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Tag: genealogy

  • Yizkor books on Polish towns and cities

    One of the families which I do descend from, is Kalech.
    Other cities of which I do know already that they lived there is: Ustrzyki, Ulucz and apparently also Tarnobrzeg (Dinow).

    There are some sources where you can get to the yizkor books, one such source is the yizkor Books Project on JewishGen (http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/). That project’s goal as stated on their site is

    Our goal is to facilitate access to Yizkor Books and the information contained in them 

    Another great source is the online repository of scanned yizkor books on the website of the Dorot Jewish Division at the New york Public Library: http://yizkor.nypl.org.
    The goal of the Dorot Jewish Division as stated on their website is:

    The Dorot Jewish Division is responsible for administering, developing and promoting the exploitation of one of the world’s great collections of Hebraica and Judaica. Reference and research services are available in a dedicated Jewish studies reading room on the first floor of the Library’s landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Contact us.

    Primary source materials are especially rich in the following areas: Jews in the United States, especially in New York in the age of immigration; Yiddish theater; Jews in the land of Israel, through 1948; Jews in early modern Europe, especially Jewish-Gentile relations; Christian Hebraism; antisemitism; and world Jewish newspapers and periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

    If you are interested in hardcopies of these yizkor books, you can (more…)

  • How long does it take to get files from Poland and are these sent at all?!

    I’ve recently been asked a couple times to explain how I did manage to receive successfully some files from the Polish archives and how long it took to get these files. Most of the people asking me this question, had some less good experiences. Some of them even never received a response at all from these archives.
    My own general observation is that there is barely communication besides the communication relating to ordering the copies. So when I ask them for example if they could translate the file in question, there is almost never a reply (on that question).
    Someone last week told me that it could be that if the applicant of the copies lives outside Europe, or if the requests are too complicated, that you may never get a response. I am not sure if it matters whether you are from Europe or not, but the latter possibility is of course something to consider before sending your requests. Therefore you should make sure to keep it as simple as possible. I used for example the order form on this page http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/orderform.htm as my template.
    Also make sure not to add any other questions. And if you have any other questions, ask them, but I would separate it and send another mail and may be even consider sending it on different dates.

    I put down in a table how long it took to get responses from the archive, where did I send my requests to, etc.

    Please share also your experience with the other visitors of this website. You can contact me and I’ll update the table (I hope the table with grow with the time):
    [table “16” not found /]

  • Translation of document from Tarnobrzeg Books of Residents

    I received the following document on May 27th, 2011 via e-mail from the state archive in Kielce (Archiwum Państwowe w Kielcach).
    The document, as written in the mail from the Kielce statearchive, is:

    […]skan dot. Izaka Kalecha z księgi meldunkowej miasta Tarnobrzega

    Meaning the following:

    […]a scan with Izak Kalech as reported in the book of the city of Tarnobrzeg

    The scan comes from the following collection (Thanks to Mr. Moshe Steinberg [m.steinberg -at- utoronto.ca] for the tip):

    Tarnobrzeg PSA Citizen List of delayed Births ,Lwow Wojewodztwa / Rzeszow Province (records in Fond 525 in Kielce Archive Sandomierz Branch)

    This is how the contents of the file appear on the website of jri-poland:
    [table “17” not found /]

    Mr. Witold Wrzosinski (a researcher based in Poland whose website is at http://avanim.pl. He who can be contacted via e-mail: w.wrzosinski-at-avanim.pl) explained me more about this document:
    [slider title=”click here to read what Mr. Witold Wrzosinski sent mee”]

    Dear Gershon,

    this is an entry from “ksiÄ™ga meldunkowa”. It is not a census, it’s a “registration book”. Such books were introduced in various cities and towns in Poland in the second half of the XIXth century. Usually there was one for every street, with all houses and apartments listed along with their inhabitants. The house owners had to write down every birth, marriage or death in the house and the information was regularly collected. These books were official documents, kept by city clerks. They are a great source of information, but not much of them survived.

    Best regards
    Witold Wrzosinski,
    Warsaw, Poland

    As my question in which year this file was added to the book:

    Gershon,

    Such books were often kept for years and updated, but here the document does not seem to contain any updates, so it’s a little different kind of registration book. According to the Polish archives databases, there are four surviving sets of documents from Tarnobrzeg that could fit – a census from 1880 (but it is most probably in Russian, so I would exclude it), a census from 1931/32 (but it’s simply a census, not a “registration book”), a “book of migrations” from 1901-1905 (but it is also most probably in Russian) and finally my type, the “book of the Tarnobrzeg disctrict inhabitants” from 1925. Maybe they have planned to keep it updated and gave up or maybe the idea was different from the beginning – I don’t know. Anyway, all the documents are part of the Fond 525 in Kielce Archive Sandomierz Branch.

    Best regards,
    WW

    and finally regarding the 5th column with ‘Gdzie przynależny’:

    No, it means literally “belongs to” and I guess this applies to either the place he was born in Ulucz), which belonged to the larger district of Ustrzyki or maybe he was still registered in the Ustrzyki district office while living in Tarnobrzeg. Also, the year 1925 is just a guess – I would give it 75% of probability.

    Best regards,
    WW

    [/slider]
    (Please add your comments below or if you prefer, send me a personal mail via this link):

    Transcription: (more…)

  • Translation of an electors list for the the Sejm of 16 Nov 1930

    I received the following document on March 23th, 2010 via post from the State Archive in Rzeszów (Archiwum Państwowego w Rzeszowie).
    The document as written in the mail from the State Archive is about:

    […]Dawida i Chaji Grunes (zapis na liÅ›cie wyborców do Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1930 r.), odszukany w zasobie naszego Archiwum w Sanoku w Aktach miasta Sanoka 1792-1950.

    Meaning the following:

    […]Dawid and Chaji Grunes (recorded on the electoral roll of the Polish Senate 1930 r.), which have been found in the Archives of Sanok in the Acts of the city of Sanok 1792-1950.

    There were 5 elections for the Sejm of the Polish Republik from 1922 to 1938. This was for the election of 16 Nov 1930:
    [table “3” not found /]

    (source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejm_%28Zweite_Republik%29).
    See also the following article elsewhere on this website: Translation request Polish – English (Grunes, State Archive in Rzeszów (Poland)
    The file with part of the electors list:

    Transcription:
    ABECADŁOWY SPIS WYBORCOW
    do Sejmu / Senatu Rzeczy pospolitej Polskiej
    z miejscowoÅ›ci ……………. gminy …………
    powiatu …………… obwodu gÅ‚osowania ………….
    OkrÄ™gu Nr. ………..
    1930
    [table “14” not found /]

    Translation:
    ALPHABETIC LIST OF VOTES
    to the Sejm / Senate of Poland
    from the village of ……………. municipality …………
    County …………… obwodu gÅ‚osowania ………….
    District no. ……….
    1930
    [table “15” not found /]

  • Translation of extract from the registry of engaged to be married Jews from Brozózow

    I received the following document on May 12th, 2011 via e-mail from the Statearchive in Rseszow (Archiwum Państwowe w Rzeszowie).
    This document is an extract from the registry of engaged Jews with an entry for Kalech-Stieber from Brozozów:

    Transcription:
    Wyciąg z matryk narzeczonych izraelitów
    1885-1937
    [table “8” not found /]

    Translation:
    Extract from the registry of engaged Jews
    1885-1937
    [table “10” not found /]

    Further details on these records: Brzozow PSA B1885-1907 Marriages/Lwow Wojewodztwa / Rzeszow Province (records in Fond 16 in Sanok Archive) (see www.jri-poland.org)

  • Translation of extract from the list of married and unmarried Jewish families

    I received the following document on May 12th, 2011 via e-mail from the Statearchive in Rseszow (Archiwum Państwowe w Rzeszowie).
    This document is an extract from the the list of married and unmarried Jewish families with an entry for Kalech-Stieber from Brozozów:

    Transcription:
    Wykaz ślubnych i nieślubnych rodzin izrael
    [table “7” not found /]

    Translation:
    List of married and unmarried Jewish families
    [table “9” not found /]

    For further details on these records: Brzozow PSA B1885-1907 Marriages/Lwow Wojewodztwa / Rzeszow Province (records in Fond 16 in Sanok Archive) (see www.jri-poland.org)

  • Translation of a document from Tarnobrzeg (possibly census but from when?)

    Update: Check this link (Translation of document from Tarnobrzeg Books of Residents)
    I received the following document on May 27th, 2011 via e-mail from the state archive in Kielce (Archiwum Państwowe w Kielcach).
    The document, as written in the mail from the Kielce statearchive, is:

    […]skan dot. Izaka Kalecha z księgi meldunkowej miasta Tarnobrzega

    Meaning the following:

    […]a scan with Izak Kalech as reported in the book of the city of Tarnobrzeg

    I am wondering whether this is a census or another document type.
    I am also wondering from which year this file is.
    (Please add your comments below or if you prefer, send me a personal mail via this link):

    Transcription: (more…)