| LDS (Mormon) microfilms of Jewish vital records from Poland are the most convenient sources of Jewish vital records.1 Although Miriam Weiner’s Routes to Roots website <www.rtrfoundation.org> does not include copies of records themselves, it is another highly useful source of information about the existence of such records. Neither resource, however, includes or lists all Jewish vital records held in the various Polish state archives. The following is a compilation of vital records holdings not microfilmed by the Mormons but accessible in the indicated state archives. In some cases, the Mormons have microfilmed some of the holdings, but not all of them. |
I compiled the list by accessing the English-language interface of the SEZAM database on the Polish State Archival website, then limiting the search by category to “civil record office and metrical records” and the subcategory to “metrical records.” In both cases, I used the Polish-language designations for these limits.2 The search entry for the fond (record group) needed to contain the word zydow, (“Jewish,” in Polish) and was purposely entered without using the Polish alphabet since English-language users may not know how to create Polish letters.3 The result yielded all metrical, that is, vital, records on Jews that are held in Polish state archives. After deleting all entries that were identical to those reported in the Mormon microfilm catalogue, 60 entries remained.4 Several clearly were irrelevant sentries and also were deleted. The remainder are shown in the table below, along with an entry showing what the Routes to Roots Foundation lists as vital records held in the Polish state archives.5 I have not included other Foundation lists.
As is customary in English-language publications, I have spelled the town location as it would appear in English, rather than in the format that appears in the SEZAM list; the town names in that list have been modified in accordance with Polish grammar. The number preceding the name of the local state archives is the number assigned to that archives by the Head Directorate of the Polish State Archives. The number is provided as an aid to researchers using SEZAM and does not otherwise affect search results.
Only four entries refer to locations not in the western, formerly Prussian, portion of Poland. The indexer has wrongly listed these fonds as civil vital records. Although some of those four entries might be civil records, the Prussian area of Poland includes only records compiled by Jewish religious authorities, although some non-official records from those same religious authorities continued to be compiled after October 1, 1874. On October 1, 1874, German law mandated civil records offices and ended the official nature of religious vital records for all religions in Germany. Thus, all entries after October 1, 1874, such as in the case of Wschowa/Fraustadt, were not official vital records from the viewpoint of the German state, although the religious authorities were free to compile them.
Notes
- AVOTAYNU published the LDS lists of Jewish vital records in Poland in a listing of Polish holdings in its January 1986 issue (Vol. II, No. 1, pp. 5–17); and in a listing of German holdings, including those areas formerly in Germany but now in Poland, in the Winter 1987 issue (Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 3–19).
- 2. <http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/sezam.php?l=en> “SEZAM” is an acronym for the entire inventory of fonds in the Polish state archives holdings. The website provides specific pages of both general information and search guidelines. Although the interface is written in English, the search must be carried out in Polish. The results of the search are a mixture of headings in English and details in Polish. Use a translator, such as Google Translator, to translate from the Polish.
- The instructions indicate that the researcher may search using either the English alphabet version of the letters or only the Polish version alphabet, but may not mix both at once. The correct Polish version would have been żydów, the search being case insensitive.
- <http://tinyurl.com/32vkpbc>
- <http://www.rtrfoundation.org/search.php>
| Location | Archives | Fond | Years | LDS Listing | Routes to Roots | Notes |
| Baranów | 53-Poznań | 3573-0 | 1835–1846 | No | No | *# |
| Brójce | 53-Poznań | 3574-0 | 1847 | Yes | No | *# |
| Bydgoszcz | 6-Bydgoszcz | 378-0 | 1823–1874 | To 1865 | To 1894 | |
| Chelmno | 69-Toruń | 1259-0 | 1847–1874 | No | No | * |
| Czarnków | 53-Poznań | 3575-0 | 1823–1840 | No | No | *# |
| Dębica | 59-Rzezów | 882-0 | 1942–1945 | No | No | Tarnów |
| Gniezno | 53-Poznań | 3576-0 | 1823–1848 | To 1847 | From 1840 | *# |
| Grudziądz | 69-Toruń | 1260-0 | 1824–1874 | No | No | * |
| Kórnik | 53-Poznań | 3579-0 | 1817–1847 | From 1847 | Yes | *# |
| Koronowo | 6-Bydgoszcz | 381-0 | 1846–1874 | From 1847 | 1848–1894 births only |
|
| Kozuchów/Freystadt | 89-Zielona Góra | 138-0 | 1794–1875 | 1849–1873 marriages only | No | |
| Kwieciszewo | 7-Inowro-cław | 112-0 | 1832–
1848, 1873 |
1832–1847 | Yes | |
| Lidzbark Welski | 69-Toruń | 1294-0 | 1847–1874 | No | 1850–1874 | * |
| Łobżenica | 55-Piła | 859-0 | 1823–1847 | No | 1837–1915,
1915, 1923–1930 |
* |
| Mielęcin | 53-Poznań | 3582-0 | 1840–1846 | No | Yes | *# |
| Mikstat | 53-Poznań | 3583 | 1835–1846 | From 1836 | Yes | *# |
| Nakło | 6-Bydgoszcz | 383-0 | 1823–1889 | 1823–1874 | Yes | |
| Opatów | 53-Poznań | 3585- | 1836–1846 | No | Yes | *# |
| Pobiedziska | 53-Poznań | 3449-1 | 1812–1816 | No | 1812–1844 | * see next entry |
| Pobiedziska | 53-Poznań | 4883-0 | 1835–1874 | No | 1812–1844 | * see prior entry |
| Podzamcze | 53-Poznań | 3588-0 | 1835–1846 | No | Yes | *# |
| Rybnik County | 18-Racibórz | 118-0 | 1810–1874 | 1812–1871 | 1812–1874 | Other records to 1911 |
| Rynarzewo | 6-Bydgoszcz | 385-0 | 1823–1852 | 1823–1844 | 1823–1893 | |
| Siemiatycze | 4-Białystok | 564-0 | 1861 | No | Yes | |
| Sieraków | 53-Poznań | 3590-0 | 1830 | No | Yes | *# |
| Sobótka | 53-Poznań | 3591-0 | 1846 | No | No | *# |
| Szubin | 6-Bydgoszcz | 384-0 | 1820–1847 | No | 1820–1893 | |
| Trzcianka | 53-Poznań | 3593-0 | 1816–1908 | To 1847 | Yes | *# |
| Tyczyn | 59-Rzeszów | 884-0 | 1876–1893, 1936–1938 | 1792–1876 | 1792–1876 | Location now in Ukraine |
| Wieleń | 55-Piła | 895-0 | 1848–1874 | No | No | * |
| Wschowa/Fraustadt | 89-Zielona Góra | 124-0 | 1608–1931 | 1763–1936 | 1836–1840 | |
| Wyrzysk | 6-Bydgoszcz | 377-0 | 1818–1847 | No | Yes | |
| Wyszanów | 53-Poznań | 3594-0 | 1835–1836 | No | No | *# |
| Zduny | 53-Poznań | 3595-0 | 1817–1847 | From 1818 | Yes | *# |
| Żydowo | 53-Poznań | 3571-0 | 1842–1874 | No | No | # |
*The title on this fond wrongly indicates that the entries are civil rather than religious records, but nevertheless indicates that the records are from the kahal, the local Jewish religious authority, and not from (or compiled by) civil authorities.
# An inventory of the entire holdings in the fond is available; however, this inventory may not include vital records.
