Love / Dating age difference - my 16 yo is dating a 26 yo Polish guy [102]


Sadly it is a sign of the times. There are reports, here at least, of children aged as young as 8-9 being sexually active.

Love / Dating age difference - my 16 yo is dating a 26 yo Polish guy [102]


That's a huge part of it.

Life / "Toilet fee" - the only thing i dislike about Poland [17]

It was a surprise for me in 1992 when I had visited for the 1st time since 1974 (when I was 6). It was in a restaurant outside of Walbrzych. My brother and I could not understand why this old guy was sitting inside the toilets.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

You have to remember to take verbal stories with a grain of salt. Sometimes they can be wrong or misleading.

For example, my mother related to me that my father had told her about his childhoon when he would ski to and from school and that there would be light from the oil rigs in the area (1920's). This caused a lot of problems because the town where my father was born had no oil or gas fileds anywhere nearby. It was only when I made contact with a cousin who I did not know existed (he is 88) that I discovered that the story is correct but the location was wrong.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

Anyone else have stories about family jewels?

According to my mother, my family has jewels buried inside the cellar staircase of their home. My grandmother (after she re-married) owned a few houses, some of which she used to rent (pre 1939).

Love / What is expected of a man who wishes to propose to a lady in Poland? [35]

Go through strong!!

Genealogy / I have found the place of birth (Chelmek) of my Grandfather, what is the next step. [5]

Agreed, you need to do some more research. What else do you know about your grandfather and your family history? Some documentation with additional relatives (names, dates and places) would be helpful to have just in case.

You can call them but try and have as much info on hand as possible. They may be a relation, they may not. You could also use the services of a researcher based in Poland who aside from checking the parish records to flesh out some more details on your grandfather, etc could also visit Chelmek and dig around the place.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

Genealogical research really is a never ending journey. I've just discovered that one of my cousins was a Captain in the infantry. He was taken prisoner as part of the Modlin group in 1939. He died in 1945 days before the war ended after the barn they were sheltering in was shelled by Russian tanks. What a way to go. Another cousin who was also a Captain was shot at Starobielsk.

I'm finding out that there is a history of military service in the family. I am assuming that this is also the case for other families.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]


So true. In the last 5 years I have used / am using 2 researchers in the US, a research office in Warsaw and a freelance researcher in the Ukraine. I estimate it's cost me in the region of US$ 6,000-10,000 and counting. However I have a pretty impressive body of work to show for it.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

When I first started out the only documentatio I had was my father's original birth certificate and a translation of it. I have since been able to trace my family back to approx 1690-1710, all in the same town. My research is concentrated on the town of Sokal which is north of Lwow, just over the border inside the Ukraine.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

What I did was bypass writing to the town churches. Instead I used a freelance researcher who (a) visited the Lwow archives and took his own notes (b) made digital photos of various archive pages and (c) visited Sokal and made enquiries and made a video for me.

Love / I reckon I've met a right plonker here - your thoughts please [44]

I'd stand back and move on. He sounds somewhat self absorbed in weird sort of way.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

Don't get green so fast! The archives only go back to approx 1720 so I've gone as far as I can on my father's side. Still, a lot of gaps exist within his line but due to the gaps in the parish records some may never be filled in. I started trying to go back doing my grandmother's side but quickly ran into a stone wall and have not been able to make any progress.

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]

What's really annoying is that I know my grandmother had 2 sisters and I also know their children's names but also no luck tracing them either!


No, you have to write in Ukrainian. I don't speak (or write) it either hence why I used a freelance researcher which probably was much quicker.

Genealogy / Anyone Else 1/2 Polish??? [58]

My father's Polish, my mother is Indian.

Genealogy / Przybylski, Szarek from Tracing Konopnica, Zimna Woda, Lwow district - my grandfathers family [4]

If you have a LDS centre near you, you should be able to rent the parish microfilm to search for your family name. Or you could get someone in the Ukraine to check their archives or perhaps even visit the village and make enquiries on your behalf, take pictures and make a video.

Genealogy / Looking for Piotrowski relatives. [14]

Do you have any dates / documents associated with your father? Date of birth, date arrived in the US? If you can locate his Ellis Island entry records there will be some info on it regrading his place of origin.

News / Poles in Iraq. What's the point? [160]

The gang of 5 (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice + Powell) lied and fabricated evidence to start the war.

The US never likes to face the consequences of it's actions.

Genealogy / Poles/Ukrainians in Hamtramck, MI [14]


Using the US federal census are you?

Language / How do people mispronounce your Polish names? [60]

Of course you could live in a part of the world where they don't even bother to try and pronounce your name, even if you say it for them.............my surname is Konasiewicz and I've had teachers say it as sonofabitch

Language / How do people mispronounce your Polish names? [60]


That's a precise way to describe it..................


Here's another one then...............

My friend's surname is Kaczmarek and his boss pronounces it (at the end of the month when they are getting paid) as "cash my cheque"

History / Occupations of Poles during 18th and 19th centuries [2]

Some I have found on the birth and wedding certificates of family members are:

Store Keeper
Shoemaker
Cooper
Carpenter
Reservist
Soldier
Weaver

Anyone know what "pod sadowy" is? I think it's some sort of a civil servant.

Law / Grandparents born in Poland, but parents in Australia - Polish passport? [12]

You may be able to, I think there is an Aussie company that specialises in applications for Polish / EU passports. You MUST have documentary proof of your Polish ancestry.

Law / Grandparents born in Poland, but parents in Australia - Polish passport? [12]

polaron.com.au

Law / Raiffeisen Bank in Poland [10]

Yes, they are either a German or Austrian bank. Check out their website and look at the accounts, they are a large European bank. Actually I know a girl who works in one of their Wroclaw branches.

Life / I AM BLACK. SHOULD I MOVE TO POLAND? [107]

I was in Wroclaw in 1992 and in 2005 and I found it a shock to see a black person in Wroclaw. Not because of any racial issues but because it was something I was not accustomed to seeing in Poland.

I had the same experience in the UK. Each year (from 1978 until 1991) I would spend my summer on the south coast (just outside of Portsmouth). In the early 1980's you hardly ever saw any coloured persons in the south. My brother and I were suprised one day on Southsea to see a bus load of Indian persons, simply because you never saw those things.

BTW, I'm born and living in Trinidad..............and we know how you Jamaicans are jealous of us Trinis :)

Life / I AM BLACK. SHOULD I MOVE TO POLAND? [107]


Really? I have not been down Pompey way since 1991. It was wierd. For years we'd take the bus to Havant, Fareham, Commercial Road, Hayling Island and Southsea and hardly ever see a coloured face.............then suddenly they were coming out of the woodwork.

Life / I AM BLACK. SHOULD I MOVE TO POLAND? [107]


???????????

That must be a recent thing. I cannot remember any of that existing in the early 80's. So Waterlooville is the same? We used to stay out in Denmead. I guess Hambledon, Meonstoke, Purbrook and Cowplain have'nt changed much?

It's very interesting from an economic / sociological point of view. Some what a parallel to the influx of migrant workers from the caribbean to London and the midlands. My cousin who lives in Detroit says it's the same thing there. Areas that were predominantly Polish are now heavily Bangladeshi and Indian.

Genealogy / Jankowski, Yankoski, Kizielewicz, Gmurczyk surnames [6]

Have you tried searching on ancestry.com and ellisisland? You need to know the full names of grandparents and dates of birth and locations.

One of my great grandparents was Kisielewicz but there is probably no connection.

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

I guess it's a question of defining what or who is Polish. The geographical boundries of what was Poland over the centuries has varied widely.