PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

dnowicki — Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:52 pm

Author: dnowicki

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:52 pm

mcdonald0517 wrote:

Hi again, Mike,

I have not been able to locate any online records for Szufnarowa in any of the usual places I look. However, I did locate the website for the Roman Catholic Parish Church in Szufnarowa. Their email is under "kontakt".

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=https://parafiaszufnarowa.jimdo.com/&prev=search

You can try sending an email to the parish. Write it in English and use Google Translate to translate into Polish for you. When I do this, I keep the request very short and use simple, direct sentences. Doing this keeps the translation cleaner. I also limit it to one specific record request at a time - again to keep it simple. I also include the request both in Polish and English in the email.

This may or may not work. I have made these requests in Subcarpathian parishes for my own ancestors, and I often do not get a reply. If I do get a reply, it then takes a lot of time, patience, and courtesy to actually achieve the goal of getting the record. For this reason, I did end up hiring a researcher in Poland who was better able to secure the records in person.

All the best,
Cynthia

Mike & Cynthia,

Let me preface these remarks by saying that none of my ancestors were from the Austrian Partition and I’ve never hired a researcher in Poland. I was lucky that most of the records I needed had been filmed and those which had not been filmed were housed in one or another branch of the Polish National Archives. When I needed such records I contacted the appropriate archive and always received an excellent response.

My experience with the Austrian Partition comes from doing translations and from helping several grammar schoolmates with their research. One schoolmate’s ancestors were from Osobnicia and she did hire a researcher who obtained records going back to 1780. The cost was a thousand bucks, but she was happy with the results.

In my experience, records from each of the three partitions have their pros and cons. For the Austrian Partition the real big pro is the amount of detail found in the records. Other pros are that there were usually at least three copies of the record books made. One (the civil transcripts) were sent to the Austrian authorities; a second copy often was sent to the archives of the diocese; a third copy remained in the archives of the local parish. The cons are: not many of the civil transcripts were returned to Polish Archives; not all the dioceses allowed LDS films to be made of the records in the diocesan archives; the parish copies (which are the most complete) can be difficult to access. Due to the cons many records from Galicia are not available online, which limits armchair research.

Cynthia’s advice and comments are very good with one minor exception. There is a parish in Szufnarowa but that most likely will be of no help since the parish was founded in 1971, which would be too recent for the records you need. Prior to 1971 Szufnarowa belonged to the parish of Niewodna (founded in 1373).

A good resource for determining parishes in the 19th and the early 20th Centuries is a book published circa 1930,Skorowidz miejscowości…, which is an index of locations in Poland at that time. The far right column lists the parish to which the location belonged. It is available online at http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=12786&from=publication

Two useful sites for determining what records are to be found in the Polish National Archives are http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/
and http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/pradziad.php?l=en%3E

The website of the Diocese of Rzeszów is http://www.diecezja.rzeszow.pl/

Happy researching!

Dave

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

mcdonald0517 — Fri Sep 15, 2017 2:22 pm

Author: mcdonald0517

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 2:22 pm

Hi again, Mike,

I have not been able to locate any online records for Szufnarowa in any of the usual places I look. However, I did locate the website for the Roman Catholic Parish Church in Szufnarowa. Their email is under "kontakt".

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=https://parafiaszufnarowa.jimdo.com/&prev=search

You can try sending an email to the parish. Write it in English and use Google Translate to translate into Polish for you. When I do this, I keep the request very short and use simple, direct sentences. Doing this keeps the translation cleaner. I also limit it to one specific record request at a time - again to keep it simple. I also include the request both in Polish and English in the email.

This may or may not work. I have made these requests in Subcarpathian parishes for my own ancestors, and I often do not get a reply. If I do get a reply, it then takes a lot of time, patience, and courtesy to actually achieve the goal of getting the record. For this reason, I did end up hiring a researcher in Poland who was better able to secure the records in person.

All the best,
Cynthia

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

mcdonald0517 — Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:42 pm

Author: mcdonald0517

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:42 pm

Hi Mike,

I don't know if this may be of help or not. It seems that Giedlarowa is a village in the administrative district (Gmina) of Gmina Leżajsk.

The archives seems to have records online for Leżajsk that extend beyond the dates you have noted. It might not hurt to check these out:

http://www.szukajwarchiwach.pl/search?q=Le%C5%BCajsk%20XSKANro%3At&order=

Also, in my experience working with researchers, they provide a quote for their hourly rate plus any additional fees (donations to churches, travel costs, etc.). I then provide them with a "ceiling" amount that they are not to exceed. They then work within that limit to accomplish as much as possible. Also, be aware of the currency your researcher is using when calculating their costs - is it in US dollars or PLN?

If you would like to compare notes further about using researchers, just send me a private email through Polish Origins.

Best of luck in your research,
Cynthia

When to Hire a Researcher

MikeHNiemczyk — Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:06 pm

Author: MikeHNiemczyk

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:06 pm

This is my first post on Polish Origins. I apologize if my question belongs elsewhere, but it does concern this topic of hiring a researcher. I am not so much asking for a name, as seeking perspective. Up to now, I have researched by myself and been reasonably successful - getting answers to several elusive questions about relations in the U.S. Most recently, however, I have opened an exciting door to the family my paternal grandfather left behind in Giedlarowa. To see his birth record and that of his brother, the marriage record of his parents... the feeling approaches ecstasy. My grandpa passed in 1967 when I was 7 - this experience is like getting to 'know' him anew, only strangely, with our ages reversed! My discoveries are limited, of course. Among the Giedlarowa records available online, for instance, I can find no births earlier than 1879 or later than 1899. If I hired a researcher, might I find more? On a related note, I wish I could find similar records about the families of my father's mother's parents - they came from Szufnarowa. Recently I saw a post on an Ancestry message board from a guy who seemed to know a good deal about Szufnarowa, so I reached out to him. Turns out he is a researcher for hire. He came back with an offer, itemizing the records he would try to obtain at a cost of $400. I greatly desire to have the records he listed, but how can one assess the likelihood of a researcher's success? And this offer comes so soon after my own discovery of the Giedlarowa records online. I can't help but wonder if the Szufnarowa records are also out there, waiting to be plucked from the air, if I only knew where to look? Sorry for the length of this post.

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Zenon — Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:59 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:59 am

Polskamom,

You quoted thuylinhphouong. Did you intend to add any response to his (or her) question? There is nothing more than the quote...

Re: Research in Poland

Polskamom — Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:49 am

Author: Polskamom

Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:49 am

thuylinhphuong wrote:

Hello

We have had issues tracing our family in Poland however we have gone back to early 1800's - I am considering getting a professional genealogist to find out more information for us.

Has anyone does this previously? I.e. Paid for a genealogists services?
How did you go and how much did it cost?

Also if anyone is interested, I would be happy to hear from you via private message.

Thanks

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Zenon — Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:24 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:24 am

All suggestions about great genealogists in Poland are also welcomed publicly on this thread. We have been constantly looking for the best people to recommend them to you or to invite them to our team

Research in Poland

thuylinhphuong — Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:33 pm

Author: thuylinhphuong

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:33 pm

Hello

We have had issues tracing our family in Poland however we have gone back to early 1800's - I am considering getting a professional genealogist to find out more information for us.

Has anyone does this previously? I.e. Paid for a genealogists services?
How did you go and how much did it cost?

Also if anyone is interested, I would be happy to hear from you via private message.

Thanks

Genealogists in South Eastern Poland

Cenowski — Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:01 am

Author: Cenowski

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:01 am

Can anyone here suggest any good Genealogist contacts who work out of Southern Eastern Poland, in Particular Podkarpackie and also any that in particular are good with Military research?

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Zenon — Mon Aug 27, 2012 1:09 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 1:09 am

Polskamom wrote:

Southeastern Poland needs translators and researchers. There is a big shortage of both in the Rzeszow/Sanok/Przemysl areas.

Yes Polskamom, we have the same observation. Many of our members and visitors have ancestors from this part of old Galicia. I am personally also from there and often visit the area with my FTT guests. (And now I am writing this from Rzeszow region).

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Polskamom — Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:31 am

Author: Polskamom

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:31 am

Zenon, I appreciate your attitude and understand your plans.
Southeastern Poland needs translators and researchers. There is a big shortage of both in the Rzeszow/Sanok/Przemysl areas.

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Zenon — Sat Aug 25, 2012 1:19 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 1:19 am

Polskamom wrote:

Considering that Zenon speaks, reads and writes in English and is "for hire" I find this thread a little unsettling since this is his Forum/web site.

Although we don't tell anywhere on our website that we provide genealogy research services we receive many requests about that.

With a very few exceptions, we perform genealogy research for our Forefathers Traces Tours ( http://tours.polishorigins.com/ ) guests only, before and sometimes after their visit to Poland.

The reason is simple, we have already too much work with the website and Genealogy Tours (and the additional research accompanying them) that we are just not able physically to do anything more.

However, for a few months now, I am gathering team of experienced and reliable researchers in Poland and Ukraine. We are working together on a few research projects and are developing methods of cooperation to prepare for offering PolishOrigins Research Services on regular basis.

But because we as PolishOrigins are not able to meet all the demand for genealogy research services we have now I don't mind for our members to share their experience, both positive and negative, with others. We don't want to limit you in your genealogy discovery possibilities We want you to have all the opportunities for your genealogy adventures to move forward by leaps and bounds not only through help of our wonderful members, our tools, Genealogy Tours, but also thanks to good, checked by others, professional researchers not associated with PolishOrigins.

What I don't accept here is self-promotion by professional researchers offering their services either via our Forum or private messages to our members. See more in my previous post in this thread: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?p=7231#7231 .

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Polskamom — Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:06 pm

Author: Polskamom

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:06 pm

Considering that Zenon speaks, reads and writes in English and is "for hire" I find this thread a little unsettling since this is his Forum/web site.

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

drphil — Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:46 pm

Author: drphil

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:46 pm

Hello, I have also used Emil Krasnodebski for research about 5 or 6 years ago and I was very pleased with his research and would also recommend him to others.

Phil

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

cwmdreb — Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:37 pm

Author: cwmdreb

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:37 pm

My second trip to Poland was in July 2010, that VERY hot summer in Poland. I had met my family the year before living In Szczecin. I was the first of my family from the US to come face to face with family in Poland in 103 years. (My grandparents came to the US in 1906 leaving 3 children because of the lack of money to bring them, my father born in US, then WW I prevented travel for the children, etc, etc). Knowing where grandparents came from, Krzynowloga Mala and Marianowo from Naturalization papers, I decided to go to the church there. Found the pastor on that HOT July day. He told me that when the Nazais arrived at the church in mid September, 1939, they burned everything. The local cemetary was also destroyed as we found out walking it and saw graved from 1948 to date. Came home without finding any family history. But being Polish and stuborn, I did not stop! I found several companies on the Internet located in Poland that will do research for you. I chose the only individual, not a group of people, and did further research on him. Reviewed his web site, contacted some of the individuals who wrote testamonials posted on his web site. ALL wrote back with HIGH marks. I wrote to him, in English, and he responded in excellent English. I agreeded to to take a chance with his research. Made payment via wire transfer at my bank. Within 3 weeks I had 2 1/2 pages of a Word Document on my grandparents and their parents. Some of the info returned I did not tell him that I knew (I withheld some information that I did not think was important in locating grandparents). He shocked me with so much!!!!.....some of which I was able to confirm with my cousin in Szczecin as totally correct. I would recommend this man HIGHLY!!!!! Rates are VERY affordable.

His hame is Emil krasnodebski. Web siteis : http://www.polishgenealogy.com.pl and e-mail address is polishgenealogy@rubikon.pl

Anyone wanting more info my contact me directly or has any connection to the Pruchnicki/Prochnicki family, please contact me Tom Pruchnicki(nhrhta@iconn.net) Hamden, Connecticut

Re: Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Zenon — Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:29 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:29 am

I want to add to Shellie's post one thing.

This thread is for people who want to share their experience about working with researchers, but it is not for researchers who want to share information about their services.

If any of researchers is interested in cooperation with PolishOrigins please contact us directly.

Researchers in Poland who speak/write English

Shellie — Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:03 pm

Author: Shellie

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:03 pm

I am starting this thread so we can share information about finding researchers in Poland that non-Polish speakers can communicate with.

If you have worked with a researcher who communicates in English, please tell us about your experience. Please make sure that the researcher is OK with you posting their contact information.

This list should not be considered an endorsement by Polish Origins
- it's simply for information purposes.

It will be your responsibility to determine whether to hire someone from this list.

Professional Genealogist in Poland?

haydensydney — Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:26 am

Author: haydensydney

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:26 am

Hello

We have had issues tracing our family in Poland however we have gone back to early 1800's - I am considering getting a professional genealogist to find out more information for us.

Has anyone does this previously? I.e. Paid for a genealogists services?
How did you go and how much did it cost?

Also if anyone is interested, I would be happy to hear from you via private message.

Thanks

Hayden