PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

zamagurie — Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:15 pm

Author: zamagurie

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:15 pm

I have been doing research in the Podhale Region for almost 18 years. Records never seem to be where they should be; access has been QUITE costly. I have had considerable success only after MULTIPLE TRIPS, MULTIPLE GIFTS etc.. etc. See my profile. Priests often fein they know know English; but have forgotten I've visited in the past! DO NOT SEND MONEY is wise advice. You rarely will see anything. See my profile. I do have records.

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

myonick — Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:35 am

Author: myonick

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:35 am

Thanks everyone for your help. I will take your advice and see if I get a response.

Mary

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

Zenon — Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:05 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:05 am

So, the conclusion is: it is worth trying, but without sending any money in advance .

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

Anonymous — Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:19 am

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:19 am

I have heard the same from members of another forum. On the other hand, I was lucky in my only experience with church records: they sent it for free! And the same happen with a USC with a civil record.

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

Zenon — Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:19 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:19 am

Short comment to Zbyszek's advice.

It is always good idea to try to contact the parish office either via regular mail or via email with as specific request as possible. However, as I often wrote in the Forum and tell our Forefathers Traces Tours guests, I WOULD ADVICE YOU NOT TO SEND ANY MONEY to priests in Poland. I was talking with dozens of people, including many of our Forum members, as well as with priests who receive such requests. The priests sincerely say that they do not have time for that as they have more important things to do (quotation). NO ONE of the people I was talking to who sent such requests with money ever received a reply for such request, even if they sent quite decent amount of $US. Maybe this is only my experience by it is based on dozens of cases I am familiar with.

Parish priests were much more willing to respond to such requests in 1980s and before when $US value was much greater, especially for people living in the old communist countries.

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

jhzs — Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:44 am

Author: jhzs

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:44 am

Mary,
You should write to the church in Gronkow as they should have records I think. You shoud write them in Polish, you may consider including some donation for the church, maybe a an enveope with your address. Nuns in a church archive do not do research (you have to do it yourself). If you remind me in October I can go and check what they have for this villages.
Zbyszek

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

myonick — Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:31 am

Author: myonick

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:31 am

Thanks for the responses Gilberto and Zbyszek.

In the past I wrote to the parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko, but with no reply. At that time I was looking for my grandmother's birth record. I also wrote to the church achives in krakow, but they directed me back to the parish in Gronkow. My final attemp was to write to the civil record office. The civil record office had the record, but it was sent to the Polish Consulate in Chicago. The Polish Consulate than billed me for the record and than I received it.

So what is the best way to get information regarding my great grandmother's family? Should I write to the parish in Gronkow, Ostrowsko or the church archives?

Mary

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

jhzs — Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:29 pm

Author: jhzs

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:29 pm

Gilberto,
I am not sure if there are any rules. In places I know the best (Krakow, Tarnow, Przemysl, Rzeszow dioceses) old records are not transfered to the church archives and stay in the parishes. They just should send a copy of books to the archive. Now they do it every year, earlier they did it from time to time I think. So the records in church archives are in most cases copies. Only Tarnow church archive, as far as I know, microfilmed books from the parishes so has both sets (and then they sent the books back to the churches).

Zbyszek

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

Anonymous — Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:32 pm

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:32 pm

Zbyszek,
Thanks for claryfing my doubt about the transfer of church records older than 100 years. However, it raised another question: Is this rule followed by all RC churches? Though I have seen cases of parishes holding old records, I believed most of parishes transferred them to the Dioceses Archives.

Gilberto

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

jhzs — Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:22 pm

Author: jhzs

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:22 pm

Hello,
Records for Gronkow as far as I remeber are in Krakow church archive (I can check it in October as the archive is closed now) under Gronkow and not Ostrowsko. There also should be records in a parish in Gronkow.
Records older then 100 years old are transfered only from a civil registry office to state archives. This rule does not work in church archives. When new parish is established then, if it is possible, the records for villages of new parish are transfered to this parish, if it is not possible then they stay in old parish. In Galicia, in most case it was possible to transfer records to new parishes as there were sepearate books for each village.
Zbyszek

Re: Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

Anonymous — Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:15 am

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:15 am

Mary,

The church in Grokow was built in 1927 and Ostrowsko in 1513, according to the information in http://www.diecezja.pl/parafie/lista-parafii/32-nowy-targ/parafia-sw-michala-archaniola.html
To the best of my knowledge, records older than 100 years are transferred either to Dioceses Archives or the State Archives. I could not find LDS films for these places. Since they are both near Nowy Targ I thought they could be there. However, as displayed in http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/pradziad.php?l=pl&mode=showopis&id=17662&miejscowosc=nowy%20targ they only have jewish records.

I see that you are a member of Genealodzy. In Katalog zasobow metrykalnich, on the left side of the screen, you can search for information about a given parish and what records it holds.

Gilberto

Parishes in Gronkow and Ostrowsko

myonick — Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:49 am

Author: myonick

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:49 am

Looking for my great grandmother's family
Name: Regina Zarębczan
Parents:Jakub Zarębczan and Katarzyna Grońska
Village: Gronkow, Malopolska
The village was in Austria-Poland / Galicia

My questions:
My great grandmother was born in the mid 1800's so I would like to know, which parish, Gronkow or Ostrowsko, would have records for the 1800's?
Has anyone written to the parish in Ostrowsko? What was your experience?
Also, anyone doing research on this family?

Mary