PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Mapywig

Stefan — Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:49 pm

Author: Stefan

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:49 pm

Hi Sandra,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad my suggestion helped ..

To add a little further .. Mapywig is a - sort of - Polish acronym for the Maps "Mapy" of the Military Institute of Geography "Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny", whose maps from the 1920-30s
were considered amongst the best in Europe.

What is most interesting/exciting for me is that these maps reference
villages in former Poland that have long since changed their spelling
(reflecting the fact that they are no longer within Poland), or in many
cases no longer exist. Most of these villages - and there must be a
hundred thousand of them - cannot be found on any modern maps.
This area in the former Eastern Territories of Poland, often called the
Kresy, consisted of HALF of the territory of Poland from 1920-1939.

In an recent post, for instance, reference was made to the village
of "Nieciecz, near Lida", which you would be unlikely to find on any
modern map. On Mapywig, on Block P33-S41, just East of Lida, you
can clearly see Nieciecz in detail, (in the left hand margin, about half way down the page.)

That's the kind of thing that often makes Polish genealogy- for me - so compelling... Glad to share it ..

Best wishes,
Stefan
Toronto

Re: Mapywig

Sandra — Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:04 pm

Author: Sandra

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:04 pm

Thank you, Stefan. This is truly a wonderful site to share with us.
I have found two of my grandparents' villages and look forward to having more time to search for the other two.

Sandra

Mapywig

Stefan — Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:56 am

Author: Stefan

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:56 am

Hi all,
In my (amateur) genealogical research over the last year, I have found the above web-site to be extremely valuable, but rarely mentioned.

Mapywig contains very detailed, original, topographical maps of Poland circa 1920-1935. It is detailed down to the building level. (I, for
example, recently found the HOUSE in Poland (now Ukraine) where my
Dad and Uncle were born in the 1920s.) It's also quite simple to use.
Unfortunately, because of this detail, it can 1. be a bit slow to download, and 2. requires that you know exactly what you are looking for.
The site is in Polish and English.

To use it, go to [url]www.mapywig.org, and click on the Active map index
in the left hand margin. A large map of pre-War Poland divided into a grid should appear. Click on the location you interested in, and patiently troll through the resulting map until you have located your ancestor's village.

Hope this helps someone ..

Best regards,
Stefan[/url]