Softsong
15 Feb 2011
History / If Poland didn't exist, how did citizens become Polish? [57]
My ethnically German grandfather, Eduard Schmidt, lived just across the border from West Prussia, in what was sometimes called Russian-Poland. He had Russian citizenship prior to Poland existing again.
It is strange though because by the time Poland came into being again, he was living in the United States but he received Polish citizenship, and his sister received Polish citizenship. I have no idea if he asked for it, or Poland just gave it to him. I looked at the passenger records on ancestry.com and found that my grandfather's sister, retained her Polish citizenship even in 1937 as she went on a vacation cruise to Italy. She was listed as Polish.
My grandfather became a naturalized American in 1928. I have his papers and it says he was a citizen of Poland. But when he came to America, before Poland existed, he was listed as a Russian on the ship manifest.
My ethnically German grandfather, Eduard Schmidt, lived just across the border from West Prussia, in what was sometimes called Russian-Poland. He had Russian citizenship prior to Poland existing again.
It is strange though because by the time Poland came into being again, he was living in the United States but he received Polish citizenship, and his sister received Polish citizenship. I have no idea if he asked for it, or Poland just gave it to him. I looked at the passenger records on ancestry.com and found that my grandfather's sister, retained her Polish citizenship even in 1937 as she went on a vacation cruise to Italy. She was listed as Polish.
My grandfather became a naturalized American in 1928. I have his papers and it says he was a citizen of Poland. But when he came to America, before Poland existed, he was listed as a Russian on the ship manifest.