zolkie
Joined: 26 Feb 2009
Replies: 60
Location: Maryland, USABack to top |
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:08 pm
Post subject: Parish records seized by Nazi Germany
During my FFT with Zenon this summer, I learned that in at least one parish (and presumably more), the Nazis seized the parish records. According to the priest, the records were sent back to Germany.
Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether such records still exist in Germany? and if so, where I might begin to search for them?
The parishes affected are located in what was Western Galicia, and were inhabited by predominently German Colonists, which I speculate would explain the German government's interest in them.
Regards,
Jeff
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:27 pm
Post subject:
The historical society in Kielce is still slowly recovering records trandferred by the Nazia to Katowice, can the records you seek be there as well?
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:54 pm
Post subject: Re: Parish records seized by Nazi Germany
| zolkie wrote: | During my FFT with Zenon this summer, I learned that in at least one parish (and presumably more), the Nazis seized the parish records. According to the priest, the records were sent back to Germany.
Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether such records still exist in Germany? and if so, where I might begin to search for them?
The parishes affected are located in what was Western Galicia, and were inhabited by predominently German Colonists, which I speculate would explain the German government's interest in them.
Regards,
Jeff |
Jeff,
I don't know the last time this website was updated, but it is worth reading it (http://www.donhoward.net/genpoland/records.htm)
"The Roman Catholic church records (from parish books) older than the early 1900's are usually stored in the diocesan archives. Despite the ecclesiastical reform of 1992 (new dioceses were established), the system of archives reflects the old administrative division (dating back to 1926). Probably in the future new diocesan archives will be established and the records will be relocated according to their present position. Since many Lutheran churches from the former German provinces were transferred to the Catholics after 1945, some of the Protestant church records can also be found in the Catholic archives. A great deal of the Catholic church records, especially from the former provinces of West and East Prussia, were taken to Germany in 1945. The majority of them are now stored at the Bischöfliches Zentralarchiv, St. Petersweg 11-13, D-93047 REGENSBURG, GERMANY (in the next months this entire collection will be given back to Poland but the precise date of the transfer to the Polish Catholic archives is not known yet). Others (from the Province of Posen) can be found in the archives located in Leipzig, Potsdam and Berlin.
Currently not all Catholic parishes have sent their old records to the diocesan archives. Sometimes it is necessary to contact the pastor directly by mail to obtain a record; it is advisable to write in Polish (see also the section about writing letters to Poland).
A large number of Catholic & Lutheran church records, as well as some Jewish ones, are stored at the State Archives. Most of these records are the 19th century civil duplicates. Many Lutheran church records were taken to Germany with the escaping Germans in 1945. Many of these records are currently stored at the Evangelisches Zentralarchiv, Bethanienstraße 23-29, D-10997 BERLIN, GERMANY.
Most of the Civil Registration Office records from the formerly Prussian parts of present-day Poland still remain there. The records older than 100 years are relocated to the State Archives, according to the present administrative position of a given locality. It must be remembered that after WWII the Civil Registration Offices were incorporated into the community offices (town halls). As a typical community now comprises the territories of 1-5 former Prussian Civil Registration Offices, the community local archives usually retain the old records of several former offices located in their area (until they are 100 years old). Sometimes much detective work must be done to identify the actual place where records from a given former office are currently stored. Also, a certain amount of the pre-WWII Civil Registration Office records from the former German provinces were taken to Germany. They are now stored at the Standesamt I, Rückerstraße 9, D-10119 BERLIN, GERMANY. "
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