I hope you can help me!!! I am searching for any Polish document from my Grandfather, Mr. Saul Sztajn. Since he was from Warsaw and documents from this city were destroyed during the II World War, I could not found anything up to now. I am a Brazilian citizen and need such a document for Polish citizenship purposes.
A hint is in regard he was born in 1908 and served at the Polish army in 1926-1927 (for 18 month - Vilnius/Lithuania).
He immigrated to Brazil (city: Porto Alegre) by sheep (before 1934). It is possible he arrived in Santos or Rio de Janeiro Port (I am also searching at different Brazilian entities).
One of my most important question is: How can I obtain his Polish army enlistment records/certificate?
Thank in advance,
Ricardo Stein
PS* When he arrived in Brazil he changed his surname from Sztajn to Stein.
Hi I'm in pretty much the same situation. I am trying to find documents for my grandfather (Jakub) Mieczyslaw Kaiser from Jaroslaw. I have hired a Polish solicitor to conduct a search and if anything is found apply for citizenship. I'm using Krzysztof Banek in Krakow. I forgot to mention the search was £250 , then if they find enough papers for a successful application you pay another fee then.
To me this smacks of a scam. Give me 250 and I 'will try' to find something. Sorry, didn't find anything and you've lost your 250. Good work if you can get it. I've read their page and it seems that they only search for 'certificates' - (birth, marriage, death) they do not help you through the process.
You have to pay more if you want them to help you complete the process. I know it's a gamble but unfortunately I was getting no where with my own research. The only information I have is what I have been told and a set of old building plans for the house they lived in
I was also looking for papers relating to my grandfather who lived in Krakow. I successfully received his birth certificate through the registrar in Krakow. I did have to have the letter drafted in Polish which I received local help with. It may be worth looking into that. I can locate the documents if you need address and contact details.
Hello, Ricardo, it is not true that Warsaw records were distroyed, most of tchem survived. At least some of Jewish records are even indexed (although I can not find Saul Sztajn born 1908 in Warsaw). Anyway, it would help if you could give more information about him (like parents names for example), preffession if you know, and any other information that might be helpfull.
As for the citizenship, birth certificate is unfortunately not enough as far as I know (you should have tchem anyway) and you need to obtain some other documents confirming that ypur ancestors were Polish citizen (like military documents, entry in books of residence, etc.). Anyway, obtaining birth certificates is pretty simple if you know the place, finding other documents is a bit more demanding. But still, lots of documents survived in the archives and it is not true that they were destroyed during the war.
First of all I would like to thank you for the message. It is very important for me and my Family to find any Polish document. By the way, I am more than aware in respect to the citizenship procedures and the need of documents that can be accepted by Polish authorities.
Well, let´s see if the information i am providing below will help:
1) From my Grand grand father - Mr. Abram Aron Sztajn:
He was born in Rakow (May 10th 1882). He arrived in Rio Grande Port/Brasil in a ship called Neptunia (September 16th 1933). When he arrived he presented a Polish Passport number III/1-1371/33, that was emitted by Grodzki Mayor on July 22nd 1933 (Warsaw), for the Brazilian authorities. The Passport was written in Polish and in French (I do not have the document, only the information provided by the Brazilian Archives of Immigration)
He was son of Kopel and Esther Sztajn.
2) From my Grand grand mother - Mr. Abram Aron Sztajn traveled with my Gran grand mother, Mrs. Laji Sztajn, at the same ship. She was born in Novy-Korczyn (Poland) in May 10th 1893.
3) From my Grandfather, Mr. Saul Sztajn (Abram and Laji Sztajn): He was born on June 10th 1908 (Warsaw). He traveled to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from Marseille (France) on a ship called Florida (arrived in Rio de Janeiro on December 31st 1932). He served at the Polish army in 1926-1927 (for 18 month - Vilnius/Lithuania) as a recruit.
4) My Grand grand uncles (Saul brother´s) were called Nuta and Kalman Sztajn (I do have their polish documents and plenty information about them. Also, I have a bunch of Brazilian cousins who already have their Polish Passport (I can give you all the names - more than 20, I guess - if necessary).
I hope the information I am giving can help in addition all data I already gave you.
Urząd stanu cywilnego - Warszawa Finding documents 1915-1937
I am curious to know what are chances to find any of documents from 1915-1937 from Warszawa in order to have a polish passport. How much documents has been destroyed? Still a have a chance to find any of documents there?
My grandfather & Great grandfather was living there until 1937 and they immigrated to israel.
Have you contacted the Gmina Żydowska? They have scans of (I think) all surviving documents and will help people trace their family without cost. You will need to establish contact with them first and discuss it.
