VANISHING PROFESSIONS
Let us take a journey into the past to explore one of the facets of our ancestors’ live’s – to learn about what they produced in their village to meet basic life nesds. We will learn how and where we can see some of these no longer practiced crafts. VANISHING...
POLISH TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
Tradition and custom is something that binds the past with the present and respect for tradition and habit means respect for our ancestors. Our grandparents and great-grandparents are not only leaves on our genealogical tree. Even we were not lucky enough to meet them...
NO VITAL RECORDS? IS THE RESEARCH JOURNEY OVER?
Published: Pathways & Passagesvolume 25, number 2, summer 2007. Decidedly not! We all share the same passion, the need to discover and understand the history of our ancestors. We all start our adventure in genealogy in a similar way. We find artifacts from the Old...
THE SŁOWNIK GEOGRAFICZNY WHAT DOES IT TELL US?
Published: Pathways & Passages volume 24, number 2, summer 2008. Many researchers become acquainted with the monumental work „Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych Krajów Słowiańskich” [Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and Other Slavic...
THE HISTORY AND CURRENT STATE OF THE POLISH ARCHIVE SYSTEM
Published: Pathways & Passages volume 24, number 1, winter 2007. Winston Churchill once opined that the final victory over an enemy is only possible by taking possession of that nation’s archives. This statement illustrates the huge significance that archival...
Mennonite Settlements in Żuławy and the Wisła Valley
Published: Pathways & Passages volume 23, number 2, summer 2006. "There exists a great multitude of religionsespecially in Poland, about which one speaks legendarilyAnd if someone loses their religion, let him search in Polandand he will certainly find it. And if...
TAKE A WALK THROUGH A POLISH CEMETERY
Published: Pathways & Passages volume 23, number 2, summer 2006. Aleksandra Kacprzak is our Polish correspondent in Europe. A seasoned researcher who speaks English, she resides half the year in Connecticut and the other half in Grudziądz. For information on her...
VITAL RECORDS OFFICES IN POLAND
Published: Pathways & Passages volume 23, number 1, winter 2006. The Vital Records offices (called USC, short for Urzad Stanu Cywilnego) are a gold mine of information - but at the same time an obstacle, often difficult to overcome for researchers of genealogical...