Genealogy / Where are birth records from Przewałka ( Bialystok Department ) held? [10]

Thanks for this, Jaczwing. That's very helpful. I hope they survived the wars. Hania.

Thanks, Polonius. My father seemed to think that Szawelski originated from Lithuania. Here's what I found on wiki:
Šiauliai is referred to by a various names in different languages: Samogitian: Šiaulē, Latvian Saule (historic) and Šauļi (modern), German (outdated): Schaulen, Polish: Szawle, Russian: Шавли (Shavli - historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai - modern), Yiddish: שאַװל (Shavel).

Looks like this is pretty much what you said, with Saule being the Latvian version of Szawle.
Hania

Genealogy / Where are birth records from Przewałka ( Bialystok Department ) held? [10]

Thank you for this. My father always spelled it as Gasilewska. He said she crossed the Niemen to marry Jan Szawelski. I think there are many Gasilewski'a on the other side of the river. The names I'd be looking for, though, would have Szawelski/a as surname. I'm really hoping someone can tell me where the records might be kept. That part of Poland is now Belorus.

Hania

Genealogy / How to find a burial site / records in Poland... [80]

Larry,

If you look for Jadów on Google Maps, you can see a Biblioteka Publiczna near Plac Gustawa Dreszera. That might be a place to start. Good luck.

Best wishes,
Hania

Larry,
I managed to find some more information about the Library in Jadów. I did this by entering Jadow Biblioteka on Google. You can then use Google Translate to get some information in English. Here are their contact details:

ul. Dreszera 17
05-280 Jadów
Tel. 0-25 / 675 40 47
E-mail: gbp.jadow@biblioteka.wolomin.pl
Website: Information on the Municipal Office Jadów
jadow.az.pl/01/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=124&Itemid=865

Do let us know how you get on.

All best,
Hania

Genealogy / How to find a burial site / records in Poland... [80]

Larry,
if this was a personal grave, then I'm assuming it was not a cemetery. Have you tried contacting the regiment in which he served? There should be a copy of the letter from his HQ, which might be a good place to start. But if he was buried in a village (as opposed to e.g. a field outside it) then there may be local records. You could try contacting the local library, perhaps? They might be able to put you in touch with a local historian.

Hania

Genealogy / How to find a burial site / records in Poland... [80]

Terri,

thank you SO much for this, and apologies for taking so long to reply. I'm about to send an email to this church with the relevant information about my uncle. If I get the information, I'm off to Warsaw!

All best wishes,
Hania

Genealogy / How to find a burial site / records in Poland... [80]

Not sure if I should start a new thread but my query is so similar, I thought it best to jump in here. Apologies if this is out of order.

I have recently discovered that my Polish (Catholic) mother had an uncle who is buried in Warsaw. His funeral notice gives his name, date of death and the name of the cemetery (Cmentarz Bródnowski in Warsaw). Wikipedia tells me that over 1 million people are buried there, although I suspect that there are fewer actual graveplots. I intend to visit Warsaw to pay my respects but searching the cemetery for the grave isn't really feasible. Someone mentioned that a city archive should hold graveplot information. Does anyone know the precise name of the archive in Warsaw that would list the exact locations of graves of people buried in Bródno Cemetery? Many thanks. Hania