Poland Genealogy

Guide to Poland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Country Information


Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. Polish is the official language.

The establishment of the Polish state can be traced back to A.D. 966. Go to Wikipedia for more information on Poland.

Finding Your Ancestors' Town in Poland

 * Genealogical records are organized by geographical locality. Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level. Duplicates were sometimes sent to higher jurisdictions such as a diocese or voivodeship (province). Efforts to collect, preserve, and publish records online are generally carried out at a diocese or voivodeship level, or by archive jurisdiction level.
 * If you do not know your ancestors' town, follow the advice in the Wiki article Poland Locating Town of Origin to search a variety of records that might provide that information.

Town Details Needed for Finding Records:
Once you know the town where your ancestors lived, there are some important details you need to find to get into the records. Your town may not have its own parish church because of its small size. So you need to find out the town name where the Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Catholic, or Jewish synagogue your ancestor attended would have been. Likewise, your town or village might have been too small to have its own civil registration office, so you need to find where people in that village would have registered their births, marriages, and deaths.


 * Use mapa.szukacz to find the province, area, commune, and postal code of the town. Enter the town name in the "place" field in the right sidebar and click "Show". All information will appear at the bottom of the right sidebar.
 * Use Kartenmeister to find the Polish and German province, county, Catholic parish, Lutheran parish, and Standesamt (civil registration office), if the town was in the area of Poland once controlled by Prussia.
 * If the town was in the area of Poland once controlled by Russia or Austria, look it up in Skorowidz Gazetteer Online to find the parishes of various religions. Here are the instructions. Use the second option, "Viewing anywhere via the Digital Library of Wielkopolska".

Provinces (Voivodeships)
Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known as voivodeships (Polish: województwa, singular województwo). Click on the link below for a Wiki article specific to the province.

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More Poland Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for the Poland.
 * [[Media:Finding_records_of_your_ancestors_Poland.pdf|Finding records of your ancestors, Poland 1808 to 1900]]
 * Reference Aids Overview at the Family History Library
 * Advancing Your Polish Research Using Polish Websites

More Poland Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in the Poland.
 * Civil Registration Office Finder
 * [[Media:Polish_Gazetteers_and_Maps_Online.pdf|Gazetteers and Maps Online]]
 * Poland Poznan Marriage Indexing Project
 * Poland Parish links
 * Lost Shoebox, listings and links of online records
 * Geneteka Database

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.
 * Central Europe Genealogy Research Community]
 * FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map

Research Tutorials

 * Kartenmeister.com Finding Places in the Former German Area of Poland
 * Finding Places in the Former German Areas of Poland Using the Online Gazetteer Kartenmeister.com
 * Reading Polish Handwritten Records
 * Lesson 1: Polish Letters
 * Lesson 2: Polish Words and Dates
 * Lesson 3: Reading Polish Records
 * Reading Russian Handwriting
 * Lesson 1: The Russian Alphabet
 * Lesson 2: Russian Words and Dates
 * Lesson 3: Reading Russian Records


 * Reading German Handwritten Records
 * Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents
 * Old German Script
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3 (German Church and Civil Records)
 * '''Latin for Genealogists
 * Polish Community Newspapers in North America and Poland
 * Poland and Galicia Jewish Research: A Template for East European Research - Parts 1 and 2

Russian and Polish Transliteration Tools

 * Transliterating Russian to English in One Step, or English to Russian
 * Polish Cyrillic Transliterate the Polish language to a Cyrillic
 * Converting between Russian Print and Cursive in One Step
 * Russian for Everyone: The Russian Alphabet
 * SGGEE Cyrillic Handout.pdf for months and numbers in Russian cursive.

How-to Guides

 * Inserting Special Characters - [[Media:1-Diacritics-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]]

For all areas of Poland:


 * Polish State Archives Online - [[Media:1-Polish_State_Archives-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Polish_State_Archives-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Polish_State_Archives-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Birth Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Marriage Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Death Records - [[Media:1-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Skorowidz Gazetteer Online - [[Media:1-Skorowidz_Online-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Skorowidz_Online-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Skorowidz_Online-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]

For areas of Poland that were once part of Prussia and Germany:


 * 1905 Prussia Gemeindelexikon - [[Media:1-1905_Prussia_Gemeindelexikon-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-1905_Prussia_Gemeindelexikon-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-1905_Prussia_Gemeindelexikon-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Germany Map Guide* - [[Media:1-Map_Guide,_Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Map_Guide,_Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Map_Guide,_Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Kartenmeister Gazetteer - [[Media:1-Kartenmeister-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Kartenmeister-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Kartenmeister-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Meyers Gazetteer* - [[Media:1-Meyers-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Meyers-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Meyers-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Meyers Abbreviations - [[Media:1-Meyers_Abbreviations-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Meyers_Abbreviations-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Meyers_Abbreviations-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Meyers Online - [[Media:1-Meyers_Online-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Meyers_Online-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Meyers_Online-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Meyers Online: Meyersgaz.org - [[Media:1-Meyers_Gazetteer_Online-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Meyers_Gazetteer_Online-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Meyers_Gazetteer_Online-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Poznan Marriage Project [[Media:1-Poznan_Marriage_Project,_Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poznan_Marriage_Project,_Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poznan_Marriage_Project,_Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]

For areas of Poland that were once part of Russia:


 * Cyrillic Alphabet - [[Media:1-Russian_Alphabet_Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russian_Alphabet_Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russian_Alphabet_Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Cyrillic Script - [[Media:1-Russian_Script-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russian_Script-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russian_Script-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Birth Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Marriage Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Death Records - [[Media:1-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Russian Birth Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Russian Marriage Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Russian Death Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * RGN Gazetteer - [[Media:1-RGN_Gazetteer-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-RGN_Gazetteer-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-RGN_Gazetteer-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Spiski Gazetteer - [[Media:1-Spiski_Gazetteer-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Spiski_Gazetteer-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Spiski_Gazetteer-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]

Word-by-Word Reading Aids

 * Reading Polish Birth Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Assignment.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Marriage Records - [[Media:1-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Polish Death Records - [[Media:1-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Poland-Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Polish Civil Registration Reading Aid
 * Reading Russian Birth Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Birth_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Russian Marriage Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russia_Marriage_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * Reading Russian Death Records - [[Media:1-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Russia_Death_Records_in_Paragraph_Format-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]
 * German Civil Registration
 * Catholic Vital Records of Galicia/Halychyna
 * For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin birth record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Baptismal/Birth Record.
 * For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin marriage record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Marriage Record.
 * For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin death record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Death Record.