This guide is designed for use with one those 19th-century Polish-language civil-registration documents that follow the Napoleonic format. The adoption of this uniform manner of document organization explains why the material in this guide is generally applicable to both Jewish and non-Jewish civil-registration documents.

Your passport to European research! Chart your research course to find your European ancestors with the beginner-friendly, how-to instruction in this book. This one-of-a-kind collection provides invaluable information about more than 35 countries in a single source. Each of the 14 chapters is devoted to a specific country or region of Europe and includes all the essential records and resources for filling in your family tree. Inside you'll find: • Specific online and print resources including 700 websites. • Contact information for more than 100 archives and libraries. • Help finding relevant records. • Traditions and historical events that may affect your family's past. • Historical time lines and maps for each region and country. Tracing your European ancestors can be a challenging voyage. This book will start you on the right path to identifying your roots and following your ancestors' winding journey through history.

This is the story of my grandfather – a very ordinary man. It covers his childhood in Poland, his immigration, and his life in America. He was a typical Polish immigrant, who immigrated to make a better life for himself. Compare his life to your ancestors. Use his life for clue that may help you understand theirs. My hope in writing this book is to share the information about the daily lives of the Polish people living in the rural areas of Poland. The book also describes some of the reasons for leaving Poland, the trek across Poland and Germany to the ports, the voyage across the North Atlantic, arrival in America and their life in their new country. I used my grandfather as the central figure in this book but this is not his biography. I used details of my grandfather's life but added accounts of other people to tell a complete life story. My grandfather was not a person whose accomplishments would be in history books. However, his life is an example of a typical Polish immigrant. I felt that tying the information to one person would make a more interesting story and easier to show the impact of various events had on our ancestor's life.

When did your Polish ancestors immigrate, from where did they leave, why did they leave, and how did they get here? These are questions we all hope to find the answers. This book is designed to give the researcher the tools needed to research their Polish ancestors and find possible answers to the origins of their Polish heritage. The author, Stephen Szabados, uses his own genealogical experience to outline a simple process that will identify where your ancestors were born and where to find their Polish records. The book lists many sources of information that will add to your family history; identify where your ancestors were born and where to find their Polish records. Traditional sources are covered but it also discusses many new and exciting sources for Polish records that have been implemented by genealogy societies in Poland. The book includes many sample documents and tips that should prove useful for both the beginner and the veteran genealogist. The information in this book covers the most up-to-date collection of sources for Polish genealogy and should prove to be invaluable when doing Polish research.