Polish Records are Becoming Easier to Find

December 16, 2012 Leave a comment

If you have Polish ancestors, you must try Geneteka

 It’s becoming more and more common to find genealogical records online in the United States thanks to  “free” sites, such as FamilySearch, and paid subscription sites like Ancestry. Now the efforts of various Polish genealogy groups in Poland are making it faster to find your Polish genealogy online.  One of these websites that I have recently used in Geneteka. I found information for the family members of two families that had been difficult to find.

Geneteka is one of several ongoing projects to index and transcribe Polish church records. It is a nationwide database of indexes of vital records. The database was created by the voluteers of the Polish Genealogical Society at the Society’s website. The aim of the project is to build an online database containing the names of those listed  in the church books of the individual parishes . The goal this database is to facilitate the search for Polish genealogical information by pointing to the parish , year, and other information found on the records.

One drawback is that the site is in only in Polish but if you have researched Polish records you should be able to understand how to use Geneteka. Another drawback is that many records have not been indexed yet so your patience will be required until the volunteers can complete their work.

Geneteka is an exciting website because it can point you to the parish where you Polish family records are located. To me this is “magic” and will reduce the time needed to do my Polish research.

The web address is http://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/

Filed under Genealogy Research

New Revised Polish Surnames Book

December 5, 2012 Leave a comment

The Polish Genealogy Society of America (PGSA) has just released the 3rd edition of their popular Polish surname book. There are two formats available. One format is a two volume publication that expands the 596 pages listed of names in the 2nd edition to almost 1200 pages. For researchers looking for the correct spelling of their family name, this new publication is a required reference book. It is also available as one volume book and a CD.

The 2 volume softbound set is available at $50.00 and a one volume and CD set at $35.00. It is available from the PGSA at their website PGSA.org.

You may order and pay by credit card at: http://www.pgsa.org/store/cart.php?target=category&category_id=57

To pay by check please download the form at: http://www.pgsa.org/Books/Books.php

I have used the 2nd edition often and feel it is a requirement for me to help with Polish research.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Filed under Genealogy Research