being a second or third generation born outside Poland might make the root tracing process a bit challenging. Most likely your family name has been misspelt or even changed, you have no clue where your grandfather was born as sometimes it was said that he was born in Poland, then in Russia and suddenly you find out that he considered himself to be German – all due to European, historical turmoil. Average person doesn’t know much about their family heritage usually because of a belief repeated by the relatives, along the lines of: “it is not possible”, “the documents were burnt”, “grandparents did not want to talk about their lives, we should respect their decision”, etc.

Good news is that many various documents have been preserved until this day. Including vital records, censuses, military and student files, address books, ID applications and many more. Thanks to those files we can learn the names of our ancestors, their pre-war addresses and in some cases find a photograph or hand written letter of theirs. All of the above enable us to imagine what their daily life was like.

For many years I have been professionally involved in genealogical research and have solved hundreds if not thousands of cases already.

Here’s the specific list of things I can help you with:

  • search for ancestors and building a family tree or extending an existing one
  • finding out the proper spellings of your family’s name
  • locating the place of your family origin
  • translating Polish, Russian, German and Latin records often written in their old form to English
  • finding living relatives
  • finding out and understanding your identity

What can you gain?

Effective genealogical research requires the know-how and time. Often plenty of it. Thanks to many years of professional experience, a search result that can take you years to find I can probably achieve in a few weeks time.

In this work it is necessary to know several languages and also own a skilled eye to read Cyrillic, Kurrent and Latin manuscripts, in some cases the Hebrew alphabet comes in handy. Historical knowledge, efficient navigation in many databases, experience in working in archives and the ability to analyse the acquired information are equally important here.

By commissioning me to do your research, you will:

  • save a lot of time
  • avoid frustration
  • receive the copies of original documents and accurate information about your ancestors in the form of a report
  • discover yourself through the lens of your family history

Who is this service for?

If you want to discover the history of your Polish ancestors, learn how they lived, you’re looking for documents, living relatives, you are trying to unravel a family secret or you need translation of birth records (from Russian, German or Latin) – then my services are directed to you.

Regardless of whether you’re a beginner and want to commission your first research or you’re stuck in with your already ongoing investigation – reach out to me and together we will find out the possibilities and plan the next steps.

How does it work?

1. Gathering data stage

In the first step, please share everything you know about your ancestors. The more information, the better. I will reply to your inquiry within 5 working days and this stage is free of charge.

The most important are:

  • Names and surnames of ancestors and relatives
  • Places of birth and residence
  • Dates of birth, marriage and death (at least approximately)
  • Information about emigration
  • Legends and family stories

2. The offer stage

Based on the initial research, I checked the availability of the records and prepare a plan with the cost estimate. If you accept the offer, I will start the research after receiving a down payment of 50%. The research process usually takes about 14-16 weeks.

3. Delivery stage

Based on found documents and information, I prepare a detailed report which contains:
  • information about your ancestors (i.a. the names, surnames, places and dates of birth and marriages, the place of residence, the social status and occupation, sometimes the exact address)
  • the copies of documents with translations to English 
  • the list of checked sources
  • ideas regarding possible continuation
  • the family tree graph
  • the family tree in Gedcom file which can be uploaded to other programs (e.g. MyHeritage) 
Before starting the research, I carefully check the possibilities and try to predict potential results, but without access to the actual files, I cannot 100% guarantee specific results. Each family history is unique, so the results of the search depend on the state of preservation of the documents and the information they contain.

Do you need help with tracing your Polish ancestors? Send me a message!

By sending this email you accept my privacy policy.

Końcowy raport składa się z kopi odnalezionych dokumentów, tłumaczeń, zdjęć oraz podsumowania. Wyjaśniam pokrewieństwo odnalezionych osób, opisuję sprawdzone źródła i kontekst historyczny. Najczęściej poszukiwania dzielone są na parę etapów i opisuję możliwości kontynuacji.

Czasem konkretny dokument może zostać nie odnaleziony z różnych przyczyn – migracji do innych wiosek/miast w dalszych pokoleniach, ochrzczenia w innej parafii, lukach w księgach, zniszczeń dokumentów w pożarach lub w czasie wojen.  Cena końcowa w takiej sytuacji nie ulega zmienia, ponieważ wysiłek włożony w poszukiwania jest taki sam bez względu na rezultat.

Raporty mogą się od siebie mniej lub bardziej różnić w zależności od miejsca, z którego rodzina pochodziła (np. dokumenty z zaboru pruskiego, austriackiego i rosyjskiego różnią się od siebie formą i treścią).

 

Na podstawie zebranych informacji (Twoich i moich) przygotuję plan i wycenę – jeśli ją zaakceptujesz, po otrzymaniu zaliczki rozpoczynam pracę i informuję o przewidywanym czasie ukończenia usługi. Standardowe poszukiwania trwają około 1 miesiąca, a o wszelkich zmianach będę informować Cię na bieżąco.

Na Twoje zapytanie odpiszę w ciągu 3 dni roboczych i jest to etap bezpłatny. Być może zadam parę dodatkowych pytań, dopytam o cele albo od razu przedstawię propozycję kolejnych kroków.

Warto pamiętać, że im więcej szczegółów podasz, tym więcej rzeczy mogę odkryć.

Podziel się ze mną:

  • Imionami i nazwiskami przodków (wszystkich, o których wiesz)
  • Miejscami urodzenia i zamieszkania (jeśli jest inne np. wojnie)
  • Datami urodzenia, ślubów i zgonu (mogą być orientacyjne)
  • Informacjami o rodzeństwie, kuzynach, emigracjach.
  • Legendami i historiami rodzinnymi

I najważniejsze – jeśli masz niewiele informacji, zupełnie się tym nie martw, w takich sytuacjach także znajdę rozwiązanie.