how many know their own family histories?

Grand mothers is here in Australia and we know she has all sorts of photos and paper work...but she is a very bitter old lady as most of the family is fighting each other for almost no reason its only that i live over 1000kms away that i didn't get into it all and Ive always stayed neutral
the German is is very well documented.....all the way back to when they came from Denmark my mothers side(Scott's and welsh)is also well documented the Polish side is well....almost nothing!

some of the stories from WWII are grand father(Kazimierz Karl kubiak) was a motorcycle messenger in the Polish army he was captured(funny that) was sent to ausvitz then onto a "prison farm" were the guards use to let him go into town in suit and tie to the local PUB!??.......starts to make me think he was Prussian or half German???

and then Grand mothers Family were happy for them to marry?! after the war....to me this is odd as the Germans and poles hated each other at the time??

so its got me stuffed as to WHY how and was grand father more than"just a pole"

Well I am English, and I can trace my family back to before 1086 and we are recorded in there as sheep farmers coming from Wales. Hence most English surnames have a meaning of some sorts i.e. Baker..a person who makes bread and so on.. mine is Walker and I have been told that it comes from walking over the hills looking after sheep.
On my wife’s side she is related to the Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski whose wife was Izabela Czartoryska and the Palace was built in Pulawy for them, I keep joking with my wife and asking her when are we going to move in there lol Their family is also related to some Lithuanian Nobel family, but this needs a lot more research.

I'm begining to know more of my Polish roots, my youngest son got the ball rolling by asking Grandma some questions, (they are stubbourn at times, arn't they). I always thought it was just them but even on my visit to close relatives in the "stary kraj" I found they do not talk easily about the past.

I'll be going back again in October and visit the Zelem family in "Zielona Gora" and see if I can pick up a thread on my fathers side the Wozniak family in "katy Wroclawskie."

I realy do not know how far back to go, Polish people do not seem to have embraced the geneology thing and I've found lots of official records are difficult if not inpossible to access, especialy those relating to the years between and during the two world wars.

This brings up an interesting point. When I was in the UK a few weeks ago I visited a pub, that was once owned by Great-Great Grandfather. The pub still has some of the original tables and fittings. For me, this brings the past to life. To the present day landlords amusement I was able to tell him things about his pub. A pub I'd never seen before.

Go to the palace, soak up the atmosphere, take some photos and add your part to the family's history.

As with every thing in life there is a down side. The town my father was born in (in fact sone 9 generations of my family were born in this town) is now in the Ukraine. I had hired a researcher from Lwow to visit and take pictures, etc. He reported that the catholic cemetaries are no more. They were either destroyed in the mid-late 1940's or left untended. I cannot even find the grave stone of my great grandparents.

I've heard the same from other people. It can be very disappointing. But I'm sure that if you ever visit the area you will get a feel for what it was like in the past.
It might still be possible to find the cemetery, if it was in the countryside. But you would need the help of local people.

Are there any church records of your family ?

Tons of them! I have had researchers check (1) the LDS microfilm of the parish records (2) the archives in Warsaw and Krakow and (3) the archives in Lwow. They have been able to find enough parish birth, marraige and death records to trace my family back to approx 1690, all in Sokal.

The Lwow researcher visited Sokal for me and sent photographs and also a video he shot while there. He checked the cemetary and according to him there is no trace of my great grandparents.

Picture of the Catholic cemetary in Sokal

Sokal Cemetary

Peter,

Amazing. I can see that you've put a lot of effort into your family history.

I've got to say that your research tells me that I'm going to have some problems looking into my wife's side of the family. But at least the records can be found, and that's very heartening..

Not trying to be a wet blanket but sometimes there are gaps in the archival records. For Sokal there are quite a few gaps in the parish records. Lost, destroyed, etc. A lot also depends on where your wife was from and the historical "unrest and wars" in the area.

You've no idea. 5 years of cost and effort and still counting!! The reward of learning about your family's history and even discovering "missing" cousins who you never knew existed....................priceless!

I've just started researching my family tree and am finding it a daunting task. So many of the spellings have changed and so many of the towns in which my ancestors were born have moved borders. Where does one begin? :)

My Grandmother is the only living relative that was actually born in Poland and the only documentation she has is her name in her father's passport when they emigrated.

Any hints on places to look would be awesome and greatly appreciated.

Your grandmother's naturalization papers will have details. As will her birth and marriage certificates.
If you can get hold of her birth certificate.... you should be able to check her mother and father's name as well as place of birth.
If she is willing to help... ask her as many questions as possible. take notes and make sure that she confirms the details.

So your great grandfather waould have also been born in Poland? Have you checked the Ellis Island records? If the record is there then there should also be details of his home town and nearest relative.

peter definately with ya on that one :)

its amazing all the family you discover and how many are unaware and once you
piece together everything, and bring up familiar things to them they start telling you
all about the family and how long they lived there etc....

definately priceless :)

if you have the passport thats a big deal... whats the town name listed on the passport? whats the last name ( surname) your researching?

I am second generation Pollock in USA seeking family in Poland. Grandparents came over in 1912 and settled in Western PA. Little was revealed by my aunts and uncles and parents over the years. Am getting older and more curious to find whats left. Not sure how.

well good start is the local church where everyone was baptised.

We can help you get going, but we do need surnames and siblings.. if you want to
email me I will check on some info in my ancestry :)

my email is in the profile. :)

Many times "documentation" is carried in photos, testimonies, stories, meeting of persons and so on. There tends to be a trend in today's society where many of us who are tracing our family roots are left without "hard" proof (written documentation) and simply go by what we've been told.

Ruben

Many of us are left with other forms of "documentation" -photos, testimonies, stories, mmeting people and so on - without "hard" proof or concrete evidence of our histories. This tends to be the trend occuring in our current day for those of us who seek information regarding our family roots and have little to go by.

I am finding a even amount from both.. some know and have major amounts of
documentation in Polish families where others have no/very little. but its been
close even amount of folks , and it isnt anyone being ashamed, it was more the
War/ things they been thru.. always I heard wonderful things about the country
itself.

You have to remember to take verbal stories with a grain of salt. Sometimes they can be wrong or misleading.

For example, my mother related to me that my father had told her about his childhoon when he would ski to and from school and that there would be light from the oil rigs in the area (1920's). This caused a lot of problems because the town where my father was born had no oil or gas fileds anywhere nearby. It was only when I made contact with a cousin who I did not know existed (he is 88) that I discovered that the story is correct but the location was wrong.

My family history had been researched meticulously by my mother. It was her hobby for many years. Unlike a neighbour who was also doing similar research, she was not looking for some kind of noble connection!

There can be a lot of names and a lot of dates, but it's only when you think about the times your ancestors lived in, you begin to see more of a picture. But the truth is, the reality of the past is unobtainable. All too often, our stories die when we die. Those stories aren't always true either.

Somewhere, all her good work is to be found, but it's not an easy thing to just go and find it, then try to take it all in.

done :) did actually.. but I do record and keep everything till otherwise proven :)



Of course!! using a little imagination to put ourselfs in the past to realize the hard
ships they faced.. even though we will never know this. our past is a changed era
as their past is a changed era.



individuals reality.. the past is well documented in so many books and so many
eyes of authors around the world.. but its their own realitys they documented
so it is possible. but only for individuals :)

least thats the way I see it :)

it depends on what truth we wish to believe.

back when they were young folklore was real..

my grandmother told my mom about a story of her having to go to the local store
( whatever they called them back in the early 1900s) in Poland.

each day she had to walk past a cemetary to get to this store.. one day she said
it was a different day, and she heard noises and looked towards the cemetary to
see a pair of red eyes staring at her, she ran home as fast as she could scared
to go past it again..

another story ( truth or fiction) was my grandfathers sister wrote to my great uncle
begging him to send her money to come to America.. she told him that their father
was being difficult and he didnt want her to marry , but to be a farm hand and
work for him the rest of her life.. ?? so several cousins tell same story, perhaps
all of them are same grandchildren ?

yes, they are.. and its a true story actually. more then one verification.different
cousins.

Anyone else have stories about family jewels?

According to my mother, my family has jewels buried inside the cellar staircase of their home. My grandmother (after she re-married) owned a few houses, some of which she used to rent (pre 1939).

not jewels but grandma made WHiskey in the bathtub :))))

at one point they owned a confections shop, but of course behind the shop was
the other candy for the adults.. lol

till the local authorities and heath dept made them dump it out ..

bummer.

Genealogical research really is a never ending journey. I've just discovered that one of my cousins was a Captain in the infantry. He was taken prisoner as part of the Modlin group in 1939. He died in 1945 days before the war ended after the barn they were sheltering in was shelled by Russian tanks. What a way to go. Another cousin who was also a Captain was shot at Starobielsk.

I'm finding out that there is a history of military service in the family. I am assuming that this is also the case for other families.

I've gotten back to my great great grandparents from Galicia. I have documents from the early 1900's from marriages and deaths, plus Ellis Island ship records. It's a long process, costly and very time consuming....but I think it's important to know the road that was traveled to get to where we are. A quote I found years ago "To understand where we are going....you have to understand where we've been...". So true.

So true. In the last 5 years I have used / am using 2 researchers in the US, a research office in Warsaw and a freelance researcher in the Ukraine. I estimate it's cost me in the region of US$ 6,000-10,000 and counting. However I have a pretty impressive body of work to show for it.