Vital Records for Galician Towns
After WW2 Poland's borders shifted west leaving former territory in western Ukraine (part of Galicia). The records for these areas were brought back to Poland and are currently housed at AGAD (Archiwum Głowne Akt Dawnych), the Polish National Archives branch responsible for old documents.
How to locate the records
1) Search the Galician Town Locator for the town your ancestors came from. This will indicate where vital records for each town were kept. Please note that records for each religious community (Jewish, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic) are listed separately within the same town entry.
2) Review the Archive holdings list to determine whether vital records still exist and for what years.
3) Write a letter to the appropriate National Archives to request copies of the entries contained for your ancestors. As with all requests, be sure to include as much pertinent information that you have (Name, town, event year, etc.).
Galician Town Locator
This information was compiled from the 1900 Census conducted by the Austro-Hungarian empire (Gemeindelexikon der im Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder) which lists the location (standorte) of Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Jewish records.
Archive Holdings
This information was compiled by Edward David Luft and Donald Szumowski during separate visits to AGAD (Archiwum Głowne Akt Dawnych), the Polish National Archives branch responsible for old documents.