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JEWISH GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHIN THE POLISH STATE ARCHIVES

by ProfessorJerzy Skowronek

Rich archival materials document the existence and creativityof many generations, although a large percentage of thesematerials were tragically destroyed in the horrors of theHolocaust. The surviving archival materials have been carefullyprotected in Poland and are well preserved and saved as anintegral, extremely valuable part of our national archivalholdings.

The totality of Judaica in Polish archival collections probablymeasures several running kilometers of files. Although thelargest and most significant collections are stored at the JewishHistorical Institute (Þydowski Instytut Historyczny)in Warsaw, documents and materials concerningPolish Jews are found in state archives all over thecountry. They consist of approximately 100 unitsand are more or less basic parts of several hundredarchival fonds.

In addition, archival materials concerningJewish communities or their individual repre-sentatives are found in at least several hundredarchival fonds and manuscript collections of suchwell-known academic libraries as the NationalLibrary in Warsaw, the Jagiellonian UniversityLibrary and Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków,Ossoliñski Library in Wrocðaw, Ðopaciñski Libraryin Lublin, Dziaðyñski Library in Kórnik (nearPoznañ), and the Archives of the Ministries ofInterior, National Defense and Foreign Affairs.Records pertaining to conversions to Christianity(Catholic or Protestant) may be found in churcharchives. (Addresses for these libraries and archivesare listed at the end of this chapter.)

The Archives of the Central Commission on the CrimesAgainst the Polish Nation (Gðówna Komisja do Badania ZbrodniPrzeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu) include material on theHolocaust and on crimes against the population of the formerSecond Republic of Poland committed by the Soviet Union(and the Polish secret police after 1945), collected for specificcases (trials, investigation of Nazi war criminals and thoseresponsible for the Kielce pogrom, etc.). The Archives of thePolish Academy of Sciences are useful for their (mostly post-humous) works of individual Jewish scientists.

INTRODUCTION

Jews have lived in the territories of the Polish Republic for almost 1,000 years.

` Professor Jerzy Skowronek and Miriam Weiner sign contract for book publication, 1993 1

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DOCUMENTS DATING FROMTHE FOURTEENTH CENTURYDocuments and manuscripts in Polish archivesconcerning the Jews reach back to the fourteenthcentury. The materials refer to various areas oflife and activities of the Jewish population inPoland, primarily in the areas of economics andculture and, to a lesser degree, in politics.

With minor exceptions, documents andmaterials held in Polish archives originated onlyin the territories within the present boundariesof Poland. Documents of offices (and institutionsfrom the regions of modern-day Lithuania,Belarus and Ukraine) remain in the archives ofthose countries (or in Russian archives). At theend of World War II, as a result of extensivewartime transfers, some Polish archival collectionsremained in Germany or the Soviet Union; theirrepatriation still poses problems that are difficultto overcome.

Most valuable for genealogical studies are priceless archivesof Jewish communities going back to the Middle Ages.According to Polish archival law, such archives are taken overwhen a specific Jewish community ceases to exist.Unfortunately, the Holocaust and military actions taken duringWorld War II caused great losses in these materials. Very littleremained in some archives, such as that in Biaðystok. In otherarchives, such as those in Kielce, Poznañ, Rzeszów, Sandomierzand Wrocðaw, a large proportion of the Jewish communalarchives has been preserved.

GENEALOGICAL DATA IN ARCHIVES,MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIESDocuments and material concerning the Polish-Jewishpopulation can be found in many other archival collections.Even though no clearly marked connection with Judaica isevident in the names or character of the collections, they ofteninclude single documents (or whole groups of documents)of great value to a historian dealing with genealogical research.

Periods of violence and the partitions of Poland also affectedthe fate of archival collections, since less differentiation wasmade between documents gathered into archives, on the onehand, and those preserved in central libraries and museums,on the other hand. In fact, all three types of institutions—archives, libraries and museums—hold fonds of familydocuments. In some rare cases, parts of state archive holdings(such as those of a local administration or even of variousministries) were included in a library or museum collectionas a result of either donation or purchase. For this reason,collections in museums and libraries should also be investigatedas a part of any thorough genealogical query.

Other genealogical documents and materials may be foundin the fonds of different municipal councils and otherauthorities or among well-preserved notary public andmortgage documents. Documents of some public institutions

are of significant value. Files concerning populationstatistics and migrations; those of educational, cultural,economic, and political institutions and activities;censuses; archives of authorities dealing with religiousaffiliations and national minorities; and police documentsall belong to that large group.

ON-GOING ACQUISITION OFJEWISH DOCUMENTSAlmost every month brings further enrichment of docu-mentary sources. For example, the State Archives in Szczecin,Gorzów Division, recently has acquired court files comprisedof (among other registry files) birth, marriage and deathcertificates of the Jewish population of Barlinek and otherdistricts for the years 1847–1874. Similar files have also beenacquired by many other local state archives within the pastfew years. A full-scale inventory of Jewish cemeteries and gravesis becoming a new, valuable source of genealogical information(see Gruber, Samuel, and Phyllis Myers, Survey of Historic JewishMonuments in Poland. New York: Jewish Heritage Council,World Monuments Fund, November 1995).

With reference to the most stable, systematically gathereddocuments of registry, notary public and mortgage offices,one should remember that books and other materials fromthese offices are usually transferred to the State Archives 100years after the documents are created (see Chapters 1 and4). In some regions of the country, however, mortgage filesfrom the period up to World War II have already beentransferred to archives, because the proprietary issues areconsidered to have been closed.

STARTING PLACES FOR GENEALOGICAL INQUIRIESIn the beginning of the research process, as with historicalstudies in other areas, all genealogical queries to the PolishState Archives should consider the following:

` Sign at entrance to AGAD Archives, Warsaw 2

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• A detailed definition of the subject (or the objective)of the research.

• The acquisition of precise information on archivalresources concerning the given subject.

When beginning genealogical studies concerning specificpersons or families, information must be made available on where(i.e., in which place) and when (i.e., in which years or period oftime) a given person or family lived or, preferably, when (exactdate specifying a day or a year) and where (name of a place) theywere born, married or died. If the information requested by aperson or an institution conducting the genealogical research isnot specific enough, the actual performance of the research maybe assigned to staff archivists in the State Archives in order to getthe appropriate information. Currently, this research is done ona commercial basis for a fee of $15 per hour.

The Polish State Archives does have centralized informationon the holdings of its archives throughout Poland regardingthe list of fonds in every archive and expects to have theinformation computerized by the end of 1997. The Center ofArchival Information (Centralny O™rodek Informacji Archiwalnej) atthe Chief Administrative Offices of the State Archives (NaczelnaDyrekcja Archiwów Pañstwowych, ul. Dðuga 6, 00-950 Warszawa),supervised by Dr. Andrzej Biernat, was established long ago. Its

activities are limited, however, to gathering and verifyinginformation on the collections of documents of different archives.The data was collected in the form of a list of fonds of archive files(i.e., documents and materials created by a given office orinstitution, and collections of documents). In the best cases, wehave detailed inventories of files referring to individual fonds.

Of course, the foregoing lists and inventories did notinclude the great collections of documents and manuscriptsheld in central libraries and museums. Only now are librariesbeginning the difficult job of organizing computerizeddatabases. In a few years, we anticipate the creation of verydetailed and precise series of catalogs of the manuscripts for(among others) the Ossolineum Library in Wrocðaw, thelibraries of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Jagiellonianand Czartoryski Libraries in Kraków, the libraries of the PolishAcademy of Sciences in Kórnik near Poznañ, the RaczyñskiLibrary in Poznañ, the National Library in Warsaw, and thelibraries of Warsaw University and the Central School ofCommerce in Warsaw. Most of these libraries have publishedcatalogs of their manuscript collections, but they are usuallysummarized into single-sheet catalogs preserved in a givenlibrary and available only on site. A printed guide to state andchurch museums was created by Danuta Kamolowa and

` House plans for Abram and Ester Odnoposow, Piotrków Trybunalski, 1912 3

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` Will of Nuta Maizels (first page), Nowy Korczyn, 1905 ` Last page of Nuta Maizels’ will, dividing 400 rubles among his children4A 4B

Krystyna Maszyñska. (See Zbiory rèkopisów w bibliotekach imuzeach w Polsce [Collections of Manuscripts in Libraries andMuseums in Poland]. Warsaw: Biblioteka Narodowa, 1988.)

Each archive has unpublished inventories on site that canbe consulted by researchers. Many of the State Archives havepublished guides to their holdings, including the State Archivesin Gdañsk, Kalisz, Kielce, Poznañ, Radom, Wrocðaw and Ðódþ;the Central Archives of Historical Records; and the Archivesof Contemporary Records in Warsaw. Guides to the holdingsof other state archives are in progress. Some archives developand publish inventories of their most valuable fonds, whilesome others have produced detailed subject directories. Note,for example, Krochmal, Anna, Akta wyznaniowe w zasobiearchiwum Pañstwowego w przemy™lu (Religious Records in theHoldings of the State Archives in Przemy™l) (Przemy™l:Archiwum Pañstowe w Przemy™lu, 1993). The Judaica hold-ings are noted on pages 180–190.

Material in the State Archives at Rzeszów has been thesubject of research conducted on the history of the PolishJewish population. The Center on Archival Information inWarsaw has also gathered information about Judaica holdingsin our archives. Both are valuable in the initial determinationof the range of sources for specific archival queries. Individual,specific studies on the history of the Polish-Jewish populationas reflected in archival materials have been conducted by anumber of archivists in different regions of our country. Among

them have been archivists in Biaðystok, Lublin and Suwaðki.In Puðtusk, Dr. Janusz Szczepañski wrote Dzieje spoðeczno™ciÿydowskiej powiatów Puðtusk i Maków Mazowiecki (The Historyof the Jewish Population from the Districts of Puðtusk andMaków Mazowiecki) (Warsaw: Puðtuskie TowarzystwoSpoðeczno-Kulturalne and Towarzystwo Miðo™ników MakowaMazowieckiego, 1993).

From all of the necessarily general information above, it isobvious that the Polish State Archives are a very rich andimportant source of data for Jewish genealogical research. Assuch, we do try to ensure the best possible working conditionsfor each researcher, within the limitations of our imperfecttechnical facilities.

ACCESS TO POLISH STATE ARCHIVESAccess to the Polish State Archives is regulated by a law enactedon July 14, 1983, which provides that individuals seekingadmission to archives for academic research may be permittedto work at the discretion of each individual archive director.For those individuals seeking admission to the archives forthe purpose of researching genealogy, property ownership,citizenship changes (by the German government during WorldWar II), permission must first be obtained from the maindirector in Warsaw. This permission may be requested priorto arrival in Warsaw by letter or fax or by applying in personat ul. Dðuga 6 in Warsaw (tel: 831-9584; fax: 831-7563).

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` List of purchasers of seats in Siedlce Synagogue, 1906 ` Siedlce Synagogue tax list in Hebrew, with a total of 401 names5A 5B

All existing directories, guides and inventories areaccessible to researchers. If necessary, initial assistance (i.e.,information) is given by archivists in the form of adviceabout fonds related to a given subject that should beexamined. After the initial recommendations from thearchivists, the remaining (substantial) work should be doneby the researchers themselves. Both an individual and aninstitution conducting research are obliged to substantiatein writing the grounds for conducting a particular genealogicalquery. This might be a proven family relationship with agiven person or family, or a written assignment to conductgenealogical queries given by any of the living descendantsof a specific person or family. It is possible that large-scalestudies of demographic and social, or social and genetic,relations may constitute such grounds. We make thisrequirement because the very personal nature of genealogicalqueries imposes an obligation on the archives to see thatpersonal properties or rights are not infringed upon.

HIRING PRIVATE RESEARCHERS ANDRESEARCH FIRMSThe execution of some, or even all, specific tasks connectedwith genealogical research may be assigned to specialgenealogical associations or professional research firms. Someassociations are not always reliable and may not complete theirresearch work or do it well. The same is true of some individual“freelancers” who assume such assignments. That said,

however, it should be noted, that there are reliable andresponsible professional research firms which work regularlyin our archives and are familiar with our holdings.

Thorough genealogical studies require extensiveknowledge of the holdings of different archives with respectto their collections of documents and, above all, knowledgeof the differentiation of fonds of records in different archives.This explains why the results of genealogical research carriedout by associations or by researchers taking individualassignments who are not experienced genealogical researchersor familiar with our holdings could produce less thansatisfactory results. Assignments executed as a result ofindividual agreements between an individual and any personor research entity other than the State Archives are not subjectto any control or evaluation by the State Archives.

The State Archives is able to carry out all (or selected)stages of tasks connected with the examination of genealogicalmaterials. Because the budgets of our archives do not financesuch work, the cost must be assumed by the person orinstitution requesting the work. The fact that the work is doneby an archivist well acquainted with the document collectionsin our archives ensures the reliability and thoroughness ofsuch research. Currently, the fee for this service is $15 perhour. All preserved vital register documents are consulted.Any extension of the research into different types of documentsinvolves much more time and work and, thus, increases thecost. There is an additional charge for copies.

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STEPS TO INITIATE A GENEALOGICAL SEARCHTo initiate a search by the Polish State Archives, one must:

• Define in the most precise possible manner the range of asearch—that is, a date and place of birth, marriage ordeath.

• Send an advance payment equal to a one-hour fee for aqualified archivist.

The second condition results from the necessity to coverthe cost of a preliminary search for specific documentsconcerning an individual person or family. Polish archives donot have access to specific information indicating in which fondthe data on a given person can be found. Such data can beacquired only by actually going through the records manually.

In the case of completed studies with a positive result, theadvance payment is applied to the total costs. For a variety ofreasons, however, such work often is not successful. Sometimesgaps exist in the registry books; at other times, the date andplace of birth or death provided by the person initiating theresearch is incorrect. In any event, as is customary withprofessional genealogists, time spent doing research must bepaid for whether or not the search is successful.

Since prices do change from time to time, it is best to writeand request a current price list, which will include charges forduplicates, photocopies, microfilms or certified copies ofdocuments ordered by a person requesting genealogical research.The fees of the Polish State Archives are lower than those chargedby the archives of some of our neighboring countries, such asLatvia, Lithuania and Russia. Charges for photocopies aredeliberately high so as to minimize the number of such requests.Exposure to the strong light of photocopying has a destructiveeffect on archival documents and, thus, should be done as rarely aspossible. Unfortunately, we do not have equipment to scan orcopy microfilms, nor does our budget include money to purchasemodern technical equipment. In the future, however, we willendeavor not to make photocopies of archival documents at all—a limitation that already exists in many archives in Western Europe.

FEES FOR GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHCharges for our services, calculated according to the price list,are to be paid after completion of the research—that is, whenthe results actually are sent to the person ordering the search.Fees are updated only every few years, despite the relativelyhigh yearly inflation rate in Poland these days. The ChiefAdministrative Office of the State Archives, acting as anintermediary, guarantees that the research is reliable and hasbeen properly evaluated. Since the fee structure changesperiodically, please write and request a current fee scheduleto be sent to you.Address requests to: ARCHIWUM PAÑSTWOWE

skr. poczt. 1005, ul. Dðuga 600-950 Warszawa, Poland

Professor Jerzy Skowronek was born in Radom, Poland. Heearned his Ph.D. in history at Warsaw University. In 1984, hewas named an Extraordinary Professor of that university. Hisspecialty was Polish history of the nineteenth century. In his 32years in the History Department of Warsaw University, he heldnumerous organizational and administrative positions. On January1, 1993, he was appointed the general director of the StateArchives of Poland.

Professor Skowronek published 12 books and approximately100 papers, articles and research notes. He conducted researchin France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Great Britain and therepublics of the former Soviet Union. He lectured at severalEuropean universities and participated in more than 50 congressesand international seminars.

Professor Skowronek was the recipient of six awards fromthe president of Warsaw University, two first prizes from theMinister of Science and the award of the Scientific Secretary ofthe Polish Academy of Sciences. Among his many distinctionswas a medal from the National Education Commission and theFrench Palmes Academiques for his scientific and civic activities.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this material appearedin Avotaynu, vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1994): 5–8.

| Marriage, 1874, Staszów: Pinkas Czeslowicz, age 20 (son of Hersh and| Chaya Ruchla) and Leah Dunajec, age 21 (daughter of Chaim and Sura` Cipa Wasercycer)

6

Editor ’s Note: Professor Skowronek died in an automobileaccident in France in July 1996.

Published in Jewish Roots in Poland and reprinted here with permission from the publisher, Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc.