Poland Letter Writing Guide

Introduction
This guide is for researchers who do not speak Polish but must write to Poland for genealogical records. It includes some useful information and a list of sentences you would use in requesting genealogical records and Polish translations of these sentences.

The best sources of genealogical information in Poland are records of births, marriages, and deaths records kept by churches and civil registration offices. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of these records for many, but not all localities. Use the Family History Library Catalog to determine what records are available through the Library and the Family History Centers. If records are available from the Library, it is usually faster and more productive to search these records first. If the records you want are not available through the library, you can use this guide to help you write to Poland for information.

Before You Write
Before You write to Poland for family history records, you should do three things:


 * Determine exactly where your ancestor was born, was married, lived, or died. Because most genealogical sources were recorded locally, you will need to know the specific locality where your ancestor was born, married, lived or died.
 * Determine your ancestor's religion. Because most early records were kept by churches or synagogues rather than civil registraiton offices, you may need to write to the church your ancestor attended in his or her hometown. If you are not sure what your ancestor's religion was in Europe, determine what religion he or she practiced after immigrating. People usually did not change religions when they moved frm Europe to their new home.
 * Determine where records from your ancestor's home parish are stored today. When you have a locality name, use a gazetteer to determine which parish or civil jurisdiction served your ancestor's locality.

Research by Mail
Church records are obtained from parishes, and civil records are obtained from civil registration offices. Both kinds of records may be stored in archives. In 1874 civil registration became mandatory in Poland, yet it started at different times throughout the country. If the dates you need precede 1874, you will need to write for church records.

If you address your letter to a parish or local civil registration office, you must write the letter in Polish. Letters written in Polish have a greater chance of receiving a reply than those written in English. You may write in English to the Directorate of the State Archives.

How To Address the Envelope
For a Roman Catholic Parish

Parafia Rzymsko-Katolicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND For a Protestant Parish

Parafia Ewangelicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

In Poland exist ca 134 protestant parishes. Some records formerly found in such parishes may be housed in local Catholic parishes. For a list of the Protestant parishes in Poland and their addresses you can visit the following website www.luteranie.pl for a listing of Lutheran parishes which are in existence today.

For an Orthodox Parish Parafia Prawoslawna (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For a Civil Registration Office

Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

Civil Registration address finder

For State Archive Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality)

Postal Codes
When addressing your letter, you will need to write the postal (zip) code in front of the name of the town you are writing to. For help finding postal codes for Poland, see:

Oficjalny spis pocztowych numerów adresowych (Official zip code directory for Poland). (FHL book Ref Area 943.8 E8o.)

If your town is not listed, use the following gazetteer to determine where the closest post office is located:

Spis miejscowości Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej (Gazetteer of Localities of the Polish People's Republic). (FHL book Ref Area 943.8 E5s, film 2037058 item 2.)

Towns in Poland are listed alphabetically. The post office is given in the fifth column, under the heading "Poczta." However, many of the post offices localities have been changed since this book was published.

Payments
Writing to a Parish. When writing to a parish, it is a good idea to send a donation of $5.00 to $10.00 as a courtesy. Do not send a personal check, which is difficult and expensive to exchange in Europe. Cash is better since it is most easily converted to European currency, but be aware of the risks in sending it.

Writing to a Civil Registration Office. When writing to the local civil registration office, it is not necessary to include money. The Polish Consulate will bill you for this service. You will be asked to send a certified check. After the payment is received the document will be mailed to you.

Writing to Government Organizations. When writing to the State Archives, do not send money in your first letter. The staff will bill you for their services. You may be asked to make the check payable to the archive's account number. If you wish, you may write first to determine its fees before making a request. However, This will significantly increase the time it takes to get information.

What To Expect
It may take six months or longer for you to receive a reply to your request for information. Airmail improves the response time. The results of writing to parishes or civil registration offices can vary greatly. You may get a great deal of information, or you may get no answer at all. Some clergy and civil registrars are willing and able to provide considerable information, while others are not.

When you receive a reply, send the requested payment and a note of thanks or acknowledgement. If you need to request further information, refer to your earlier letters and their return letters by date. You may want to include photocopies of any previous correspondence. If the archive assigned you a reference number, include that number as well.

Use Polish-English dictionaries to help you understand the reply. Sometimes you can hire accredited genealogists to translate for you. The Family History Library also has published a Genealogical Word List in Polish (34098), which may be helpful.

If you do not receive an answer, write again, sending a copy of your first letter. Do not send more money unless you verify that your first letter did not arrive.

How To Write a Letter in Polish
Your letter should include:


 * The date (at the top)
 * The name and address of the addressee
 * A greeting
 * A brief introduction
 * Biographical information about your ancestor
 * A short, specific genealogical request
 * Referral request(s)
 * A comment about payment
 * Closing remarks
 * Your signature
 * Your return address (including your country)
 * Be brief and to the point. Do not ask for too much at one time.

The English-to-Polish translations found below will help you compose your letter. Read the sentences in English and choose those that best express what you want to say. Be sure to arrange your sentences logically. You may want to use the following English sentences to write your letter and then replace the sentences with their Polish translations. However you proceed, make sure you type or neatly print your letter and, when necessary, add any diacritical marks and special characters (such as ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, and ż) with a pen.

Do not use this guide as the letter itself! That might insult the recipient and lessen the chance of a reply.

Writing Dates
Write dates in the European style: day-month-year. Write the full name of the month. Write the year in full (1845, not '45). For example, April 7, 1890 should be written as 7 kwietnia 1890.

The following names of the months are shown in their possessive form, which is used in writing dates:

You can also use numbers to specify months, eg. 04 - for April (07.04.1890).

Greetings
Depending on whom your letter is addressed to, you will choose one of the following greetings. This will also affect some of your later sentences. The following sentences were written in the format of the first greeting. When addressing a priest or pastor, use the appropriate word indicated in parentheses.

Biographical Information
Give as much pertinent information as possible. Use only those items below for which you can give accurate information that is relevant to your request. Do not give information about events that occurred after the ancestor left Poland.

Follow-up
Use these sentences in follow-up letters as needed.

Other Forms and French Translation
Other letter writing forms that may meet your needs are available from the Polish Genealogical Society of America website. For the French translation of the Polish Letter Writing Guide click here.