My grandfather left Poland after WWII and emigrated. Question About Polish Citizenship

My mother's family left Poland after WWII an emigrated to Brazil. Recently I've been researching if its possible for me to obtain a Polish citizenship. The main problem I've ran in to is that theres a possibility that my grandfather may have become a Brazilian citizen in order to not be drafted to the polish army. I am still looking in to weather that actually happen since he died in 1950 so I don't have much information on him. Anyways does anyone know if his naturalisation would make me ineligible for a Polish citizenship?

PS: While my grandfather is not alive my mother is, so I am assuming that she can get a Polish citizenship and subsequently so can I. Is this correct?

Yes, Polish descent, not Polish citizen - you can't get citizenship through your grandparent, it would be possible only if one of your parents have/had Polish citizenship.

But still you may apply for permanent residency in Poland.

If you grandfather didn't join the German or other Nazi Army before or during WWII, you will be eligible to get your Polish passport. If you manage to obtain some supporting evidence to prove Polish citizenship, it will be possible to get it. Obtaining Brazilian citizenship by your grandfather would not be a problem here.

I am a lawyer based in Poland, so I would be able to help with this: contact

Here is my question, regarding evidence to prove Polish citizenship of my great grandparents. We have traced to the church at which my great grandparents as well as great-great grandparents were married in Krostkowo (Microfilm images of the handwritten church records) and also the passenger ship listing ( also microfilm images of the handwritten records) that show where and when they arrived in NY from Bremen. Is this documentation enough to support an application for citizenship? Or is there another level of documentation from civilian authorities needed? Is there a place where we can find military records of our great grandfathers?

Merged:

Grandfather born in Poland - citizenship question

I have a bit of a complex query... and please do correct anything that's wrong here!

My great grandfather was born in Poland, to Polish parents in 1924, thus having Polish citizenship. He came to the UK in 1949 and had 3 children over the next few years, the first of which was born in 1949. Firstly, I'd like to know if child number 1 (my great uncle) would have Polish citizenship at birth as one parent was a Polish national at the time? So assuming that if this is the case, my grandfather who was born in 1953, would also be a Polish national by birth? Thus making my father a Polish national by birth? The second part of this which confuses me a bit is that my great grandfather obtained British citizenship in 1962. I read that since 1962, the Polish Govt. could not revoke someone's citizenship so I'm assuming here that he retained his Polish citizenship also.

Hypothetically, if there is a direct line here and I know it can't be broken (I just don't understand the exact phrasing of that) how would they account the death of someone as my grandfather ended his life in 1983?

A very confused person indeed. Hopefully someone can clear all of this up for me! Any further information you'd need, just ask me. :)

Olcatin as long as your grandfather was under the age of 50 in 1951 or if he emigrated after 1951 then he remained a Polish citizen after emigrating to Britain, your grandfather was born in 1924 which is good, he didn't get citizenship until 1962 then its definitely not a problem.

Regarding your great uncle if he was born prior to 1951 then the parents would have to be married before he was born if the mom was not Polish, if the mom was Polish too and she didn't lose her citizenship (prior to 1951 women lost their citizenship at age 18 if they emigrated and did not marry a Polish citizen) then the child would be Polish through the mom if they werent married, because prior to 1951 citizenship was passed through the father if married and through the mother if they were not married, your grandfather was born after 1951 so that's not a problem.

Interesting post.
My father came to The UK after the war and though Polish,he seems to have been stripped of his Polish citizenship,because he would not return to Communist Poland.

The British government were making it quite difficult at the time for Poles to gain British citizenship.
So they issued him what was called a travel document.
It allowed him to travel to any countries that recognized this,Poland did not,but offered him no protection from the British government.
As his son,could I still gain Polish citizenship or not?

@thesipguy
Hello, thanks for that! They did indeed get married before my great uncle was born, they were married at the start of the year in January I believe, and he was born in October that year. My grandfather was born in 1953, so again, they were married by this point. So, through my grandad, who sadly passed before I was born, would I have any grounds to stand on applying for citizenship? I have all the documents such as my great grandfather's birth certificate, his marriage certificate, his parents marriage certificate from Poland etc..

Again, thanks for that!

Correct, as long as your great grandfather did not work for the British government (Army, or other governent job like school teacher, Rabbi/Priest) you should be fine, if you need help let me know

Slawek36 - is there a way I can contact you about this?