PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Agnieszka Pawlus — Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:43 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:43 am

Dear forum members!

Currently we are working on some article about preparations to Genealogy Tour in Poland.
We know how the preparation looks like from our part, we also know what was useful and what worked best with our former guests.

Happily we'd get it from your perspective. Please write us how were you preparing, what surprised you, what would you do differently?
What is good to take with you to Poland (not only for genealogy but for travelling in general)?
Any mobile apps that you found useful?
What might be the good idea for small gifts for Polish relatives?

I will appreciate any other remarks and ideas.

Aga

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Zenon — Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:50 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:50 am

GerriKos wrote:

How do I create a new thread? Do I just click on "New Topic"? I would like to know a little about the villages I will be going to such as the names of churches, cemeteries, family members still there, etc. That would really help when trying to get microfilmed records. Thanks for the idea. I haven't been on this site long enough to know how it works. I really appreciate everyone's help.

GerriKos

Gerri,

We have prepared short instruction about how to use our Forum: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=13.

GerriKos wrote:

I already have many documents from my paternal line for a village near Kleczew (north/central Poland) but need to do some work on the maternal side (Tarnow/Ryglice) area. I also had quite a time trying to translate Polish and Russian documents when I don't speak the language...but enjoyed every minute of it. I will take your advice and try to get as much as I can on microfilm here and then pray that the Polish priests help me out. Thanks for your help.

As Anna wrote you in her email we have a very good experience with the rector priest in Ryglice: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/06/05/3-men-and-a-mom-finding-our-polish-family-day-5/, http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/06/06/3-men-and-a-mom-finding-our-polish-family-day-6/ . And there is also many records for this parish available in the Diocese Archives in Tarnow if you didn't have success with microfilms.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

GerriKos — Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:53 pm

Author: GerriKos

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:53 pm

Shellie,

How do I create a new thread? Do I just click on "New Topic"? I would like to know a little about the villages I will be going to such as the names of churches, cemeteries, family members still there, etc. That would really help when trying to get microfilmed records. Thanks for the idea. I haven't been on this site long enough to know how it works. I really appreciate everyone's help.

GerriKos

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

GerriKos — Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:40 pm

Author: GerriKos

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:40 pm

dgawell,
I already have many documents from my paternal line for a village near Kleczew (north/central Poland) but need to do some work on the maternal side (Tarnow/Ryglice) area. I also had quite a time trying to translate Polish and Russian documents when I don't speak the language...but enjoyed every minute of it. I will take your advice and try to get as much as I can on microfilm here and then pray that the Polish priests help me out. Thanks for your help.

GerriKos

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

GerriKos — Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:31 pm

Author: GerriKos

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:31 pm

Gary D.

Thanks for the tips about driving and having a translator. This forum has really been helpful in a very short time. I was worried about trying the trip on our own for the same reasons you gave....we do not speak or read Polish....driving could be tricky. One of the villages we will be visiting is just West of Warsaw so we will also get to see Warsaw while there.

GerriKos

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

gdeborski — Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:46 am

Author: gdeborski

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:46 am

Gerrikos

We worked with the Polish Origins folks to customize our trip. Not sure what the travel agent means-??? We were met at the airport in Warsaw and driven to our hotel. A guide met us later and we had a walking tour of Old Town Warsaw. We did more sightseeing in Warsaw the following day. Our guide, Kasia, picked us up and drove us to the various villages of interest. We stayed in hotels near the villages and then did day trips looking for churches, possible relatives, etc. We also did other touristy type things along the way. We did a tour at an outdoor folk museum, which was really useful for us to learn how our ancestors lived in the 19th century.

I became fairly good at reading/pronouncing the village names, etc., but I would not try to drive - our villages were very small and out in the countryside. Plus, not speaking or understanding the language would have been a big disadvantage when we were outside the bigger cities.

We finished with tours and sightseeing in Poznan before our flight back to the US.

The trip was a truly outstanding experience and I should have set it up years earlier. Do it and enjoy the experience.

Gary D.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Shellie — Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:35 pm

Author: Shellie

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:35 pm

HI GerriKos,
I am so excited to hear about another PO member planning a trip to their ancestral villages! If you've never planned a trip like this before, it can seem pretty difficult. The great thing is that you have a whole bunch of friends here that have done it before and can share their tips with you. Looking back, I think the most useful thing I could have done BEFORE my trip was to gather as much information about my ancestors as possible. If you know the name and location of your ancestral village, that's GREAT! I would make sure that if microfilm is already available, I would order it and get as many birth/death/marriage records as possible to sketch out at least the most basic family tree. The more you can accomplish at home, the more time you will have to enjoy your trip. If I could turn back time, I would create a new post about my family to help me uncover more information about my village and undiscovered relatives and also to collect tips from people who have visited my village area. If you decide to create a new thread, I look forward to learning about your family and sharing any tips that might help you. Happy Holidays! Shellie

second trip

dgawell — Sun Dec 27, 2015 6:53 pm

Author: dgawell

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 6:53 pm

We are planning our second trip to Poland after the first in 2014. The first was to visit Krakow and to attempt to see my husband's grandfather's village. It was a fabulous day. We hired a driver who really worked hard on our behalf. We were connected with possible cousins and did get taken to the church and were given records which propelled the family line about three generations!

We worked very hard at finding my grandparents' relatives and will visit them in Poland. Only their 17 year speaks English and while they expressed initial excitement, I haven't had a letter for a few months. We intend to go to their village and hopefully meet them but the language barrier is pretty intense in the villages. I would recommend using the staff at Polish Origins and we hope to do that also as we set our itinerary very soon. They have a great reputation. We will be renting a car but need a translator in the three ancesral villages.

If you are lucky, you might be able to get a copy of the parish microfilms. I have them on permanent loan but they only go to about 1855 so there is a huge gap. I hope the priest is agreeable in letting me see the records. If not, I have the direct descendants lines for three out of the four great grandparents all done! It was a LOT of work- I mean hundreds of hours and I don't speak any Polish.

If you plan a trip, go to a Skansen which is an outdoor folk village. That was one of our favorite days. We did one in Poland and one in Sweden.
Good luck!

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

GerriKos — Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:54 am

Author: GerriKos

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:54 am

Thank you so much for your quick reply. Did you custom-make your trip? It looks like this is the way to go. Here in the states the travel agent just told me to stay additional days after their trip was over. I'm not sure we could find our way around Poland to do it on our own. I really appreciated your input. Thanks.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

gdeborski — Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:18 am

Author: gdeborski

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:18 am

My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful tour this past Fall organized through PolishOrigins. We knew which villages we wanted to visit and the tour was planned to let us spend time in each place. Our tour guide, Kasia, took us into more churches than I could count, each with some connection to my Polish ancestors. Standing in the church and seeing the baptismal font where my great grandfather was christened in 1859 was an incredible experience. Seeing manor houses and farm buildings from the era when my ancestors worked the land that are still standing was also memorable. We met people who may be cousins! I wholeheartedly recommend the PolishOrigins team. We also did some tourist/sightseeing along the way and in Warsaw, Gniezno, and Poznan. Message me if you would like more information.

Gary D.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

GerriKos — Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:53 am

Author: GerriKos

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:53 am

My family keeps asking when I'm setting up the trip to Poland. As I would like to do the "tourist" places as well as my family's villages, it is difficult to know what travel agency/tour guide to trust. It sounds like people are happy with Polish Origins but it is also frightening to pick someone over the internet. Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

James — Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:06 pm

Author: James

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:06 pm

Hi Shellie,

In 2009 I visited Poland again. This time it was to search for family records, etc.
I had utilized Zenon's service from his "Forefathers Traces Tour", so I had someone who spoke the language and could drive us to our locations, and was very familiar with performing research at state archives and local churches.
I already had names, dates, locations, etc.., ( obtained from U.S.Census, Ellis Island records, Polish Archives, family stories, etc... ) so we knew exactly where we were going to perform our search.
We started our search at the state archive located in the city of my family, and then we visited the church that my family had attended, and we also visited the local cemetery.
We performed this same process at a second city.

The only thing that I would do differently, is to try and find out when the church is open and closed, and for having the priest available to search any records. Both churches were closed the day we visited them, and the priests were not available that week.
The archive schedules are posted on their web site.

You can see photos and text from my visit in the Polish Origins "FTT Blog"

James

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Shellie — Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:38 am

Author: Shellie

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:38 am

Has anyone else out here traveled to Poland to search for information about family? Did you try it alone or did you have a guide? Did you go to your family church, a city records office, or an archive?

I'd like to hear about your experiences, what you learned, and what you would do different if you could do it all over again.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Jerry — Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:10 pm

Author: Jerry

Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:10 pm

I have no Polish blood in my family, but my wife is 50% Polish. When we got married, she was sort of interested in genealogy, but she really didnt have a burning need to know who she was until last year. You see, during that year, I was overseas and while I was gone, my wife kept herself out of trouble well, maybe got herself into trouble -- researching her family. Her grandfather was born in Poland, so she exhausted her US information quickly and was looking for Polish sources of information. The Morman's did not have microfilm of church records for her ancestral village and no one online had any information for her. She was frustrated that she could not access any records from here in the US. She soon started looking for a guided trip to find her Poland village.

I wanted to go to Germany that summer, but my wife really wanted to see where her ancestors lived. I imagined a boring trip and I was hoping for lots of beer! She was searching for her Polish roots. As it turned out, we had a great time. There are no online records from her ancestral village, so we planned a trip with Zenon and went right to the village when we got off the plane. Neither of us spoke Polish, but it was easy because Zenon met us at the airport and served as our Polish interpreter.

I would not say that it is easy to get records, but it is definitely worth a trip if you want the information. Just come prepared and bring your camera, and a voice recorder....... and plan to donate some money to the church. If you have to invest in one thing for your trip, make it a decent camera. The second thing I would invest in is a digital voice recorder and turn it on as much as possible. If you are permitted to take photos of documents, take as many as you can, and take more than one photo of each document in case one comes out blurry. Take photos of everything that you can because you will regret it if you dont. My wife took photos of as many pages in record books that she could because we just did not have time to read and research every name as we read the books. She ended up with several blurry images, but most came out good. The real work started when she got home and began to really study the records and finding family connections.

Our trip turned out to be very very interesting and Zenon worked with us to combine research with lots of side trips. Although we were American tourists in Poland, the side trips had special meaning for my wife because we visited places where her ancestors lived, worked and played. The best part was watching her excitement when she connected some information that she found in the church records with a grave at the cemetery that then led to a meeting with a living relative. That is when the real fun began. I never saw my wife at a loss for words, but she was speechless when she stood face to face with a direct descendent of her great-grandfathers brother. And my wife doesnt drink, so watching her drink Polish vodka with her new cousin was something I wont forget. Her cousin assured us that Polish vodka doesnt leave you with a hangover. I had my doubts, but he was right! I thought she would be nursing a massive headache the next day, but to my surprise she was good to go!

Its not really cheap to travel to Europe, but the exchange rate in Poland is pretty good. We got about 3 zloty for each American dollar while we were there (but the dollar started falling at the end of our trip). The real bargain was for people with Euros. I think the Euro was buying 6 or more zloty. Our room with a private bath was only about 20 zloty a night and each meal only came out to be about 4 American dollars per person. These were not tourist areas, but when we left Zenon and went on to Krakow, it was still relatively inexpensive compared to other European countries that use Euros. We spent 7 days in Krakow on our own and it was no problem that we didnt speak Polish. Almost everyone there speaks English.

So, yes, if you cant find what you need from home, plan a trip to Poland. Find a good guide like Zenon who will interpret for you and speak on your behalf to gain access to records. Plan a personalized tour of ancestral Poland - it is easier than you think. And you will have a great time ---- even if you are not Polish.

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Lisa — Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:22 am

Author: Lisa

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:22 am

Jim,

Thanks for your response. Poland sounds like a lovely country!

Once my grandmother, who was born in Luslawice, came to this country, she never returned to Poland. She was young when she came to America and her recollections of her birthplace were of hardship and poverty. Sadly, she never returned to the land of her birth, passing away in 1999.

Although I knew my grandmother and her family came from the Krakow area, I was amazed to learn that not only was she born in Luslawice, but so was her father and her father's mother. As a matter of fact, they all were born in the same house!!! My grandmother's paternal great-grandmother originally lived (and died) in this house. I'm uncertain whether the generations prior to my grandmother's paternal great-grandmother lived in this house as well. My grandmother's family didn't venture far until they made the big move to America in the early part of the last century.

My grandmother's mother, Maria (Nowak) Osiecka, came from nearby Konczyska. I'm not quite sure how long her family lived in this village. Nowak seems to be a common name in Poland, and so it might require a bit of research to track down her roots.

I've always had a strong interest in genealogy, and having the great luck to gain access to my grandmother's family is a wonderful surprise. My family had no idea if records even survived after all these years. I've been given a great gift : )

Although I am in no position at this point to travel to Poland, from all that I've learned on this website I would highly encourage anyone who has the chance to travel to Poland to go for it. It sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime!

Lisa : )

P.S. I am still trying to find information regarding my grandmother's paternal grandfather. My grandmother's father was born illegitimate, and the story within the family is that my grandmother's father's mother was employed on an estate in Luslawice and that is where she met the father of her child. If anyone has any information they'd like to pass along regarding estates in the Luslawice area circa 1868, I'd be very grateful : )

Should I come to Poland /Lisa

Jakrysi — Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:03 am

Author: Jakrysi

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:03 am

Lisa,

I hope you do decide to go to Poland!

In the winter of 2007, I made my first trip to Poland, traveling solo (my wife couldnt join me) from the west coast. Like Shellie and James, I had no working knowledge of the languagejust a handful of basic tourist phrases and the desire & willingness to try & communicate as best I could and to not be afraid to ask for help and when in doubt, pantomime and point Laughs!

My prior genealogical/family research was focused on my grandfathers brother, a catholic priest that our family only knew that he disappeared during the war (WWII). There were a few other vague anecdotes. Our family had but one photograph of this priest, ks. Andrzej, and we knew he last wrote my grandfather from the small town of Chorzele, about 100 km north of Warsaw. Around 2003, I confirmed this basic information on a Lomza Diocesean websiteand discovered that our family member ks. Andrzej was pastor at the sw. Mikolaja (St. Nicholas) church in Chorzele during the years 1918-1938.

All my adult life, I felt deep in my heart , I would someday go to Poland.

Suddenly--a life change/job layoff occurred --I had a brief window of time that allowed me to try & make it happen., My purpose was to visit the homeland, experience the cities of Warsaw and Cracow , do some train /bus travel and to visit & walk in the village near the small city of Plock that my late fathers family originated from. And, of course---go to the town and church where my Grampas brother spent twenty years of his life long ago.

The trip was fantastic/ beyond my wildest expectations and one of the best experiences Ive had. .Being a city kid, (born and raised in Chicago) , I walked, took cabs & trams within Warsaw and Cracow and visited many sites, and met very many kind and accommodating people. I did accomplish briefly visiting the family/genealogical related places I mentioned above. (Another posting for another time )

I spent 22 days in Poland in that winter of 200714 days in and around the two major cities mentioned. I also visited Plock, Zawiercie, and Wieliczka. My last day in country I spent at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was truly almost beyond comprehension in its magnitude and emotional power.

All told, for the short period of time I had to put together a plan, and the normal and frequently amusing challenges of winter travel in a foreign country---it all went very well. I plan to return to Poland later this yearin better weather (!) / and hopefully, with Zenons expertise for part of the journey.

Shellie, James and Leonore described so well their experiences and I echo their sentiments. The fact that your family roots search is part of your mindset to travel to Poland will bring to bear many special memories if you decide to plan & make a trip. Something magicor spiritual comes into play that makes it unlike other journeys.

Jim

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Shellie — Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:49 pm

Author: Shellie

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:49 pm

Lisa - When you finally get that tour of Poland and have a chance to find Polish ancestors, I'm sure the others will agree that it will be the trip of a lifetime for you.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa online when I began to search for traces of my ancestors in Luslawice and found a query that Lisa posted. That was the beginning of a great friendship. It was such a joy to share with her the information that I found about her family while I was searching for clues about my polish family. The best part was suprising her with photos of her ancestral villages and earrings that I made from the Amber that I brought home from my Poland Tour with PolishOrigins.

Lisa describes her search to discover Polish ancestors here: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=390

I've attached a photo of the church in Zakliczyn parish where Lisa's ancestors and my grandfather were baptized.

James, you are really hooked, aren't you! I'm like you - my first trip to Poland to find ancestors was fantastic, but I collected so much information that it has opened new leads for me to chase! I definitely have to go back on another Poland ancestral tour and see what else I can find in the village of my ancestors and the surrounding villages too.

As James mentioned earlier, while he was on his Forefathers Traces Tour with Zenon, he was able to blog his experiences. Check out his blog entires to read about his trip and see some great photos: http://blog.polishorigins.com/category/james-tour/

No matter what you call it: Forefathers Traces Tour with Zenon . Polish Heritage Tour . Ancestral Tour of Poland . Polish Genealogy Tour . Polish Family History Trip - it's all about finding Polish roots and learning more about your heritage.
If you have taken a trip to Poland to discover your Polish roots, I would like to hear from you. How did you like your trip? Did you find what you were looking for? What would you do different now that you've returned? I can't wait to go back, how about you?

visiting Poland

James — Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:05 pm

Author: James

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:05 pm

Wow , to visit Poland or not ??

Like so many other things , once you try it, you then realize what you would have missed by not trying it.

In 2006, my brother Joe and I visited Poland . It was in early September, and we spent 10 days.
Everything surpassed our expectations; the people, food, weather, scenery, national pride, and the feelings we experienced when walking the same streets that our ancestors had walked.

Our trip was not a search for our ancestors, but as tourists. Our expenses were probably half of what it would cost to visit western European countries, and unlike some other European countries I won't mention, the Polish people we met liked Americans, and not just our money. We had several wonderful conversations with the local people, and were treated very well overall.
English was spoken by many people in the major cities, but not so much in the smaller cities or towns, but between Joe and I, we had learned enough Polish words and phrases, that we did fine communicating with the local people. ( kawa, piwo, toaleta, etc... ) That was a great feeling of accomplishment for both of us.

I enjoyed myself so much in 2006, that I returned in May of 2009, and spent another 10 days .
This time my visit was for family research, and a little site seeing.
I had continued my research for family while at home , and had uncovered quite a bit of new information; names, towns, cities, occupations, etc... I was also very fortunate that a distant cousin Jozef , in Poland, had contacted me (via e-mail.) So my visit in 2009 had a lot of research built into it.
I spent 5 days with my friend Zenon, researching in two different archives ,( Wloclawek and Torun) and visiting churches where my family may have worshiped, and many of the local sites. ( visit my blog here at polishorigins.com )
A big thrill for me was meeting my cousin Jozef and spending most of a day with him and Zenon. Jozef spoke no English, but Zenon was a gracious translator ( dziekuje moi przyjaciel ). Jozef showed us all around the city of Wloclawek, taking me to the church where our ancestors had been baptized and married, and showing me the street and location of the house where my gg grandparents lived and where my great grandfather was born. Jozef was born in Wloclawek and still lived there, so he knew a great deal about the history of the city.

These were two great experiences for me, that I'll cherish forever.

I can't emphasize enough, to anyone considering a trip to Poland, how it will excite and change you. Just beware that once you go, you may want to return many, many more times. My third visit is already planned out. Zenon told me that I'll be back in 5 years. I hope he's right.

James

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Lisa — Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:00 pm

Author: Lisa

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:00 pm

Though I've never been to Poland (and probably won't be going anytime soon with one daughter in college and the other due to start in 2011!), I'm in total agreement with you Shellie about the importance of seeing that wonderful country first hand. My grandmother was a small child when she first came to America in the early part of the 20th century. Her family, the Osieckis/Novaks/Zaguras, were from the Krakow area. They first lived in Luslawice and then Konczyska. All their Church records - which I was SO blessed to receive copies of - were from the Church in Zakliczyn.

My grandmother did not really speak of her life in Poland, and so I've had to do much research. That said, piecing together her story through the Church records has been an extremely rewarding (and sometimes surprising) experience. I was very lucky that her former parish was open to sharing information regarding births, marriages and deaths of former parishioners. How else would I have learned that my great-great-great grandmother, who was from Luslawice, was born Marianna Kokosza and was subsequently married to Martin Drazek(spelling?), Blasius Kurczab, and finally my great-great-great grandfather Franciscus Osiecki? Or that the house Marianna resided in would be where her daughter, grandson and great-grandchildren (my great-great grandmother, great grandfather and grandmother) would be born? That little house in Luslawice was in the family for more than 100 years!!

I've seen photographs of this area of Poland and it's beautiful. It's not at all as I envisioned it - it's so much more! The book of pictures of Zakliczyn depicts forests and fields and country lanes and bright blue sky with mountains as a backdrop - truly a wonderful place!

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Shellie. If anyone else has been to Poland and reads these posts I do hope that they, too, will share their story.

Lisa : )

Re: Should I come to Poland to collect my family information?

Shellie — Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:57 pm

Author: Shellie

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:57 pm

Leonore,
I think it was wonderful that your trip to Poland led you to discover Polish ancestors! I also went on my ancestry trip to see where my family came from and did not have much hope to find a living relative. But I was surprised too and like you, I found a cousin! It is hard to describe the feeling when you first realize that there is someone who shares your bloodline and your heritage still living in your ancestral village.

Message to PolishOrigins Readers: Leonore's trip took her to many locations in Poland such as:
Gniezno . Broniszewice . Tereszewo . Sadłowo . Gdansk . Szafarnia . Smogulec

Check out the beautiful photos and blog of her tour of Poland with Zenon: http://blog.polishorigins.com/category/leonores-tour/