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PatrykH

Joined: 18 Oct 2026
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 4:43 pm Post subject: Searching for Hera surname ancestors/Swietokrystie

Help identifying the parents of Franciszek Hera — Wrocieryż, Poland

Hello! I am researching my Polish family history and am looking for help identifying the parents of my ancestor, Franciszek Hera, who was reportedly born around 1855 or 1858 and may have lived in or around Wrocieryż, in present-day Świętokrzyskie, Poland.

I believe Franciszek married Wiktoria Zarzycka (1856–1946) around 1881, possibly in Wrocieryż. I have come across references to an 1881 marriage record that may relate to this couple, but I have not been able to confirm the correct document or confidently read the original Russian handwriting. The surname may occasionally appear as “Hora,” although I believe “Hera” is more likely.

Franciszek and Wiktoria appear to have had several children, including:

Michał Hera, reportedly born in 1888

Piotr Hera, reportedly born around 1890 (there were a couple of other children as well)

Piotr apparently married Zofia Błach in Książ Mały in 1910. They had a son, Stanisław Hera (born in 1922), who later married Eleonora (1917–1991), my great-grandmother. Their son Marek Hera, born in 1956, is my grandfather.

I would be very grateful if anyone could help me:

Identify the correct marriage record for Franciszek Hera and Wiktoria Zarzycka.

Determine Franciszek's parents, particularly his father's name.

Find any birth, marriage, death, or other records that could confirm this family line.

Details that may help with the search:

Name: Franciszek Hera (possibly recorded as Hora)

Approximate birth year: 1855 or 1858

Wife: Wiktoria Zarzycka (1856–1946)

Possible marriage year: 1881

Possible location: Wrocieryż, Świętokrzyskie, Poland

Known descendants: Michał and Piotr Hera, among others

I have been looking through Geneteka, GenBaza, and digitized parish records, but I have not been able to identify Franciszek's parents with confidence. I would especially appreciate help reading the original records or suggestions for other sources I may have overlooked.

Thank you very much for your time and any assistance!

BarbOslo
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Joined: 19 Nov 2022
Replies: 1670
Location: Norway
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 6:21 pm Post subject:

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
Here you will find the information you are looking for:

Franciszek & Wiktoria
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=eng&bdm=S&w=13sk&rid=6556&search_lastname=zarzycka&search_name=wiktoria&search_lastname2=&search_name2=&from_date=1881&to_date=1881&rpp1=&ordertable=

https://genbaza.pl/metryki/cs77655t0c/ap-kielce-21/wrocieryz-1732-ap-kielce/1881/23#zoom=3.9781&x=0.6230&y=0.1474

Date: September 13, 1881, at 11 a.m.
Place: parish Wrocieryż
Groom: Franciszek Chera, a bachelor, 23 years old, born in the village of Sędowice, a son of Joachim and Marianna née Mitręga the Chera spouses.
Bride: Wiktoria Zarzycka, a miss, 17 years old, a daughter of Antoni and Joanna née Mrozik the Zarzycki spouses.

Franciszek
born - 24.01.1858 in the village of Sędowice parish Wrocieryż
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=eng&bdm=B&w=13sk&rid=B&search_lastname=chera&search_name=franciszek&search_lastname2=&search_name2=&from_date=1858&to_date=1858
https://genbaza.pl/metryki/j21nrshw2f/ap-kielce-21/wrocieryz-1732-ap-kielce/1858/5#zoom=4.0000&x=0.6826&y=0.1739

Wiktoria
born – 11.12.1864 in the village of Wrocieryż
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=eng&bdm=B&w=13sk&rid=7555&search_lastname=zarzycka&search_name=wiktoria&search_lastname2=&search_name2=&from_date=1862&to_date=1866

https://genbaza.pl/metryki/crf5v2ex5s/ap-kielce-21/wrocieryz-1732-ap-kielce/1864/20#zoom=1.7185&x=0.6583&y=0.4864

Regards,
-Barb

Last edited by BarbOslo on Sun Oct 18, 2026 6:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

BarbOslo
PO Top Contributor

Joined: 19 Nov 2022
Replies: 1670
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 6:25 pm Post subject:

The surname Hera can also be written as Chera. In the Polish language, the letters H and CH are equivalent.

-Barb

Henry Soszynski

Joined: 24 Jun 2019
Replies: 149
Location: Brisbane
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 7:09 pm Post subject:

The following may be of interest to Patryk as well. It seems that Wiktoria was widowed and remarried and had further issue.

1902 16 Walenty Styczeń Stanisław, Marianna Musiał Wiktoria Hera [Inne nazwiska: Zarzycka ] Antoni, Joanna Mrozik Wrocieryż
[Uwagi: On: 37 lat, wdowiec po: Katarzyna Pasek, ur.: Zaryszyn par. Książ Wielki. Ona: 37 lat, wdowa po: Franciszek, nazwisko rodowe: Zarzycka.

Miejscowość: Wrocieryż Data ślubu: 25.11.1902 r. ]
[Miejsce przechowywania ksiąg: Archiwum Diecezjalne w Kielcach 25-013 Kielce, ul. Jana Pawła II 3]
[Indeks dodał: Czarek133] [Zgłoś poprawkę]

1903 81 Franciszka Styczeń Walenty Wiktoria Zarzycka Wrocieryż Wrocieryż [ Data urodzenia: 25.08.1903 r. ]
[Miejsce przechowywania ksiąg: Archiwum Państwowe w Kielcach ul. Janusza Kusocińskiego 57 25-045 Kielce]
[Indeks dodał: Czarek133] [Zgłoś poprawkę]

Cheers,
Henry Soszynski

PatrykH

Joined: 18 Oct 2026
Replies: 5

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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 8:49 pm Post subject:

BarbOslo wrote:

The surname Hera can also be written as Chera. In the Polish language, the letters H and CH are equivalent.

-Barb

Thank you for the wonderful information and introduction. I greatly appreciate it!

PatrykH

Joined: 18 Oct 2026
Replies: 5

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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2026 8:50 pm Post subject:

Henry Soszynski wrote:

This is very interesting - I'll be sure to look into this. Thanks so much!

Sophia
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Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1632

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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 4:33 am Post subject: Re: Searching for Hera surname ancestors/Swietokrystie

PatrykH wrote:

I believe Franciszek married Wiktoria Zarzycka (1856–1946) around 1881, possibly in Wrocieryż. I have come across references to an 1881 marriage record that may relate to this couple, but I have not been able to confirm the correct document or confidently read the original Russian handwriting.

Hi PatrykH,

I see you have already received excellent information from Barb and Henry. I want to add a comment, in response to your point above about the Russian handwriting. Barb posted a link to the marriage record for Franciszek and Wiktoria, but for easy reference I am also attaching here a screenshot of the church book image. I'm not sure whether you noticed it, but within the Cyrillic text, the names of both the bride and groom are also written in the Latin alphabet and should be more recognizable to you. Franciszek is on line 5 and Wiktoria is on line 8. See also my close-up screenshots, where I have underlined their names in green for the Cyrillic version and in orange for the Latin alphabet.

Best of luck in your continued research,
Sophia

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PatrykH

Joined: 18 Oct 2026
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Posted: Yesterday at 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: Searching for Hera surname ancestors/Swietokrystie

Sophia wrote:

PatrykH wrote:

I had not noticed this before. Thanks so much for letting me know! I'll be mindful of things like this in the future.

PatrykH

Joined: 18 Oct 2026
Replies: 5

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Posted: Yesterday at 7:29 pm Post subject: Searching for Hera surname ancestors pt.2

Hi again all - I just wanted to ask for one more thing. Before I continue my research for the surname Hera, I'm trying to establish whether Piotr Hera (born around 1890) was the father of Stanisław Hera (born 1922).

Here is what I've found so far:

Piotr Hera (born around 1890, reportedly in Wrocieryż, Świętokrzyskie) married Zofia Błach in 1910 in Książ Mały, Małopolskie.
Stanisław Hera was born in 1922, possibly in Sosnowiec or Wrocieryż.
Stanisław later married Eleonora (1917–1991), whose maiden name I haven't yet identified.
Stanisław and Eleonora were the parents of my grandfather, Marek Hera (born 1956 in Sosnowiec).

Could anyone help me locate Stanisław's 1922 birth record or another document confirming his parents? I'm particularly interested in records from Sosnowiec and Wrocieryż, but I'm open to other possibilities if the family may have moved. Any help with locating, interpreting, or transcribing the relevant records would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Sophia
PO Top Contributor

Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1632

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Posted: 1 hour ago at 4:44 am Post subject: Re: Searching for Hera surname ancestors pt.2

PatrykH wrote:

Hi PatrykH,

You can say definitively that your Piotr Hera was born in 1890 and baptized in the Wrocieryż church. Here is a link to the record, #49 in the upper right-hand page:

https://metryki.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=1313&se=&sy=1890&kt=1&plik=047-050.jpg&x=1269&y=25&zoom=2.2800000000000002

The record is in Russian. You are very lucky that the record of Piotr's baptism contains a note in the right margin! I cannot read Russian, but the note includes the year 1910 and is likely to be a reference to his marriage. I say that you are lucky, because the available images of church books for the Wrocieryż parish do not include the year 1910 so if the marriage took place in that church, your only record of it would be this margin note from 1910. On the other hand, you said that Piotr married Zofia Błach in 1910 in Książ Mały and therefore the marriage record should really be in that parish's records since marriages took place in the bride's church. Perhaps you already have that marriage record.

I am attaching a screenshot of Piotr's baptism, with a few helpful underlines so that you can see his father's and mother's names written in the Latin alphabet, Piotr's name written in Cyrillic, and the year 1910 in the margin note.

Now on to your question about Stanisław Hera, born in 1922. If he was baptized in Wrocieryż you might try contacting the parish for his record, since what is available online ends in 1921. Alternatively, you could wait until they decide to post additional years. This is the link to what is available online: https://metryki.genealodzy.pl/id1313 and here is a link to the church http://parafia-wrocieryz.pl/

You may also be interested in the very nice website for the cemetery in Wrocieryż. It is searchable and it includes photos of graves. There are some Hera as well as some Zarzycka and Zarzycki buried there:
http://mogily.pl/wrocieryz

I did not look in Sosnowiec or elsewhere for your family records.

Best regards,
Sophia

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