* * * * * * * * * G E N     D O B R Y ! * * * * * * * * *

Volume IV, No. 5. 31 May 2003.
Copyright (c) 2003, PolishRoots(R), Inc.
Editor: William F. "Fred" Hoffman, E-mail: <WFHoffman@prodigy.net>

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CONTENTS

   Welcome
   The Internet as a Shared Working Tool
   Letters to the Editor
   New Hours for the FHL
   Polish Translators, Researchers, & Tour Guides
   The Central Address Office
   Upcoming Events
   More Useful Web Addresses
   You May Reprint Articles...

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*** WELCOME! ***

to the latest issue of _Gen Dobry!_, the e-zine of PolishRoots(R). If you missed previous issues, you can find them at

   http://polishroots.org/gendobry/gendobry_index.htm.

Don't forget to visit PolishRoots.org, the sponsor of _Gen Dobry!_, and take advantage of the many resources offered there. A recent addition is Debbie Greenlee's index of Polish villages (and photographs of those villages) that appeared in _National Geographic_ 1915-2001. She also included some places not in Poland but of significance to Poles, such as Monte Cassino. The index is located here:

   http://www.PolishRoots.org/databases/nationalgeo.htm

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*** THE INTERNET AS A SHARED WORKING TOOL ***

by Paul S. Valasek, D.D.S. <paval56@aol.com>
Vice-President of PolishRoots(TM)

Since the development of the Internet, genealogical research hasn't been the same. How many times do you hear, "Look it up on the Internet," or "You'll find it on the Internet"? These are great words to anyone doing research, and access to info on the Internet definitely speeds up our successes, to a degree we don't appreciate. There's only one problem with this tool. Who put the material up on the Internet in the first place?

The Internet is only as good as the work of the many diligent people who continue to add to it. Facts and figures do not jump out of books and join the web pages on their own. It takes human hands to place the data on a page and make it available for the world to use ... By now, you must realize this is an article asking for help to add to that core database.

PolishRoots has only existed for 3 years, but we have enjoyed tremendous success from people who take the time to contribute to its mission. That mission is telling the history of Poland and Polonia, no matter where these stories are to be found. Since PolishRoots is a website, we have "membership" from all over the world. We care not to limit ourselves by becoming a website of only say, Poles in the Yukon, but rather, open up the possibilities of finding Polonia all over the world. But it takes resources and a bit of effort. Allow me to point out a few recent successes.

Last year, I was contacted by a member of the Gasiewicz family who was in the process of cleaning out an ancestor's belongings. He found some material on Haller's army (my main concern for research), but also some other material, and he did not know if it was of any value. He sent me a packet of material, and from this, the 1915 donors' list for St. Hyacinth parish [Polish name: sw. Jacka = St. Jacek's] in Lackawanna, NY was created. How many of us could find this booklet at a library if we needed it? Now it's available to the web community at St. Jacek Donors' list for Lackawanna:

   http://www.polishroots.org/parishes/sw_jacka.htm

A second success story is currently ongoing. I purchased a dance card on the Internet for a Valentine's Day dance in Pittsburgh in 1938 hosted by the Black Sheep Association: 

   http://www.polishroots.org/databases/pittsburgh_blacksheep.htm.

I have no connection to any of the people mentioned; but when I saw the list of names, I felt they should be made available for researchers to discover. The page was up on the PolishRoots site no more than a day before I was contacted by Bernice and Andy Broniecki, who knew of the hall and offered to go and take some photos of it for the page. Many times images tell us more than text, and they always add to a page. Within a week, we had a photo of the hall on the page, along with the names.

A few weeks later, I was contacted by Joseph Zorich's daughter, who said he was the accordionist in the band Polish Aristocrats:

   http://www.polishroots.org/databases/pittsburgh_polish_aristocrats_orchestra.htm

She said he is alive and well in Pittsburgh, and she offered to find out more information for me about the band, which she is doing even as I write this. A few days after that, Vince Grejda contacted me, saying that his son was surfing the Web and typed in grandpa's band (Vince Grejda, saxophone). Sure enough, he found PolishRoots' page on the Aristocrats orchestra; Vince has since sent me photocopies of the band, and another booklet of a dance which lists quite a number of sponsors. These businesses will soon be added to the page as well, so people can take a look not only at people's names, but at the businesses they frequented in the past.

My last example of contributing to a joint effort is something which I teach in my lectures for others to do. In 2000, I was researching my family's roots near Zamosc, and was on the way from Przemysl to Zamosc, when Andrea and I passed a small cemetery on the side of the road. Andrea, who was driving, asked if I wanted to stop; I said, sure, we had some time. After visiting the cemetery, I realized it was a small military cemetery, recently reconstructed, for fatalities of the first few weeks of World War II. On large placards were the men's names and ranks and a brief history of their units. Like most tourists, I was carrying my camera (video, digital, and traditional all work fine). I didn't want to take a lot of time copying down names, so I simply took pictures of the placards, a few pictures of the cemetery, and off we went.

I finally had the time to compile this small database, not because I had anyone in there, but to add to the webpages of PolishRoots, in hopes others can make a connection. You can visit this site for the Military Cemetery of Aleksandrow:

   http://www.polishroots.org/military/aleksandrow_cemetery.htm

Remember, just because these men were buried south of Zamosc, doesn't mean that they were local recruits. Often in the army, men are stationed far from their homes; those who die or are killed may end up in final resting places nowhere near where one might expect.

The point to all this is that a website is only as good and productive as those who add to it. The more people take a bit of time and add data, the more they serve. They don't help only the impersonal "research world" -- they help individuals who will, for instance, never pass down that small side road near Aleksandrow, and thus would miss the final resting spot of an ancestor. All it took was a small contribution of material to the Website, and those individuals suddenly have access to that far-away cemetery!

If you can, please consider typing up a small database from materials you have at home. Share a photo or two of an area which may help others in their research. And try to think in terms of what might benefit people outside your immediate family. Pictures of your great-great-grandmother's garden are nice for you to look at; but others might prefer to see the historic mill adjacent to town, the school in town, the parish church or synagogue, or monuments -- objects that apply to more than just one's personal family.

Assuming you're reading this from your computer, you have access to creating databases, compiling facts and figures, and stories, scanning and copying photos, graphics, images, which all add to the teaching of Poland and Polonia throughout the world. If you're not the most adept at these functions, contact us at PolishRoots and we'll be glad to help or recommend alternative strategies of gathering those facts which add to our story. Then you can take pride in knowing you left your mark for others to see.

P.S. If you have material on Poles of the Yukon, please feel free to send it. I haven't seen any yet! 

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*** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ***

Subject: Everyone should subscribe! [Amen!]

I couldn't believe my good fortune when I began reading back issues of your newsletter. Everyone searching Eastern Europe should subscribe to it. I certainly will. I have clipped a paragraph from the January issue, in which you replied to a question from Lloyd Ozemblowski as follows:

"Also, names in the form X-owski usually come from the names of places beginning with the X part. So we'd expect Oziemblowski(the original Polish spelling) to mean 'one from Oziemblow' or some similar place name. The only place I could find with a name that fits is Oziemblow (also called Ozieblow, see below). In the late 19th century that village was in Opatow county, and was served by the Roman Catholic parish church in Modliborzyce, near Tarnobrzeg, in southeastern Poland."

This had often been a question in my childhood. My father was a Smolinski. He spoke fluent Polish, Ukrainian and a smattering of German that had likely been taught in the school system in Nizankowice. Ukrainian was always spoken at home, but at age 98 before my father died he began to speak to me in fluent Polish -- I've heard it said people revert to their first language in their "second childhood?" Not really, as he was sharp as a tack and had eyes like a hawk -- but strangely enough, it was Polish that he would use a few months before he died.

The Oziemblowski name comes up in Nizankowice records in Ukraine, and I have the name listed for Godparents in a baptismal parish record from Nizankowice, as well as sponsors on a marriage record for a Malinowski (another name in my background). I have been in touch with Lloyd Ozemblowski (thank you for posting his e-mail address), hoping there might be a connection to the area of Ukraine my father was from and the Oziemblowski family from there.

Thank you very much for these very informative newsletters. Lloyd seems to be interested in his background and mentioned a town named Dolholuka, or something close to that spelling. I see this name listed in the Lenius Gazetteer [_Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia_, Brian J. Lenius, http://www.lenius.ca/GazetteerOrderForm.asp] in Stryj, which isn't too far from Nizankowice. I see LDS has a film with this name listed among others in the area, but the trick will be getting the correct film number to search for records in Dolholuka, if he decides to go that route.

Thank you once again for a possible lead in my genealogy. I shall now continue reading the other back issues to see what else I may have missed.

   Helen Ginn, Ontario, Canada <ginn@ebtech.net>

   [Editor: I appreciate your taking the time to write and say such kind words! You never know what good may come of it when people share info and ideas. Our whole notion is to do what we can to help that happen.]

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Subject: More sources

Recently I went to a talk at the newly-formed Western Massachusetts Jewish Genealogical Society by Fay and Julian Bussgang, and I wanted to let you know about a few resources that they cited.

Glowna Biblioteka Lekarska, Dzial Zbiorow Specjalnych, ul. Jazdow 6, 00-476 Warsaw, Website <http://www.gbl.waw.pl>, e-mail <zb.spc@gbl.waw.pl> -- has a registry of physicians and pharmacologists, with personal data and bibliographies of articles by and about them. (Roughly equivalent to the AMA index cards in the U.S.)

Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe, ul. Czerwonych Beretow Blok 72, 00-910 Warsaw-Rembertow, Website <www.caw.wp.mil.pl>, e-mail <caw@wp.mil.pl> -- Will do an abstract of records on those who served in the Polish Army.

Ministry of Defense CS(RM) 2c, Bourne Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1RF, United Kingdom -- Has the records on those who served in the Polish Army in the West and the Polish Air Force of the British Army, etc. during World War II.

However, the most important resource they discussed is a CD-ROM from the Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwow Panstwowych in Warsaw entitled, "Po Mieczu i Po Kadzieli". It is a complete listing of the genealogical holdings, organized by place name. This goes way beyond births, marriages, and deaths. See: http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/books/pmik.html

   Richard Dabrowski <rdabrowski@juno.com>

   [Editor: I was asked to review a beta copy of this CD a couple of years ago, and to write a critique to be passed on to the State Archives. The parts that worked were great; but a number of the features did not work at all and hung up the system. The frustrating thing is, in most cases it seemed the problems developed when the program was looking for files someone forgot to put on the disk -- an elementary oversight, easily corrected. At the time I said that if those problems were fixed, I'd consider the disk a must-have item for anyone doing Polish genealogical research.
   [Well, I passed on my list of the problems, hoping they'd correct these bugs before the disk was released for sale. But after receiving Richard's note I checked with Fay Bussgang. From what she told me, the same problems -- or ones awfully similar -- still plague the version now being sold by the State Archives.
   [I should stress that Fay thinks the parts that work are so good that the disk is still worth having. It's fair to say the features that work fine are the ones most researchers would use the most. Still, I'm not buying it until I hear these problems have been fixed. Potential buyers should at least know it is still buggy, so they won't be caught by surprise if everything doesn't work perfectly.]

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Subject: E-mail addresses of Catholic Orders

I have a problem and I wonder if you can tell me the best way to proceed, and with who.

I find that I have one or more "educators" in each of the last nine generations. I have been compiling the education and teaching experience of each of the individuals. I have just about completed all in this country. However while 3 members of the family migrated to this country, one migrated to Germany and two of his children (both now dead) were educators. One was a priest in Wismar and Rostock, and the other (a female) a teacher in a Catholic boarding school in Osnabruck. As I do not read or write German I need help.

First I would like to find the e-mail addresses of all the Catholic orders and then send e-mails to each to get his necrology. I do have his name, birth and death dates.

The second is to find the name of the Catholic boarding school off the Internet and then obtain the necrology.

The information I have obtained so far is very interesting and I certainly would like to add these two individuals.

I would appreciate hearing your suggestions.

   Marty Mazurk <mcmazurk@att.net>

   [Editor: I wasn't able to come up with any useful suggestions for Marty. If you have some good ideas, write him and pass them along!]

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Subject: Napoleon and the Poles, and Deciphering Handwriting

1. Napoleon and Poland.

Here is more information on Napoleon's perfidy. In 1809 the Duchy of Warsaw was invaded by Austria. The Polish Army defeated Austria, capturing all the territory taken by Austria in the first and third partitions. Napoleon forced the Duchy to return most of this Polish land. My research of birth, marriage and death records for that period identified a number of men as being in the Polish Army, including my great-great-grandfather.

A good book on Napoleon and Poland, including how the szlachta by-passed the Napoleonic Code, not for the good of the common people, is _Napoleon and the Szlachta_, by Christopher A. Blackburn. Publisher Boulder [Colo.]: East European Monographs; New York: Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1998.

2. Deciphering Handwriting

The article "15 Techniques to Triumph Over Poor Penmanship" by John M. Hoenig, _Family Chronicle Magazine_, March/April 2003 gives useful tips on deciphering handwriting, giving old Polish handwriting as examples.

   Henry Szot <hojoso@hotmail.com>

   [Editor: Thank you for contributing two good pieces of information!]

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Subject: Napoleon and the Poles

Thank you for the information and references on Napoleon and the Poles. One of the "legends" in our family is that one of our ancestors served as Napoleon's chauffeur. I'll have to check the books and see if perhaps there is a bit a truth to the legend.

   Pat Sierzant <PSIERZANT@cs.com>

   [Editor: Family legends can drive you nuts. Sometimes they turn out to be utter nonsense; sometimes they turn out to be absolutely accurate. You never know till you dig up the facts -- if you can find them. I hope you can!

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Subject: Lithuanian Estate Data

I just bought a book called _17th Century Estate Inventories_. It was published in 1962 in Lithuania. The intro index is in Lithuanian and Russian but the inventory listings are in Polish or Russian. This is a replication of 115 Lithuanian Estate inventories between 1603 and 1700. For example, #1 is: 1603/11/15 inventory of Noceviciu estate in Maisiogaleleje, Kaunas province. The inventories list names and property.

I scanned the index info to an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, but it's 329K, so I didn't want to attach it to this message. Drop me an e-mail if you'd like the index. If there's a better way to share it, please let me know.

If you'd like a copy of a certain inventory, I'll be happy to send you a scan. If no one needs anything and someone would like to borrow the book, please let me know.

   Arv Jarasius <arv_jarasius@agilent.com> 

   [Editor: Arv originally posted this note to the Herbarz mailing list. As a Gold Member of the Lithuanian Global Genealogical Society, www.lithuaniangenealogy.org, he is devoted to sharing info that helps people with Lithuanian roots trace their family histories.]

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*** NEW HOURS FOR THE FHL ***

   [Editor: Stephen Barthel of the LDS sent this info out to various people and organizations, asking them to spread the word. If you plan to visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, please make note of these hours, to avoid scheduling problems.]

In a Family History Library Division Meeting, which was held on 13 May, it was announced that beginning 1 July the Family History Library will change its hours to the following:

   Mondays: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
   Tuesdays through Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

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*** POLISH TRANSLATORS, RESEARCHERS, & TOUR GUIDES ***

One question people often ask is "Do you have a list of people in Poland who can help us as translators or researchers or tour guides?" I don't really have a list of people I can recommend -- to recommend someone, you have to have made extensive use of their services, to the point you feel you can put your own good name on the line to vouch for them. No one at PolishRoots can name anyone who matches that description.

But there are several people who are mentioned favorably on mailing lists online, and in the publications of genealogical societies. I can't exactly recommend them; but enough people speak well of them that it seems appropriate to mention them.

One is Iwona Dakiniewicz, who lives near Lodz, speaks reasonably good English, and does a lot of traveling to various areas to do onsite research for clients; she can also work as a tour-guide and translator. Her name comes up quite often, and almost always in a very complimentary context. Her e-mail address is <genealogy@pro.onet.pl>.

Another researcher who gets a lot of raves is Kasia Grycza, a licensed tour-guide and the contact person for the Discovering Roots Society of Poznan. Her e-mail address is <elviska@poczta.onet.pl>.

Several PGS newsletters have mentioned Henryk Skrzypinski, who lives in the Bydgoszcz area. He's 77, but a recent article in the Newsletter of PGS-Minnesota praised his work as a researcher. He responded with a note of appreciation, saying he's in good shape and can serve as a tour-guide, translator, and driver. He also speaks German, which can be a big help with research in western Poland. His address is: ul. Kijowski 13/9, PL 85-703, Bydgoszcz POLAND; his phone number is 011-48-52-3427921, and he says the best time to call is between noon and 3:00 p.m. "your time" (presumably Central Daylight time). Unfortunately no e-mail address was given.

Tomasz "Tomy" Wisniewski <tomy@ld.euro-net.pl> is a native of Bialystok, in northeastern Poland, and has frequently been mentioned favorably in the pages of _Avotaynu_, the Jewish genealogical journal. Gary Mokotoff, publisher of _Avotaynu_, seems to think highly of him, and Gary is not an easy man to impress! For a description of Tomy's services as a tour-guide, photographer, and researcher -- especially in northeastern Poland, possibly including side-trips to Lithuanian and Belarus -- as well as his photo essays and postcard collection, see the last issue of _Nu? What's New_ at this address:

   http://www.avotaynu.com/nu10.htm#v04n09

These are the people whose names have appeared often enough in various sources that I remembered them and was impressed by them. I can't guarantee you'll be satisfied with their services, but they have a number of satisfied customers who have made a point of praising them publicly. 

Then there are others who have contacted me by e-mail, or have posted notes on mailing lists, offering their services. I have no reason to doubt their competence or honesty; it's just that I haven't heard enough about them yet to form an opinion. But if you're looking for some on-site help in Poland, you might want to give them a try.

One is Dariusz Olter, ul. Polowniaka 2/46, 25-634 Kielce, POLAND, e-mail <darko82@poczta.onet.pl>. He offers to translate Polish-English and English-Polish, and can help finding addresses and telephone numbers. He says his basic charge is $5-10. I have heard from one researcher who has hired him and found his work very helpful.

Michal Marciniak, who lives in Warsaw, e-mail <michal_marciniak@yahoo.com>, recently posted a note online, saying he is "a genealogist with 10 years experience and a member of the Warsaw Genealogy Society. I am about to complete a law degree. I specialize in the part of Poland which was under Russian rule, including areas of the following cities: Bialystok, Ciechanow, Lublin, Lodz, Lomza, Plock, Radom, Siedlce, Skierniewice, Suwalki and Warszawa." He offers to do research in archives, translate records into English, research other kinds of records, get copies of documents, provide photos of hometowns and cemeteries, and contact living relatives in Poland. He adds that references are available on request.

Paul S. Valasek of PolishRoots recently was contacted by Robert Raszyk <kontakt@schlesien.biz>, who apparently works with others in the archives in Opole, Wroclaw, Katowice, and Legnica. He says he and his associates can help a lot with research in the region of Silesia, in southcentral to southwestern Poland. He said more information is available at their Website, http://www.schlesien.biz.

In looking through my files I find the names of some other individuals, but the last time I heard from them or about them was more than a year ago. That can be an eternity in this business, and I prefer to list here only those I have heard of recently -- in other words, those whom I have reason to believe are still in this line of work.

If you want to add to this list information about people you have dealt with and can recommend, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would gladly make this a regular feature of _Gen Dobry!_. Researchers in North America are always looking for help in the old country, especially from people whom others have tried and found competent and honest. If you know such a person, please don't keep secrets!

Let me conclude by reminding you of that old Latin saying that is, unfortunately, even more true now than ever before: Caveat emptor -- Let the buyer beware!

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*** THE CENTRAL ADDRESS OFFICE ***

When people ask me about surnames, they often want to know how to contact people in Poland bearing those names. Generally I can't help them -- most surnames are too common, too rare, too ambiguous, too widely-scattered, etc. for me to be able to help much. By and large, my advice is to keep researching until you establish exactly where in Poland your ancestors came from. At that point it may be practical to write to the local parish priest, or to a mayor or librarian, asking for a little help on the spot. (And of course some of the folks mentioned in the previous item can be helpful in this regard).

The key is always being able to focus on a small area. If you say "My name's Jaworski, where are my relatives in Poland?" you'll get nowhere -- there are too many Jaworskis, living all over. But if your research has established that your Jaworskis came from the village of Maly Gnojek in Dupoglowa district 5 km. from the Czech border, suddenly the scope of your search has become manageable.

When a surname turns out to be concentrated in one area, or when a researcher knows the exact area his or her family came from, there is a resource that can prove useful: the Centralne Biuro Adresowe, or Central Address Office. This is an agency of the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, and according to Polonian writer Robert Strybel, it has the address of all Polish citizens currently living in Poland, as well as those who have died since 1990. Obviously if you write them and ask for the address of all Jaworskis, they'll invite you to visit the infernal regions. But asking for the address of, say, all 6 Jaworskis who live in Maly Gnojek -- that's a different matter!

Please note that Polish privacy laws apply to this office, too: it cannot just hand out addresses right and left. It contacts the people involved to make sure it's OK to give out their addresses. If the Pole in question says no, that's that. So there's no guarantee this will work. But I have heard from people who requested addresses from this office and got what they asked for. It is a potential source of info, one worth keeping in mind as you progress in your research.

Here's the address:

   Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnetrznych i Administracji
   Biuro Adresowe Centrale
   ul. Kazimierzowska 60
   02-543 Warszawa
   POLAND

The phone number is (48-22) 849-1838.

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*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

June 8, 2003

2:00 p.m.

Meeting of the Polish Genealogical Society of America

Social Hall of the Polish Museum of America, 984 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, Illinois

There will be a simple show-and-tell for 45-60 minutes, where you can share successes or failures, show pictures or documents, etc.

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June 19, 2003

6:30 p.m.

Meeting of the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts

Details to be announced -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~mapgsm/events.htm

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June 20-22, 2003

Polish Fest 2003

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Friday, June 20th - 3:00 to Midnight
Saturday, June 21st - Noon to Midnight
Sunday, June 22nd - Noon to 10:00 p.m.

For more information visit http://www.polishfest.org or call 414-529-2140.

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July 7-10, 2003

The Illinois State Genealogical Society Announces

THE 9TH ANNUAL GENEALOGICAL INSTITUTE OF MIDAMERICA

Springfield, Illinois

University of Illinois, Springfield Campus

The Genealogical Institute of Mid America (GIMA) is a four-day intensive educational experience.

Students choose one of four courses to attend for the 4 days. Instructors are nationally known lecturers who have spoken at local, state and national genealogical conferences. Courses are taught in a relaxed atmosphere. Be a part of a Midwest tradition, where genealogical instruction is presented in a relaxed atmosphere, a small informal setting where camaraderie among attendees and instructors make for a unique educational experience.

To be added to the mailing list for further information, please send your mailing address to Susan Kaufman-Tavenner, GIMA Chairperson at: kaufmansusan@juno.com -- please put "GIMA" in the subject line. Information can also be found at the ISGS web site, http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsgs/index.html.

Or write: ISGS-GIMA03, PO Box 10195, Springfield, IL 62791-0195

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July 11-12, 2003

MIDWESTERN ROOTS

Family History & Genealogy Conference

at the Indianapolis Marriott East
East 21st Street & Shadeland Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana

Sponsored by the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Genealogical Society

For more information visit the Website: www.indianahistory.org/midwesternroots

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July 20-25, 2003

IAJGS 23rd International Conference ­ DC

J.W. Marriott, Pennsylvania Ave., NW

For more info -- http://www.jewishgen.org/dc2003/

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July 26, 2003

Polish Genealogical Society of California Meeting

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. research assistance; 1:00 p.m. Class; 2:30 p.m. General Meeting

Site: LA-FHC, 10741 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

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August

Polish Genealogical Society of California Summer Seminar

Details to follow: see Website -- http://www.pgsca.org

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September 3-6, 2003

Federation of Genealogical Societies 2003 Conference

Orlando, FL

For more information: http://www.fgs.org/2003conf/FGS-2003.htm

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September 5-6, 2003

St. Louis Polish Festival

Behind Falcon Hall - 20th and St. Louis Avenue

St. Louis, MO

Music, crafts, games and authentic Polish food and pastries.

For more information: 314-421-9614

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October 3-5, 2003

Polish Genealogical Society of America's

* 25th Anniversary Fall Conference *

Ramada Hotel O'Hare, Rosemont, IL

For details check the PGSA Website at http://www.pgsa.org

Or contact the Conference Chairperson, Linda Ulanski: LUlanski@aol.com

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November 6-9, 2003

New England Regional Genealogical Conference

Sea Crest Resort, North Falmouth, MA

New England-America's Melting Pot

For more details: http://www.rootsweb.com/~manergc 

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*** MORE USEFUL WEB ADDRESSES ***

http://www.awangarda.pl
   Ceil Jensen <cjensen@mipolonia.net> posted this URL on several lists, saying it is a website that lets you register for free and will let you submit 3 translations a month for free. She couldn't guarantee the quality, and neither can we. But it's one more possible resource you can take a look at, if you wish.
______________________________

http://www.biblio.tu-bs.de/wbi11_en/
   Andrea Valasek came across this site while using a computer at the Immigration History Research Center in Minneapolis. If you need sources with information on prominent figures -- or even some not so prominent -- try typing their name into this search engine. You never know what you might find.
______________________________

http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa052902a.htm
   In the May 11, 2003 issue of _Nu? What's New_, the free e-zine of Avotaynu, Inc., Gary Mokotoff commented that using search engines efficiently can make a huge difference in what you can find. He cited this article by Kimberly Powell, a professional genealogist and member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, on how to get the most out of the Google search engine. As one who uses Google daily, I found this to be must reading for me -- and some of you may feel the same way.
______________________________

http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/learn-polish.asp?sm=127
   This company sent me an ad for their courses promising to teach a variety of foreign languages, including Polish. I have no idea whether it's any good -- I simply pass on the info so that you can take a look, if you wish. If you try it and think it's great (or lousy), let us know so we can tell others!
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http://jewishwebindex.com/Poland.htm
   This is the Polish page of a site that is "a compendium of thousands of links and bits and pieces of information relating to researching one's Jewish roots," at no charge. The Webmaster, Ted Margulis <tmargulis@dc.rr.com>, sent notes to various researchers asking them to spread the word. I'm glad to do so, in hopes it will benefit our readers with Jewish ancestry.
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http://www.people.virginia.edu/~dpp4z/polish/polimigr.html
   Ray Marshall <raymarsh@mninter.net> recommended this site as an "interesting college paper dealing with emigration from Russian partition, Galicia and a bit on the Prussian partition. Not too many stats, but good background." He also pointed me toward <http://www.slavweb.com/eng/cee/poland-e.html>, saying "It has a lot of good history, culture, minorities, religion, sections, etc. Good background material."
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http://www.stjoenj.net/
   Here's another Website Ray Marshall told me about. He said, "This is a great parish page, but when you click on 'links to Polish Pages,' you'll see some stuff you haven't seen before. Even a picture of Haller's Army in formation (probably in Ontario)." He also particularly liked the page <http://www.stjoenj.net/schism.html>, devoted to the history of the Poles and the Roman Catholic Church in America.
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http://www.cyndislist.com/myths.htm
   The Internet helps spread information like wildfire. Unfortunately, it also helps spread lies, frauds, and myths just as quickly. This page is must reading if you want to avoid genealogically-related scams, as well as misinformation that may not be intended maliciously, but can waste your time and money just the same.

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YOU MAY REPRINT articles from _Gen Dobry!_, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Written by [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Previously published by _Gen Dobry!_, Vol. IV, No. 5, 31 May 2003. PolishRoots(R): http://PolishRoots.org/.

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Copyright 2003, PolishRoots(R), Inc. All rights reserved.