RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Europe => Topic started by: annaandchester on Sunday 12 October 08 19:29 BST (UK)
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I know very little of my polish heritage but my Grandmother is now 89 and would love me to find any living rellies still in Poland.
I speak and read no Polish and the information I have is so scant but I have the names of a couple of villages and that is it really.
The family are Catholic not Jewish so I dont know if that will make it easier or harder for them to be traced.
Anna x
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Hello Anna,
Was your grandmother born in Poland? Does she know the language? I have always heard that knowldege of Polish will spead things up immensely.
Numerous Polish records survived WWII (and other wars) and are spread around the various state archives. So, first of all, you need to locate your ancestral villages/towns and determine the administrative district, then you will know which archive is likely to hold records.
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/?CIDA=43
I would seriously suggest that you surf the internet to look for an American group or forum specialising in Polish ancestry. I think you'll find that there are quite a few.
As for finding unknown living relatives, that is probably as difficult there as it would be in the UK.
Justin
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When searching for living people in Poland.
Many people use nasza klasa pl. It is a school website much like friends reunited. The difference is that it is highly active and you have a reasonable chance of finding people.
The problem is that you need an account and a knowledge of Polish. Some of us here will be able to help you out when you have more specific details of who and where
The Polish telephone directory is difficult to search, if you don't have full details.
When you find your family town it might be worth looking for a message board related to that town. Some (Polish) city websites have pages in English.
When searching Polish genealogy forums and other websites it helps to use Polish characters where necessary otherwise you may not get a result.
Ex: ą ę ł ż ś
I would say that the best way to find (Polish) Catholic roots is through church records. Again, you will need a knowledge of the language. And you will need some luck. Often direct (mail) requests to a particular church end with no reply. But of course you can be very lucky.
When you find out more and need a translation... I'd be happy to help.
Have I spoken to you at polish forums. com ?
Have you found the villages on a modern map ?
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I am kind of working blind here as my Grandmother is unable to help with written or oral polish as she is very elderly.
She left poland in 1921 so she has very little knowledge of the family but what she has given me is this:
Her mothers side of the family are farmers from Olesnica - this is near Zagorow and Kalisz and the family name Andrezjac.
Her fathers side of the family were also farmers from the area of Ollug breina, Konskie, Radon. The main river in the area was the river Warta. The family name is Zych.
She thinks that one or both of the families were moved onto land at Selizia (I have spelt this phonetically as she was unable to give me a spelling) which was has been in both Poland and Germany and that after the 2nd world war her family lost contact with her cousins. She thinks that most of them will be dead by now and she has no idea about 2nd cousins or even names.
I havent got a hope in hell have I? I would just love to find something for her before she dies - not that she is at deaths door but at 89 you cant keep going forever can you?
I dont speak any Polish and I do not have the funds to pay to do this professionally so I guess that my options are limited.
Any help you can give (and for the help you have already given) - many many thanks
Anna x
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I havent got a hope in hell have I?
Have a good look at: polishroots.org
JewishGen will give you help with regard to town village location. It's a very useful site.
You didn't name the actual town of village where your Grandmother was born.
Find the town/village and do a search for churches.
If one member of the family used the church then others must have done likewise.
Follow the link given by JustinL
Somehow you have to get as much info from that church, or it's records, as you can.
If you go to: (it's an english language website) polish forums. com someone might give you a list of churches, be able to tell you about the movement of people in the area or post a link to a relevant website. It really depends what you ask for. Although the site has a Genealogy section it doesn't mean it is full of experts, but there are people who sometimes try to help. You may be refered back to rootschat though.
Selizia = Silesia. An area of Poland.
Check other websites to see if family are looking for you. Genealogy.com, ancestry. com There are many people looking for Polish roots, people whose families were forced to break up, for one reason or another, mostly because of the political climate.
If you have any Polish documents: Post the title of the text and I'll translate it. Then you'll know if it's useful or not.
Was your Grandmother (Grandfather) naturalized. Check. You might find names and dates.
You don't mention your parents. can they tell you anything.
Find out as many names and approximate dates of birth as you possibly can. Some of these names will help you later with military records etc.
Did Grandmother have brothers and sisters ? What are their names ?
Look for all sorts of clues. Family photos, medals, old letters etc.
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Thanks I will start working my way through that.
My grandmother is a Zych so she was born in Ollug breina - she left Poland with her parents and her younger brother in 1921 and they moved to Barlin, a small village in the north of France. She has 1 brother still alive in France but he is on 24hr oxygen and in very very poor health.
She has no letter, records, family papers etc and apparently neither has he. I only have 1 photo of their parents and for some reason the family has the general feeling of "let old bones rest".
I will have a go at some of the websites mentioned and see if I can find any connections - she never met her cousins who remained in Poland and as far as I know any contact with the family was lost when her own parents died in the 1950's.
She came to the UK when she married an English man she met when France was liberated and my mother was born not too long after.
Thank you for your help.
Anna x
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Anne,
Konskie and Radom are readily identifiable, but I cannot locate Ollug Breina.
Olesnica is fairly close to Wroclaw; it used to be know as Oels and was indeed in Silesia (Schlesien in German). Wroclaw was formerly known as Brelsau - a major city in Schlesien.
Were the families protestant or catholic?
Justin
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Catholic - and very religious too.
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nothing to add but interested to see your replies
bookmarking for further use ;D
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My Polish tree looks like this
Andrezjak Family
Great Great Grandparents
Andrew Andrezjak m Katherine Zielinska
They had 10 children
Helene (my great grandmother)
Anna
Martin
Bronek
Stasia
Jan
Nikodemus
Bronka
Madga
Maria (she died in infancy)
Helene Andrezjak m Antoni Zych (my great grandfather) - they married in Berlin as they were in Germany at the outbreak of WW1 and were unable to make it home (aparently)
Zych Family
Great Great Grandparents
Joseph Zych m Francesca Czerwonka
They had 5 children
Antoni (my great grandfather)
Jan
Peter
Felixa
Stefan
Stefan and Antoni both went to northern France and as far as my grandmother knows the rest of the family stayed in Poland.
Antoni and Helene (my great grandparents) had 6 children but only 2 are still alive. Stefan had 1 daughter but she died years ago. Neither my grandmother nor her brother have ever had direct contact with the polish relatives.
Anna x
My Grandmother doesn't read or write English very very well and although fluent in 6 languages she is unable to help much with spellings so some of the names above are English spellings - please feel free to let me know what the Polish spelling would be.
I have no dates or anything from my grandmother but to give an idea she was the eldest in her family and she was born Aug 1919.
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Hi Anna,
I went to Family Search and put in your family names. Lots of hits for Zych in Poland but nothing for Andrezjak which was a bit disappointing. However, I found a submitted pedigree resource file with names which suggest that you may have real live relatives!!
If you go to the Pedigree Resource File Screen and put in the number here:
4264004-0216107153903
and then put in Zych you will find a number of them and you will also see that the submitter of the file is Carol (Ramme) Andryshak which I suspect is the Anglicization of your name. There is a snail mail address with which, if you are lucky, you may be able to make contact.
I hope this will be helpful to you in your search.
Beth
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Thanks Beth,
I think I have found an email address for her online so I will email and then if no reply will do snail mail.
I will let you know how I get on
Anna x
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Just to add a little more.
Try this: mapa.szukacz.pl
Where you see: Miejscowość/ Kod pocz. Write in the name of the town or city.
Then press: pokaż
Pink rings will appear on a (basic) map
Move the mouse over a ring, if you think it's in the correct area, click on: Zbliż
It will bring up a map in more detail.
I think that you want to be in the area of Wielkopolskie (Poznan) This is where you will find the river Warta.
The only place I could find Ollug Breina was Hungary ( JewishGen)
To confirm. There is an Oleśnica near Wroclaw.
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I will have to ask her about the villages - Radom is on the map as is Konskie so I am assuming that these are right.
I know that her grandfather used to call her his little turkish delight - aparently one line of the family has a turkish connection but certainly no mention of Hungary.
I got an email back from the woman in america researching Zych and Andrezjaks - no connection there but she has given me some info.
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Hi Anna,
You may not need this, as you're getting wonderful help already, but the current (November 2008) issue of Family Tree Magazine has an article in it on Polish Ancestry.
Good luck with your research.
Paulene :)
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Kaja,
Well, done for finding Ollug Breina - even though it's in Hungary. What are the coordinates of this 'wrong' town.
It seems to me that Anna must be transliterating the village or town incorrectly.
Does Ollug Breina even sound Polish?
Another problem is that place names changed quite a few times between 1921 and 2008. I know that Konskie used to be simply Konsk.
Justin
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Seems that I've messed things up. Typing in Ollug Breina brought up Hungary.
I should have actually read what was on the page. The result was a soundex. And not relevant.
However, it does tell us that Ollug Breina is probably a spelling error.
The spelling, as it is, is not Polish.
Polish place names are a problem. Many ancestors would have been born in a time of partition. I would expect some of these ancestors to have lived on German occupied land with German place names.
schlesien: liste aller orte. Might be of some help.
Justin, thanks for making me check.
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I am looking for my grandmother who was born in Poland, on her Birth certificate her name is Anna Stefanska, her dad's name was Pawel and mother was Antonina Gawron. I believe the town is Hebdow. I am not for sure of the correct spelling because it written in polish. My grandfather is name Joseph Sowa, but I believe his name changed when he was in America I believe it was Sowinski. My grandmother birthday was 24 July, 1897 and my grandfather was 9 March 1892. Can you give me directions on finding my ancestry in Poland,
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I am looking for my grandmother who was born in Poland, on her Birth certificate her name is Anna Stefanska, her dad's name was Pawel and mother was Antonina Gawron. I believe the town is Hebdow. I am not for sure of the correct spelling because it written in polish. My grandfather is name Joseph Sowa, but I believe his name changed when he was in America I believe it was Sowinski. My grandmother birthday was 24 July, 1897 and my grandfather was 9 March 1892. Can you give me directions on finding my ancestry in Poland,
Can you share a link to your grandmother birth certificate please so I can see more details. Back then there were quite few details in certs