Lesser Poland (Małopolskie) Voivodeship, Poland Genealogy

Guide to Lesser Poland (Małopolskie) Voivodeship ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.


 * It is highly recommended that you watch this class: Course: Research in Prussian Poland.

Historical Geography

 * Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland.
 * Current Lesser Poland Voivodeship covers only a small part of the broader ancient Małopolska region which, together with Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) and Silesia (Śląsk), formed the early medieval Polish state.
 * The division of Lesser Poland along the Vistula river, which lasted from 1772 until 1918, is visible even today. For more than 100 years, southern Lesser Poland (Kraków, Tarnów, Biala Krakowska, and Nowy Sącz) was administered by Austria, while the northern, larger part of the province (Częstochowa, Sosnowiec, Kielce, Radom, Lublin, Sandomierz) was forcibly part of the Russian Empire.
 * Lesser Poland Voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Kraków, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz and parts of Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Kielce and Krosno Voivodeships.
 * Even though Lesser Poland's countryside was almost exclusively Polish, its towns and cities were inhabited by numerous Jews, whose communities were very vibrant. In Kraków, Jews made 25% of the population, in Lublin – 31%, in Kielce – 30%, and in Radom – 32%. '''Source: Wikipedia, Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Name Changes and Locating Records

 * '''In 1967, the territory of Lesser Poland voivodeship was basically the same as Kraków voivodeship. Some areas are also cataloged with Austria, Galizien.
 * See also: Austrian Poland (Galicia), Austro-Hungarian Empire Genealogy.

Civil Registration and Church Records
'''Almost all of the research you do will be in civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial records). To understand these records better study the articles: Poland Church Records and Poland Civil Registration.
 * 1. You will need to determine the name of the town your Polish ancestors lived in.  If you do not now know it, use the Wiki article Poland Locating Town of Origin.
 * 2. Find the voivodeship (province) for that town.  To see a map of the town, and find out its voivodeshp, use mapa.szukacz. Enter the town name in the "place" field in the right sidebar and click "Show". Province, area, commune, and postal code will appear at the bottom of the right sidebar.
 * 3. 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 [[Media:1-Skorowidz_Online-Instruction.pdf|instructions.]] Use the second option, "Viewing anywhere via the Digital Library of Wielkopolska".
 * 4. You will look for birth, marriage, and death records:
 * in online databases
 * in microfilmed records of the FamilySearch collections
 * by writing to request searches
 * from State archives where records have been deposited
 * from church archives where records have been deposited
 * from local civil registration offices
 * from local parish churches

Finding Aids
Poland finding aids have been created by a variety of state, church, society, and private organizations. Their goal is to inform what records exist and the repositories that hold them. Each finding aid has a different focus--a particular religion or geographical area or archive or collection. Be sure to search all that apply to your ancestors. Remember that churches often produced civil registration records. The church records might have been destroyed, but copies had been sent to the government and still exist. So we search for both church records and civil registration records.
 * The PRADZIAD Database A database that comprises information on parish and civil registration registers preserved in all branches of the Polish State Archives and some Roman Catholic diocesan and archdiocesan archives. Gives location of specific records and address of archives.
 * Szukaj w Archiwach Search page for church records and civil registration at the National Archives. Links directly to scans.
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Poland Microfilms (all will eventually be digitized, many are now) of the FamilySearch records.
 * Lutheran Records in Russian Poland Church records inventory with links to scans held at various repositories.
 * Baptist Church Records in Poland
 * Baptist Records in Russian Poland
 * Parafie.genealodzy.pl, Parish inventory, address list of current parishes.
 * Geneteka

1. Online Databases

 * Geneteka
 * See, also: JewishGen Poland Database
 * Jewish Records Indexing-Poland
 * 1612-1900 - images and index. Also at MyHeritage, index and images ($)
 * The All Galicia Database
 * Szukaj w Archiwach; [[Media:1-Polish_State_Archives-Instruction.pdf|Tutorial]] - The Polish Archives
 * 1700-2005 - images, no index.
 * 1226-1950 - images, no index.
 * Metryki Genealodzy Roman Catholic Records
 * Metryki GenBaza
 * National archives in Krakow

Ancestry.com

 * Poland, Roman Catholic Church Books Index, 1742-1964, Lublin and Kielce, index, ($)

Jewish Records
Some areas of Poland were predominantly Jewish settlements. Because churches were frequently expected to act as civil registrars, Jewish births, marriages, and deaths can appear in Catholic records.
 * A comprehensive list of finding aids for Jewish records is found in the Wiki article Poland Jewish Records.
 * An excellent two-part online course is available: Poland and Galicia Jewish Research. This demonstrates important finding aids and databases.
 * See, also: JewishGen Poland Database

2. Microfilms and Digitized Records: The FamilySearch Catalog
Many church records have been microfilmed and can be viewed at the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eventually, microfilmed records will all be digitized and available online. The records you need might have been digitized now. Check back from time to time to see if they have become available. The FamilySearch Catalog is organized by the voivodeships as they existed in 1967. There are maps on the Poland Genealogy main page comparing those jurisdictions with the modern jurisdictions. '''In 1967, the territory of Lesser Poland voivodeship was basically the same as Kraków voivodeship. Some areas are also cataloged with Austria, Galizien.''' To search the catalog:
 * a. Click on the records of Poland, Kraków  or records of Austria Galizien.
 * b. Click on Places within Poland, Kraków or Places within Austra, Galizien, and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town.
 * d. Click on the "Civil registration" or "church records" topic, if available. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor.
 * For records in German: "Geburten" are births. Heiraten are marriages.  "Verstorbene" or Toten are deaths.
 * For records in Polish:  Akta urodzeń are births.  Akta chrzest are christenings/baptisms.  Akta małżeństw are marriages.  Akta zgonów are deaths.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

Poland Letter Writing Guide
This letter writing guide will enable you to write in the Polish language to parish churches and church and government archives: Poland Letter Writing Guide. Generally, the people you wrie to will appreciate your effort to use Polish and cooperate more readily.

Civil Registration Office Address
Write to the local civil registration office for records after 1900. Records prior to 1900 will probably be in the state archives. Records in the last 100 years will have some privacy restrictions where you will have to prove your relationship and/or the death of the person the certificate reports.

State Archives Addresses

 * PRADZIAD This website can be searched by location (town or parish).  It will then tell you which archives hold what records for the location. On the entry for the records you want, click on "More" at the far right, and it will give you the contact information for the archive.

Church: Parish Addresses

 * The Catholic Directory, Poland
 * Luteranie.pl: Polish Evangelical website with all diocese addresses and individual parishes and email addresses.

Church Diocese Archives Addresses
See the Catholic Diocese map on the Poland Church Records page. Use The Catholic Directory, Poland to find the diocese for your town. Click on "View Full Listing" for your parish.

Kraków Archdiocese
Archives of Kraków Archdiocese ul. Franciszkańska 3, 31-004 Kraków Poland tel. +48 12 628 81 32, +48 12 628 81 33 e-mail: archiwum@diecezja.pl

Kielce Diocese Archives
Diocesan Archives in Kielce (ADK) ul. Jana Pawła II 3 25-013 Kielce Poland

tel. 41-341-59-71; 41-344-54-25 in. 219 email: adk@archiwum.diecezja.kielce.pl
 * Website

Tarnów Diocesan Archives
ul. Katedralna 3, 33-100 Tarnów Poland tel. 14-622-34-23 arch-diec@diecezja.tarnow.pl
 * Website
 * [[Media: Parish Registers at Tarnow Diocese Archives.pdf|Parish Registers at Tarnow Diocese Archives]]

Archives of the Diocese of Sosnowiec
Archives of the Diocese of Sosnowiec ul. bpa Śmigielskiego 2 42-500 Będzin Poland e-mail: archiwum@diecezja.sosnowiec.pl tel. 504 070 325
 * Website

Inventory of Lutheran Parish Records
This website lists for each parish the years parish records exist, the archives where they are held, and links to online records and microfilms.
 * Lutheran Records in Russian Poland

Word Lists
The language of the records depends on the controlling government. A small oart of Lesser Poland was part of Austria until 1918, and church records are in Latin after 1784, but might be in German before then. Records in parts of Poland controlled by Russia can be in either Russian or Polish.
 * Polish Genealogical Word List
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Genealogical Word List
 * German Genealogical Word List

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
 * [[Media:Catholic_Vital_Records_of_Galicia-Halychyna_by_Matthew_R._Bielawa.pdf|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.

How-to Guides
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]]

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.

Lessons

 * 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)
 * Reading Russian Handwriting
 * Reading Russian Documents: The Russian Alphabet
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 1 
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 2 
 * Russian for Everyone: The Russian Alphabet
 * SGGEE Cyrillic Handout.pdf for months and numbers in Russian cursive.


 * '''Latin for Genealogists

Search Strategy
'''For most of this region, the part controlled by Austria, you will do research before 1918 in just church records. From 1918 to the present, civil registration is available. In a few small sections in the north, which were controlled by Russia, civil registration is available starting in 1808.'''
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.