Tracing Polish/German ancestry Help/Advice for Poloczek and Grochla surnames

[roycymru]

Hi

I wonder if someone out there can help? My wife's mother originally came to England after the second world war and I have some information on her parents but am stuck as where to go next in tracing the family line. It is complicated as they originally came from around Lubliniec, an area that has switched between Germany and Poland. Information I do have is that my mother in law's (Stephanie Margaret Poloczek) parents were:

Jan Poloczek, Born 29 Aug 1893 Germany, died 1972 Poland
married in about 1914 to
Agniecska Grochla, Born 11 Jan 1894  died 1949 Poland

Can someone please point me in the right direction and/or to other sites that might be more appropriate for this research?

Thank you

[DianaMC]

It is a tricky one and although I know a little about German genealogy, I am not familiar with Poland.

Have you looked through Cyndi's List for tips?
http://www.cyndislist.com/poland.htm

It might be worth a letter to the town council in Poland.
http://www.lubliniec.pl/?p=263 - address at bottom

In Germany you would need to know the place and date of birth or marriage or death and then you could request a copy of the family register. You would apply to the “Standesamt” of the town, but I guess you don’t have that info yet.

There are some people with the surname in Silesia on LDS, but no idea if they are related.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp - search for Jan Poloczek all countries and events

You will also find info on Lublinitz, Silesia on Wikipedia.
Also http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Schlesien

Good Luck!

Diana

[roycymru]

Hi. Thanks very much for this. On the family search site it looks like I have found Agniecska (As Agnes) born in Kottulin, Schlesien, Preussen with parents Joseph Grochla and Valeska Opielka. According to Wikipedia Lubliniec was part of Prussia (Prueesen) at this time and looking at google maps is around 40km(?) from Lubliniec. So this is a good start.

[roycymru]

Sorry me again. Does anyone know where/who I should write to about marriage/birth details etc. for Kotulin? Even now the town looks very small and rural so in 1894 I guess it would have been even smaller, therefore I would guess any registry records would have come under a larger registration district? Thanks

[DianaMC]

Hello again 

Kotulin is part of the district of Toszek and you could try an eMail to them.
http://www.toszek.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68
addresses: http://www.toszek.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=30

There is some advice on http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Schlesien#Civil_Registration_Records
There should be records after 1874 and they should have been taken over.

I have just found a site for the Polish National Archives and it seems to have a searchable database.
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/lang-en/data-bases/388-vital-records-and-civil-registers-pradziad.html
In any event they should be able to advise you.

Good luck.
Diana


 

[kaja]

'' it looks like I have found Agniecska ''


help with spelling: Agnieszka

[roycymru]

Many thanks again for the help and advice. I will follow these up and let you know how I get on

[Bluebird Research]

Be careful here. There is a distinction between old and modern era records in Poland, as in many other places in Central and Eastern Europe. Toszek has modern civil registration records for Kotulin, but earlier (pre-WW1) registers - the ones you need - are held at a state regional archive in Gliwice.

You are very lucky that a member of the LDS Church has contributed his/her family records to FamilySearch. If you haven't noticed already, you can click on names and find out more information (not necessarily verified and accurate of course...).

To find out more about Jan Poloczek, you will probably need to document the birth/baptism of your mother-in-law and/or the marriage of her parents. He may have come from śląsk (Silesia) but not necessarily from the same town.

Bluebird