Poland Directories

Directories are alphabetical lists of names and addresses. These often list all adult residents or tradesmen of a city or area. Telephone books are a type of directory.

The most helpful directories for genealogical research are city directories of local residents and businesses. These are usually published annually and may include an individual’s name, address, occupation, and spouse’s name. An individual’s address can be helpful when searching in a large city with several parishes. Directories sometimes have maps and may have addresses of churches, cemeteries, and civil registration offices.

A good source for finding which surnames are prominent in which areas of Poland is a database made from directories throughout Poland in 1990:


 * Rymut, Kazimierz. Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (Dictionary of Names used in Contemporary Poland). 10 vols. Kraków: Polska Akademia Nauk-Instytut Języka Polskiego, 1992–1994. (FHL book 943.8D4rk.)

The Family History Library has some directories for Poland. These are listed in the Place section of the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLAND, (COUNTY) - DIRECTORIES

POLAND, (COUNTY), (CITY) DIRECTORIES

Directories of tradesmen or businesses are listed in the Place section of the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLAND, (COUNTY) - OCCUPATIONS

There are also special directories that can help you find church dioceses and parishes. See the "Church Directories" section in this outline.

Web Sites
Telephone numbers and addresses for businesses in Poland can be found on the Internet at:
 * http://www.teldir.com/eng/euro/pl

The 1929 Polish Business Directory Project 1929 Directory of Poland, including Gdansk, for trade, industry, handicraft and agriculture [Ksiega Adresowa Polski (Wraz z w.m. Gdanskiem dla Handlu, Przemyslu Rzemiosl i Rolnictwa)]. Includes information about people in current and former areas of Poland, including regions now part of the Vilna area of Lithuania, the Grodno area of Belarus, and Volhynia and East Galicia, now parts of the western Ukraine:
 * http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/bizdir/start.htm