Genealogy / My Grandfather was born in Poland and migrated abroad - Can I get a Polish Passport? [68]

Did you look up the Polish citizenship acts of 1920 and 1951? Also, check 'website to check passport in poland' click on forums, scroll down to the list and click on Poland. Click on the section that talks about citizenship confirmation. There is 3 sections to it and you will find others with similar situations. Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Genealogy / Pazdyk Coat of Arms [3]

Maybe part of the problem is that certain families died out since there was no male children to carry on the family name or the older generation never talked about the family background. Or after the older generation died out in most cases the younger generation wasn't really interested at the time with asking questions about where the family came from. So when there was someone that started asking questions, by that time, sometimes it was to late to ask the older generation so in a lot of cases all they have is just the names to go on.

History / Is there a list of those in the Polish Army during WWII? [192]

Would the British location for archives of Polish military have something on the signal corps? My grandfather never set foot in Britain when the WWII started. His service basically ended on Sept. 17, 1939 after his unit may have been captured by the Russians near Czortow, Poland (now in the Ukraine). I enquired through the CAW and was told that any records for my grandfather can not be found. At the same time, from a story that was related to me, the commissioned officers were segregated and may have eventually been summarily executed.

If that is the case, then his unit may be connected to the Katyn massacre. I heard that Russia declassified some of the material related to the Katyn massacre and handed it over to the Polish government. Can that materiel be accessed in order to (dis)prove a connection? Or do I have to go through a museum in SW Poland that may have POW information to find information. The museum is located in Lambowicz, I believe. Sorry if I have the spelling wrong since I do not have the correct spelling in front of me right now.

Travel / Exchange Euro to Zloty - I am going to arrive in Warsaw [17]

Dvar

Where is your point of origin? If you don't plan on entering Poland from one of the EU countries, why bother with carrying Euros with you into Poland. You would be better off taking around 100-200 zloty with you for immediate needs when you enter the country. After that, you can use an ATM. That is what I did when I traveled both times into Germany and Poland. I just made sure I had enough cash on hand for immediate needs such as transportation from the airport,food, and in most cases, for the cost of accommodation.

History / WWII - who really was the first to help Poland? [901]

While I was never taught about Polish history or raised there and despite Germany invading Poland in 1939, the Germans did Poland a favour. What did the Americans or the British actually do in return? All these 2 countries did once they were informed of the Katyn graves was to sweep it under the carpet in order to keep the peace with Russia. To me, it sounds like these 2 countries were just as bad as the communists. Also, what did these 2 countries do for Poland after the war to prevent the take over by the communists?

Genealogy / Information on how/where to search to find out my father's history [9]

No you did not. The original poster just knew that his parent was born in Poland but did not indicate if he knew where. Your information, albeit somewhat limited, was going on the fact he or she already had something to work with. You two were already assuming that this individual had something to work with. The impression I got from the posting that this person did not have anything at all but just guesswork.

Genealogy / Information on how/where to search to find out my father's history [9]

Awoj21

Who dealt with his funeral and his estate? If he emigrated to Australia, he would have needed some kind of paperwork in order to travel from Poland and to enter Australia. Upon arrival he would have had to file for his intention of becoming a landed immigrant in order to become a citizen. So start with any legal papers the executor/executrix may still have in their possession. Failure on this part, the next step would be to contact the immigration department for Australia and put in a request for copies of documentation they may have on your father.

Do you actually live in Australia yourself? If so, try and think of yourself as an immigrant and what the main point of entry would be for Australia. For example, was it Sydney or Perth? Where do they keep records upwards to 50 years old and do they have a central archives for records older than 50 yrs of age. Prior to 1918, Poland was partitioned by 3 countries, Russia, Austria, and Germany. If your father was born in the Russian partition, chances are any documents that still exist after all this time may be in Russian. So do not be surprised if you may be able to obtain copies of them. Hopefully this will give you a starting point since the others have not done so.

Life / Importance of awareness of Poland's heritage and culture among Polish children abroad [24]

I think it is important. I have a couple of aunts that said right to my face years ago before my grandmother died 'what do you want to learn the language for?' 'it is a dead language.' Then 4 years ago I made a trip to Poland to visit family I never knew about. The cousins there asked me why I couldn't speak the language. When I got back from my trip I threw the comment about the language being dead back in my aunts faces and they did not like being reminded of that fact. Not only that the only time I ever Polish being spoken the most often was during holidays and occasionally when the everybody paid an official visit partly because of the old folks. So now I am trying to play catch up to learn.

Genealogy / Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]

Thanks for the translation. then the Stara Wies that is pictured is probably the one that is NW of Wegrow. I have a sneaky suspicion that the person who wrote the note on the back is a cousin to my grandfather.

Genealogy / Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]

While this does not contain anyone directly related to my family, but for some reason does have some kind of connection. I have included the flip side and maybe someone that knows Polish can give me a translation of it. To Mwhary, this is the Stara Wies that I am aware of. But I could be mistaken since there is no specific connection of what is pictured and the reference in the letter on the back. So for all I know, it may be one of the ones you had referred to.

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Feedback / Live Chat removed, irrelevant forums and discussions removed [16]

I never used the chat option so I won't miss it. But the classifieds in part may be missed.

Law / Poland's Inheritance Law Without Will [21]

You mention about the property in your first post. What is the size of the property and its location? If it is undeveloped property with city limits near industrial, it could be worth some money now if that town/city is growing and its looking for property to entice industry to them and therefore provide employment. In the post you make it sound like it is your babcia that is still alive. One thing is to find out if a video is just as acceptable to the courts as a written will. If the court system will accept the video, then you might want a lawyer present when it is done and you can ask questions like you would in a court to get your babcia to lay it on the line as to who gets what and how much in regards to the property.

Sounds like your ciocia is being greedy and wants to claim what might be your rightful inheritance for her side of the family. If your ciocia is desperate to try and have your mothers claim on the property then she would have to have the property evaluated and have it ascertained how much each portion is worth and have her tell your mother how much her portion is worth and buy her out.

Travel / Poland is unsafe for visiting British Citizens ! - so I've been told ... [18]

To Ivorsmallfaucet, I am from Canada and visited Poland a couple of times. I had no problem whatsoever for being an English speaker. I had visited a small town roughly 79 kms east of Warsaw and walked around the town. Even went to smaller community where another cousin of mine moved to of which within 15 or so kms from the border of Belarus and definitely had no problems there despite having dual citizenship with Germany.

Law / A parent born in Poland. Obtaining a Polish birth certificate? [38]

I have tried for my mother and was told they either could not find the book that it would have been registered in or the book is currently missing. While I do have a replacement that was issued on he behalf by request from my grandfather. Unfortunately the replacement has his last name and is in English. Which means that either her birth was never properly registered at the time or it was listed under my grandmothers' first marriage or the book actually is missing.

Genealogy / FINDING ANY INFORMATION ON BIOLOGICAL PARENTS, BORN IN 86- ADOPTED IN 87. [3]

Now that you are over the age of 18, have you discussed this with your adoptive parents? By starting with them, if they adopted you, they would have had to file legal papers in order to adopt. Those papers should contain the name of who your mother was. Even if your adoptive parents are not willing to talk, chances are you may know the lawyer that they have been dealing with. If so, that person may be able to provide the information or contacts that you may be looking for.

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]

I am not sure if the rules of the road are lenient or not. I found that the drivers in Warsaw to be aggressive. That was my first impression of them from my trip in Oct. 2010. Once you got out of Warsaw, the driving habits seemed to be more normal.

Life / Public Masturbation now allowed in Sweden, Would this work in Poland? [43]

Regardless of where you masturbate and hopefully it is behind closed doors and in privacy you are practicing safe sex. With all the transmittable diseases, particularly hiv/aids, playing with yourself is more enjoyable than having to deal with meds. Chances are open masturbation may not be readily accepted unless it is at a nudist beach.

Genealogy / Americans of Polish descent. How many of us are on Polish forums? [216]

I kind of agree with pieorgi2000. I was over to Germany and Poland twice within the last 4 yrs with hopefully the 3rd trip coming up later this yr. I noticed that the public transportation system is a lot better over there. That makes it a lot easier to get around even in and out of smaller communities. It seems the transport system there is at least 50 years ahead of what we have here in Canada. The train system here is slowly being cut back and even the bus service between a lot of the communities whether small or large is not very conducive. That means you almost have to coerce someone to give you a ride back and forth from one small community to another or a larger centre. Even if I am not fluent with either German or Polish, I felt more at home over there.

Love / I'm getting married to a Polish guy and need advice before visit his family; gifts, topics, customs [82]

You are welcome and good luck. If you never met the parent(s) before the first time can always be a stressful time. Your hubby should remember what his mother prefers to drink. Such as coffee or a specific type of tea. Remember some teas taste better fresh made while others require some time to 'steep' before you notice a difference and that sometimes makes them a little stronger over freshly made. Part of the reason is the tea in loose form or bags.

Life / Golden Wedding in Poland, the protocol for giving gift for a wedding? [58]

As you can see some here are of the opinion that it was rude of the married couple to ask for money. But I don't think so, since these people don't have all the facts as to what belongings each person had prior to the wedding. This way, they avoided the risk of guests giving duplicates of a gift someone may have given or what they may have already. By asking for money instead, the wedded couple can purchase what their combined households are missing or they could put the money into the bank and save it for a rainy day. Also, we don't know what their combined salaries are or what their expenses are. Those things are not for those of us here to know since that is private information and none of our business.

News / Priest from Poland claims Lego is "a tool of Satan" [35]

Better yet, find out what kind of drugs he has been using all these years. When you look at how the Catholic church behaved over the last 1000 years, being rather dictatorial and not allowing the clergy to marry makes you wonder. No wonder a lot of the clergy has resorted to molesting boys and getting onto the front page because of that and giving the church a blackeye. And yet they are still blind to the fact that they need to get with the program and bring it into the 21st century and tell the clergy that they will need to get married.

Love / I'm getting married to a Polish guy and need advice before visit his family; gifts, topics, customs [82]

If she has been born and raised Polish, one way you may try to break the barriers with her is to try and learn about cooking the Polish way. Such as what your husband grew up with. Such as his favourite dishes. If you don't know any of them by now, you can talk with her about them. Since you and your husband have converted to the Muslim faith, maybe you can explain some of the differences to her. Were you Catholic? If so, that may help you give her the pros and cons of both religions since you and your husband switched. Also, try to tell her that in no way are you trying to convert her as well. Just that you want to explain why you switched faith.

UK, Ireland / Polish mum wants to take child back to Poland [10]

Can her parents come for 3 or 4 days and stay at a b & b ? this way, they can take the child off of her hands and she can tell the boyfriend that a 'friend' of hers is babysitting the child. That way the child is out of harms way with someone that she can trust. Also, see if she can get a video camera set up to record what goes on behind her back. While what ever evidence that is recorded may (or may not) help in court, but it may substantiate her side when it comes to getting legal advice. I forget if it was here in Canada or the U.S. where a parent got charged with the death of a baby from shaking baby syndrome.

Travel / Has anyone ever stayed at the Guest House Wytchnienie in Lublin? [6]

So long as it is not a closet, but is reasonable enough in size where I can move around some. Roughly 2m by 2m.

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

To king Athelstan
Define wrong side. From those that fought for Germany, Russia or Japan everyone else was on the wrong side. But from the families of the personnel that fought, regardless of which army these people were in, you were on the wrong side.

History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [214]

Regarding the surviving daughter or others of the family left behind, there might be a way to dispute the given records. From the 2nd world war until the late 90's it would have been a bit more difficult to prove connection unless you actually had the paperwork. But then there could be claims that the paperwork was forged and photos were dodged to make it look like there was some connection. But with DNA being used to prove family connections now, this might be a way of proving or disproving that Mr. Buchwald was the father. But to do so would mean going through the courts in order to exhume the bodies of the deceased in order to obtain DNA to substantiate claims. Going through the courts would be costly in order to prove a point.

Law / Applying for Polish citizenship through marriage. [116]

While you are living outside of Poland your chances of acquiring Polish citizenship is next to nil. Your best bet is to relocate to Poland for at least 5 years.Sounds like a bit of a difficult hoop to go through, but that is one option. Check with the nearest Polish embassy or consulate to make sure what the rulings are before you actually move. They may be able to properly inform you what needs to be done and what kind of paperwork will also be needed.

History / Is there a list of those in the Polish Army during WWII? [192]

try sending an email to caw.wp.mil.pl that is for the Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe located at 00-910 Warszawa 72. hope that helps.

Genealogy / Looking for information, and history about my last name "Dajczak" [4]

Are your grandparents still alive? Are they willing or not not to talk about where they grew up in Poland before emmigrating to Canada? My grandparents never talked about where they grew up in Poland or even that there was family still living there. I had to use clues to learn where they were born and what part of Poland these towns are in. So for example, did your grandparents ever write to anyone in Poland? The address might give a clue as to where to start. If the writer or the family are still alive as well, they may be able give you help. So, start by checking with the family first by asking for letters and documents.