Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2026 1:28 pm
Post subject: Missing Original Metrical Books
Dear PolishOrigins,
I am not sure if this is the correct forum section to post an inquiry such as this, although this seems like the best most relevant section for the nature of my post.
(TL;DR: The original 18th and early 19th century metrical books for the Brzozów-Krosno region of Podkarpackie, and potentially for nearly every village and religious denomination across the entire wójwodstwo, are unexplainably missing en-masse from every regional archive to which they logically could have been housed, in spite of the original books clearly having existed as late as the late 19th century, being constantly referenced in the surviving certified state copies which various archives do have. The common explanation of "destruction by war" is insufficient without specific examples or testimonies of the actual central location that would have housed such material having been deliberately targeted, and would be especially considerably unrealistic had the books all remained in the respective local parishes, as such would require armed forces to have systematically targeted every village for the destruction of metrical books across the entire region, as if they had nothing better to do. I am inquiring whether there is any specifically known history beyond generic "war" or "natural disaster" that may logically and adequately explain the fate of the otherwise unexplainably missing original metrical books across the villages of the Brzozów-Krosno region and by extent the rural villages and communities across the entire Podkarpackie wójwodztwo.)
In my research of the Jabłonica Polska/Brzozów locality, particularly the Brzozów-Krosno region including the villages considered to have had "Zamieszańcy" populace, I find the Przemyśł state archives only has state certified copies of the original metrical books, usually beginning 1784 to 1786 when the state mandated official copies begin to be sent. What disturbs me is if any researcher has a need to view the original metrical books of any village in this region for any particular reason, they as of now can not, as there does not appear to be any original metrical books in possession by any of the regional archives that such content should have logically been funneled to, in spite of the state copies for any given village constantly referencing the original metrical books of the respective village parish, proving the original books did in fact exist. (Example "ex libro copulatorum jabłonicensis")
I reached out to the state archives in Przemyśł, state archives in Sanok, state archives in Rzeszów, Roman catholic episcopal archives in Przemyśł, Greek catholic episcopal archives in Przemyśł, and the central state archives of Lviv/Lwów, inquiring as to whether they had original metrical books from this region, with each and every archive not having such content. The state archive in Przemyśł of course has the certified state copies for the various Greek catholic parishes from the region (per the Greek catholic Przemyśł bishopric collection), while the state archive in Rzeszów holds the state copies of various regional Roman catholic parishes, which for Jabłonica Polska/Kombornia is terribly lacking and fragmented only beginning in 1889 and suddenly jumping into the early 20th century.
I assume (but do not know for a fact) that the Roman catholic episcopal archive in Przemyśł would logically hold the original Roman catholic metrical books of this region. I do know that the Roman catholic episcopal archive in Przemyśł understandably does not hold any Greek catholic material. The Greek catholic episcopal archive in Przemyśł does not hold any material before the 1990s because of the original archive (the primary logical place I can think of that Greek catholic metrical books for an entire region under the Przemyśł eparchy should have been transported to) having been dismantled in 1946. Surprisingly, the central state archive in Lviv does not hold any Roman or Greek catholic original metrical books from the region, noting that they do not know where such material was sent.
Lviv is the only logical place I can think of where original metrical books from this region should have arrived if they were transported from a location such as the episcopal archives in Przemyśł for safe keeping during the early 20th century. However the negative result may not entirely rule out the possibility of these original books having ended up in Lviv archives and later having been destroyed either by the communist state or simply from neglect. It is extremely unlikely that the books were destroyed locally during the world wars, as that would require armed forces to have systematically raided every village within the Brzozów region specifically targeting the destruction of every local metrical book, while assuming that the original older 18th/19th century metrical books were by then still housed within the local parishes and not already residing within a regional archive or repository for safe keeping. I suppose the original books could have been destroyed in a natural disaster, fire, or have been destroyed in transit, however these scenarios seem a bit hasty to dismiss a thorough search, because if there was such a catastrophic event effecting the survival of many archival materials, one would think there should have been some form of adequate documentation of the specific event such as "a fire broke out in this specific archive building on this specific date where many old archives and books were known to be housed and unfortunately many materials perished therein", and not a generic "there was war" or "natural disasters happen". Might I be missing a crucial piece of history for this region that otherwise definitively and adequately explains the fate of the original 18th and early 19th century metrical books for the many villages across the Brzozów-Krosno/Jabłonica Polska-Zamieszańcy region of Podkarpackie? It seems even worse that this is a greater issue not only effecting the Brzozów-Krosno region, but villages across the entire Podkarpackie wójwodstwo, yet a few miles south of the border in historic Sáros county (ruled by the same Habsburg empire that Galicia was under until 1918), original metrical books of nearly every village have been microfilmed and made readily available online...
Regardless of where the original metrical books of this region are or are not, it seems likely that they were collectively transported to a currently unknown location (evident by the fact that the original books are not missing for only one or two obscure villages but for nearly every village across the entire region and wójwodstwo regardless of religious denomination), and it is clear that they indeed existed as late as the mid/late 19th century. It seems unlikely to me that the original older books remained in the respective village parishes, as had that been the case they probably would be digitized or adequately archived by now, having been logically located in each respective village parish rectory. Could they perhaps have ended up somewhere like Lublin, Brest, or Kraków?
In my opinion, anyone with rural ancestry in Podkarpackie should be at least moderately concerned about this, as the state copies can contain seemingly minor transcription errors sometimes making a huge difference in genealogical research, and are occasionally fragmented missing years sometimes with gaps as large as 30 years or more.
Thank you,
Michael
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Register