Volume VII, No. 6 30 June 2006

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CONTENTS

Welcome Sezamie, Otwórz się! (Open, Sesame!)—Update Letters to the Editor APG Honors Gary Mokotoff Genealogy As an Academic Discipline? Humor: Polish—The Language of Poland Not at Ellis Island Still Collecting Photos of the Worcester County Polonia Polish Trivia Questions 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®. If you missed previous issues, you can find them here:

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

If you’d like Gen Dobry! in PDF form, this issue is available for downloading here:

http://www.polishroots.org/gendobry/PDF/GenDobry_VII_6.pdf

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 1

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*** SEZAMIE, OTWÓRZ SIĘ! (OPEN, SESAME!) – UPDATE *** by Fred Hoffman

A few months ago Paul Lipinski, the organizer of the UGPS 2006 Conference in Salt Lake City, asked for permission to reprint the article “Sezamie, Otwórz się! (Open, Sesame!),” which I wrote for the November 2001 issue of Gen Dobry! He wanted to include it as a handout for those who attended the Conference.

I was very flattered, and was about to reply “Of course you have my permission.” But then something dawned on me. I wrote that article in 2001. Things can change a lot in five years, so I realized I’d better look it over to see if it needed updating. That’s one problem with the Internet: material written years ago remains accessible long after it’s become outdated. And how often does an author think, “Oh, wait, I’d better go track down all my articles online and bring them up to date”? I can’t speak for other authors, but in my case the answer is “Never.”

I took a close look at the article and realized it did, indeed, need updating. A massive revision wasn’t necessary, but a lot of the links and details had changed. It would be criminal to give those UPGS attendees a “helpful” handout full of outdated info! So I took a couple of hours to check the details and change them as necessary. Then I sent it to Paul Lipinski, telling him he was welcome to use it, as long as he used the updated version, not the one from 2001. Paul agreed, and presumably those who attended the Conference each got a copy.

Later I realized I ought to share the updated version with readers of Gen Dobry! as well. I pondered the best way to do this, and decided I should just print the updated version in this issue. Many of you probably weren’t subscribed to Gen Dobry! in 2001, so this will be new to you. You longtime readers and old pros probably know all this already; but it won’t hurt to give you a little reminder.

So here it is—and if you spot any errors, please let me know!

Among the more interesting Websites of potential value to Polish genealogists is the SEZAM database, the entry to which can be found at this address on the Polish State Archives Website:

http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/index.eng.php

I gather from notes posted online that some researchers are familiar with it, but I get the impression a lot of folks still don’t know about it. Or perhaps some have tried to use it, but have been frustrated by its lack of user-friendliness. I thought it might be worthwhile to say a little about it, so that you can judge for yourself whether it may help you.

The name is interesting: sezam is Polish for “sesame,” and no doubt this name was chosen to evoke associations with the story of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” in the Arabian Nights collection— specifically, the magic treasure cave that opened whenever someone came up and said “Open, sesame!” (in Polish “Sezamie, otwórz się!” pronounced roughly “seh-ZAHM-yeah, OT-voosh sheh”). The hope surely was that researchers who go to this Web page will feel they’ve entered a magical place where great treasure is stored.

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 2

I’m not sure users will be overwhelmed by an impression of being surrounded by riches beyond belief—especially since the site is not as easy to use as it might be. I have a fair amount of experience navigating around Websites, plus I have the advantage of reading Polish fluently, yet I find it frustrating to search SEZAM. Sometimes I enter the information I want in the various fields, and wham! I get what I want. Too often, however, I designate search parameters that I expect to work beautifully, yet the response is “No records found.”

Still, being stubborn by nature, I vary the parameters, widening or narrowing the search, and I usually end up finding what I’m looking for. There is a lot of good info to be found here, if you’re patient and persistent enough to find it.

* What Sesame Opens To Reveal *

So what information does this site offer? It does not show you documents (do I hear a lot of you saying “Rats!” or something even more colorful?). What it offers is info on the holdings of the State Archives—what records they have, what specific fields of activity are included, what years they cover, which Archive they are held in, and so on.

In other words, it won’t serve up your g-g-grandfather’s baptismal record on a platter. But if you know where he was born, and approximately when he was born, it will tell you whether a given Archive has records for that period. That will help you decide if writing to the Archive may enable you get your hands on them. This can save you a great deal of time—especially since many of the records involved come from the time frame the LDS Family History Library was not allowed to microfilm, i. e., records less than 100 years old at the time of filming, or records in areas where the authorities refused the FHL permission to film. In other words, you can’t get at them in the U.S. or Canada or Australia; one way or another, you have to contact the right place in Poland. SEZAM can help you determine if the State Archive is the right place.

Suppose, just for instance, your ancestor was born sometime after 1890 but before World War I, in Kolno in the province of Łomża (under the 1975-1998 setup). The first step is to see if the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has the records you need on microfilm—always check the FHL Catalog first!

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

A check under “Place Name” for “Kolno” shows that the FHL only has Kolno parish records for 1794-1870. So an ancestor born in 1890 will not show up in the records the FHL has so far (though presumably his ancestors would be). That means, unless you can find some other record on this side of the ocean that tells you what you want to know, you probably need to write to Poland: either to the parish itself, the archive of the diocese in which that parish is located, or the State Archives.

Let’s say you’ve had no luck writing the parish or diocese. (Remember, I’m supposing all this, by way of illustration; for all I know the pastor of Kolno’s church may be a genealogist’s best friend). So far you’ve had no luck finding the records you need. The question is, would it be a waste of time writing the local State Archive, or not?

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 3

You could spend weeks waiting for an answer to a letter. Or you could go to Łomża, drop by the Archive, and hope for the best—which is almost always a lousy idea; archivists don’t like surprises! Why not give SEZAM a chance to save you time and effort?

Once you’ve entered the English-language front page for the SEZAM database at http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/index.eng.php, you click on “Archives,” and from the drop-down list select the specific Archive to search—in this case “Archiwum Państwowe w Białymstoku Oddział w Łomży” (State Archive in Białystok, Łomża branch). Under “Category” you select “urzędy stanu cywilnego i akta metrykalne” (civil registry and metrical records). Under “Initial date” you enter “1890,” and under “Final date” you specify, say, “1918.” You click on “Search,” and up comes a list of all records that fit your search parameters.

The search returns 30 “Fonds” (archival record collections) of registry records at that branch. You scan down till you see mention of “Kolno”—in fact it says “Akta stanu cywilnego Parafii Rzymskokatolickiej w Kolnie” (registry records of the Roman Catholic parish in Kolno). For more info click on the link “More” at the far right. This brings up a page giving archival details on the available records for Kolno. What interests you is the information that the Łomża branch Archive has parish records for 1890-1902; that same page gives you details on exactly which records it has, as well as the address of that Archive, its phone and fax number, its Web page, and its e-mail address.

Thus within minutes you can determine with reasonable certainty whether the records you need are there. (Of course, no database is 100% error-free; so it would be wise to verify the results of this search by contacting the Archive). If the records aren’t there, at least you don’t waste weeks or months finding that out. If they are there, you know exactly where to write and what to ask for. You might even print out the page with your results, so you can enclose it with your letter and thus show the Archive staff exactly what you’re looking for, in a form that should make it extremely easy for them to locate it.

* Read The Instructions! *

My wife and I have an ongoing feud—she never under any circumstances reads the instructions to anything, whereas I always do. (Probably because I long ago accepted that I’m a hopeless idiot and can’t figure anything out for myself; I need all the help I can get). In your first tries with SEZAM— unless you’re my wife—I strongly recommend reading the instructions on this page:

http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/?CIDA=376#info

Some of it is pretty hard going, but when they start talking specifics they give good pointers, in English, on how the database is organized and how to search it. Even when you’ve read them, the database can be a little balky; but a good grasp of those instructions will save you time and frustration and make your search more productive.

Consider, for instance, what they say about spelling. The database was set up by Poles for Poles, so it expects correct spellings, with the various Polish characters (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ś, ź and ż). The compilers knew, however, that many English-speakers would be using the site, and they had mercy

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 4 on us: they set it up so that you can ignore the Polish diacriticals. You can tell it to search “Lodz,” or you can spell it correctly, Łódź; either spelling works.

But if you do input the Polish characters, you must get them all! If you use those characters, the search engine expects you to spell the names right. So a search for Lomza is fine, or a search for Łomża is fine —but Łomza or Lomża will fail. Be consistent! Ignore the Polish letters, or else use them correctly.

This brings up another spelling point. A lot of the questions I receive from researchers feature misspelled Polish place names. If you’re going to search this or any other Polish database for a given place, you really need to spell the name right. Searching for “Biatystok” when you need “Białystok” will get you nowhere fast. So please do everything you can to verify spellings. One site that might come in handy in locating places and confirming the correct spellings of their modern names is the ShtetlSeeker:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

There are other sites that will help you, of course, but this is the one I tend to use most. It is particularly useful because a search using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex may let you find the right place in spite of spelling errors.

* Beyond Birth, Marriage & Death Records *

I’m not going to go into more detail on using SEZAM—your best bet is to plunge in and start experimenting with it yourself. Be a little patient; you may have to fiddle around with it a little. But for the serious researcher, it can be a big help.

There’s one more point I want to make about SEZAM. The “urzędy stanu cywilnego i akta metrykalne”—Civil Registry and Metrical Documents—is only one of 22 different basic categories the database searches. In other words, the birth, marriage, and death records that obsess most researchers are only one of many kinds of records to be found in the State Archives. Here are the other 21 basic categories:

administracja ogólna – general administration administracja specjalna – special administration archiwa prywatne i spuścizny – private archives and posthumous works archiwa rodzinno-majątkowe – archives of families and estates cechy, związki rzemieślnicze – craft guilds and unions instytucje finansowe – financial institutions instytucje gospodarcze – economic institutions instytucje kultury – cultural institutions instytucje nauki i oświaty – scientific and educational institutions instytucje ochrony zdrowia i opieki społecznej – health and social care institutions instytucje wymiaru sprawiedliwości – administration of justice instytucje wyznaniowe – religious institutions organy ustawodawcze państwa – legislative organs of the State

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 5

partie polityczne i podległe organizacje, ruchy społeczne – political parties and dependent organizations, social movements samorząd gospodarczy – economic self-government samorząd zawodowy – trade self-government spółdzielczość – cooperatives stowarzyszenia i związki – associations and unions wojsko – Army zbiory i kolecje – collections związki zawodowe – trade unions

Granted, just from the names you can tell some of these records are going to be boring beyond belief. But the point is, the Archives have a lot more to offer than most of us are using; and these categories give us an idea just how much! Those sources are admittedly harder to use than vital records. But then the only reason vital records are accessible now is because people created a demand for them, and a means of supply followed. If we start thinking about what’s waiting for us, undiscovered, in these archives—censuses, guild membership records, voting lists, draft board records—we’ll find a way to get at them!

Just as an example, the Fall 2001 issue of Pathways & Passages, the Journal of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, includes an article by University of Warsaw Professor Michał Kopczyński on genealogical use of draft records created by draft boards in the Russian partition. Kopczyński points out that these records can be a great source, but few people know about them and use them; his article tries to remedy that. It includes an editorial note on how to search SEZAM for such records. Getting SEZAM’s archival info on them is the first step in accessing and using them. And that’s only one of many kinds of records held at Archives that might fill in the gaps left by birth, marriage, and death records!

* Conclusion *

To sum up, SEZAM is a source that dedicated researchers should know about. It isn’t your one-stop shopping source for records—it doesn’t have everything you want, and it can be a little balky to use. But anything that tells you what records are available, and where, is worth a look. You have to approach your search with a strategy. SEZAM is a tool that may help you put your strategy into effect and find what you’re looking for.

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*** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ***

Subject: Surname Okrzyński

Editor—Actually this e-mail came to PolishRoots’ Vice President Paul S. Valasek, referring to an article “South American Polish Migration” he contributed to the last Gen Dobry!

Just read your article in the May 2006 issue of Gen Dobry! and to my surprise my surname, Okrzyński, is on the list of the passengers. My surname is pretty rare and to date all are related. It just so happens that we were in search of Ludwig and hope that this is him!

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 6

My question to you is: where did you obtain the information (list) from??? I would like to see it in hopes that it would give more information, or even another clue.

Thank you for your time and hope that this will answer some questions. As we all know though, in genealogy when one question is answered, more questions arise.

Alice Okrzynski Feldman

Editor—Alice is obviously a wise lady, as her last comment shows. Of course, Paul answered her, providing as much information as he could. I just wanted to quote the letter to show why we print these articles. You never know who will benefit … And, by the way, if you know any Okrzynskis, get in touch with Paul so he can pass the word on to Alice!

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*** APG HONORS GARY MOKOTOFF ***

I was pleased to read in a recent issue of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter that the Association of Profession Genealogists (APG) had singled Gary Mokotoff out for a special award. As Eastman rightly said, “Gary Mokotoff is a top expert in Jewish genealogy, but he also is an innovator on the business side of family history.” APG President Sharon Moody presented him with the Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit at the APG luncheon during the recent NGS Conference in the States. If you’d like to read more about this, here is the link: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/06/apg_honors_gary.html

Congratulations, Gary! I don’t usually put much stock in these awards from various associations, but this is one time they got it right!

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*** GENEALOGY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE? ***

While we’re talking about Gary Mokotoff, he included a tease for a fascinating article in the June 4, 2006 issue of Nu? What’s New? The E-zine of Jewish Genealogy. The article is written by H. Daniel Wagner, a Professor of Materials Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and appears in the Spring 2006 issue of Avotaynu. It discusses what Wagner considers the next major step in the evolution of Jewish genealogy: “Genealogy As an Academic Discipline.” Wagner fields that genealogy is undergoing a transformation—it has gone from being to becoming “a field of far-reaching information and knowledge from which society benefits significantly.” Wagner also comments on the rising number of peer-reviewed genealogical publications, “especially in the exact sciences.”

Over the years Gary’s been right often enough that his opinions deserve attention—and he feels this article is destined to become historic. Gary thought it was so important he wanted to make it available to everyone, not just subscribers to Avotaynu. If you’re a serious researcher and want to read this thought-provoking article, it is online here: http://www.avotaynu.com/wagner.htm. It’s not light reading, but there’s a lot of substance to it.

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 7

You can read more about this and other items in that issue of Nu? here: http://www.avotaynu.com/nu/v07n08.htm.

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*** HUMOR: POLISH—THE LANGUAGE OF POLAND ***

Editor—Ray Marshall sent me this brief excerpt from a page of humorous remarks at http://www.plexoft.com/cgi-bin/P.cgi#Polish. Ray thought this was right up my alley, and I agree. If you enjoy these comments you might want to check out the homepage of the Stammtisch Beau Fleuve at http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/index.html. Thanks, Ray, I got a big kick out of this!

Polish: The language of Poland. With its strings of four or more consonants, (e.g., the word czczy, meaning “empty”) this language is regarded as very difficult to pronounce. When non-Poles try to speak it, Poles who hear them give a slightly pained, indulgent smile. The pain comes from the effort to suppress laughter. They’re keeping a secret: the secret is that it’s actually impossible to pronounce Polish. Not just for non-Poles. Early in the twelfth century, Polish ceased to be a spoken language. When no foreigners are present, Poles speak in another language, usually !Kung or Welsh.

Poland is a kind of experimental theater of nationalism. Poles had already tried the more common experiments, like existing without any territory, so to top it they tried shifting their borders a couple of hundred kilometers west on a moment’s notice. (In Transylvanian dance, this is known as the “Time Warp.” It is explicated in the documentary The Rocky Horror Picture Show.) Similarly, other countries, like Ireland and India, have already tried having official languages that no more than a minority can speak. Attempting to break new ground, and because virtually all Poles maintain to foreigners that they speak Polish, they have established dialects, so that you can fail to speak Polish in two or three different ways, automatically! In addition to eastern and western alleged pronunciations, there is also a special dialect “spoken” in the Gdańsk area. Back in the eighties, they tried to get together an army to make the Gdańsk dialect a language. This effort broke down, but they ended up forming an independent trade union that eventually led to the first peaceful surrender of power by an established Communist government in Europe. All because of linguistics.

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*** NOT AT ELLIS ISLAND *** by Nancy Ring Kendrick

Editor—Every so often I see someone post a public reply on a mailing list or newsgroup that strikes me as worth sharing with others who may not have seen it. This is an example. Nancy Ring Kendrick posted it as a reply to a question on the newsgroup soc.genealogy.jewish, and I thought it provided so much good information—for all researchers, not just those of Jewish descent—I should pass it along for readers of our e-zine.

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 8

The following information might be helpful to other subscribers, therefore I am sending it to the list, while at the same time responding to Jules.

For some reason, many, many people believe that Ellis Island was the only location for immigrants arriving in New York, be it the 1880s or early 1890s. This is a total misconception and can lead you in the wrong direction with your research.

As in Jules’ case, if the ancestors immigrated in 1891 they will not appear in the Ellis Island database. Ellis Island did not open to immigrants until 1892. This most likely explains why no records were found when searching the EIDB, especially with the belief that Ellis Island was “just getting up and running at that time.” Ellis Island was not running at all.

Chances are they arrived at the “Barge Office”, if they did arrive at the port of New York in the year of 1891. “Most” of the first & second class passengers were allowed to leave the ship soon after docking. All passengers were listed on a ship manifest. Immigrant Processing Centers for New York City included:

Aug 1, 1855 - April 18, 1890...Castle Garden April 19, 1890 - Dec 31, 1891...Barge Office Jan 1, 1892 - June 13, 1897...Ellis Island

Searching the JewishGen site using “Barge Office,” I received over ten (10) pages of various hits. Here are a couple of examples:

Immigration / Emigration:

* JewishGen FAQ - Passenger Arrival Lists * U.S. Passenger Arrival lists microfilms * How to interpret New York Passenger Arrival Index Cards * Manifest Markings - A Guide to Interpreting U.S. Passenger List Annotations * Ellis Island Database FAQ and Tips * Ellis Island Database One-Step Search Tools * Ellis Island Immigration Center * Holland-America Line passenger lists, 1900-1940 * Holland-America Line passenger lists at BPL http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/

Ellis Island Immigration Center / Castle Garden Database / Locating Ship Passenger Lists = A JewishGen InfoFile http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ellis.txt

In addition, you might visit the following to educate yourself on the history of immigrating to the U.S. via the Port of New York:

http://www.castlegarden.org

http://germanroots.home.att.net/ellisisland

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 9

Photograph of the Barge Office:

http://germanroots.home.att.net/ellisisland/bargeoffice.html

Many manifests have been transcribed by the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, which is a free site, and can be searched at:

http://www.immigrantships.net

Searching http://www.google.com using search terms such as “Castle Garden,” or “Barge Office” will give you numerous hits to learn more about the history of immigration to the Port of New York pre-1892.

Use your resources, and you might be surprised at what you find!

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*** STILL COLLECTING PHOTOS OF THE WORCESTER COUNTY POLONIA ***

Editor—Barbara Proko posted this note to the Poland-Roots mailing list:

If there’s a vintage photo of a Central Massachusetts Polish picnic in your family album, it could help tell the story of Worcester County Polonia in a groundbreaking new book.

Worcester County’s Polish Community, scheduled for fall 2007 release by Arcadia Publishing, will be the first book ever to document the heritage and history shared by thousands of Polish Americans in the areas of Clinton, Dudley, Gardner, Gilbertville, South Grafton, Southbridge, Uxbridge, Webster, West Warren, and Worcester, Massachusetts.

Coauthors Barbara Proko, Janice Baniukiewicz Stickles, and the Women’s Guild of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Worcester, are soliciting materials to borrow for the photo history, which they envision as a “community family album” for Central Massachusetts Polonia.

Vintage photos, documents, postcards, ads, event programs, and jubilee booklets will all play a part in telling the story. The book will encompass all aspects of local Polish family, parish, business, school, athletic, military, political, social and cultural life from the 1860s forward.

Upcoming collection sessions are scheduled as follows:

** 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Friday, July 21—Uxbridge Free Public Library (Thayer Memorial Building), 15 North Main St., Uxbridge.

** 1-4 p.m., Saturday, July 22—Barnes & Noble, The Shoppes at Blackstone Valley, 70 Worcester Providence Turnpike (Routes 146 & 122A), Millbury.

** 8 a.m.-noon, Sunday, July 23—Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, 34 Ward St., Worcester.

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 10

** 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, July 29—Chester C. Corbin Public Library, 2 Lake St., Webster.

** 3-5 p.m., Saturday, July 29—St. Andrew Bobola Church, 54 West Main St., Dudley.

** 8 a.m.-noon, Sunday, July 30—St. Joseph Basilica, 53 Whitcomb St., Webster.

The final opportunity to submit materials will be Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the annual fall festival of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, 34 Ward St., Worcester.

All materials will be returned, and all donors will be acknowledged in the book.

For more information, please contact Barbara Proko at (860) 223-0887 or off-list at .

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*** POLISH TRIVIA QUESTIONS ***

Editor: In the last issue we gave 5 questions from a Polish trivia game PolishRoots Vice President Paul Valasek came across. The answers to those questions appear below, followed by this month’s questions, the answers to which will appear in the next issue. We want to thank Tom Bratkowski for permission to reprint these.

Answers to the Questions in the May Issue:

Category: Humanities

— Q. Who was a famous Pol-Am drummer and band leader in the post-World War II era? — A. Gene Krupa

— Q. What Pol-Am conductor was married to Gloria Vanderbilt? — A. Leopold Stokowski

— Q. What Pol-Am singer was billed as the “Last of the Red Hot Mamas”? — A. Sophie Tucker

— Q. Who directed the Hollywood film “All Quiet on the Western Front”? — A. Richard Boleslawski

— Q. Who is described as the “Mother of the Warszawa Yiddish Theater”? — A. Esther Rachel Kamińska

New Questions for the May Issue

Category: Bonus

1. Where was the world’s first oil well reported to be drilled?

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 11

2. What prompted Austria and Germany to declare a new Kingdom of Poland from occupied territories in 1916?

3. To whom is Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-Flat Major” dedicated?

4. What were the “Flying Universities” of Poland?

5. In the Warszawa legend, how did the mermaid mark the site for the founding of the city?

Reprinted with permission from Polish American Trivia & Quadrivia, Powstan, Inc. If interested in learning more, contact Paul Valasek .

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*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

Note: the PolishRoots Events Calendar at http://www.polishroots.org/coming_events.htm usually has more info than we have room for here. If you have an event coming up you want Polish genealogical researchers to know about, send as much info as possible to .

July 8 – August 14, 2006

SUMMER STUDY IN POLAND

As in past years, Prof. Michael Mikoś of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is leading a summer study-tour at the Catholic University of Lublin. For more information:

Call Prof. Michael Mikoś at 414-229-4313, or write: Dept. of Foreign Languages & Linguistics University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 e-mail: http://www.lrc.uwm.edu/tour/ ______

July 15 – 16, 2006

The Library of the Polish Museum of America’s ANNUAL BOOK SALE

For more information see http://pma.prcua.org/book_sale.htm

______

July 20 — 31, 2006

POLAND IN THE ROCKIES, 2006

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 12

Maureen Mroczek Morris sent me this information:

“An intensive, 11-day program set in the magnificent Canadian Rockies—the Tatras of the West— in Polish history, culture and contemporary issues designed specifically for North American youth of Polish background. Poland in the Rockies will bring together 40 bright young people from across the continent to meet outstanding scholars and other public figures, forge new friendships, and foster pride in their identity and links to the world-wide Polish community. The program will provide information, perspective and skills for future leaders.”

For more, visit the Website: http://www.PolandInTheRockies.com

______

July 30, 2006

Music Tribute at the Polish Kashub Heritage Museum

Wilno, Ontario, Canada

From 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Editor—Shirley Mask Connolly sent along this note:

On this day, two new CDs based on John Glofcheskie’s 1973 field recordings for the Canadian Museum of Civilization will be released: a 2-CD set called: Songs and Dances from Canada’s Oldest Polish Community, and also a CD called: Polish Hymns from St. Hedwig’s Choir.

Also, a revised and expanded edition of John Glofcheskie’s book, Folk Music of Canada’s Oldest Polish Community will be released on July 30. This book will contain information about the music on the CD of the same title already released by the Museum in its Archives Series at the Polish Kashub Day Festival on May 6, 2006.

The Music Day Tribute will honor the singers and musicians, many of whom are no longer with us, who contributed to John Glofcheskie’s 1973 field study, and who appear on the new 2-CD set. They include: Tony Andrechek, Dorothy Billings, Julia Burchat, Peter Chapeskie, Ted Coulas, Agnes Glofcheskie, John J. Glofcheskie, Monica Glofcheskie, August Kuiack, Flora Lazinski, Martha Linton, Dominic Mask, Rose Mask, Ann and John Mintha, Stanley Ostroskie, Joe Peplinskie, Frank Ritza, Michael Rumleskie, Elizabeth Shalla, Rose Stoltz, John Tomchick, Tommy and Elizabeth Yantha, Stella Yeretch, and the students of Elizabeth Shalla’s Polish Class: Michael Glofcheskie, Susan Prince, Donna Shalla, Mary Shalla, and Mary Jane Shalla. The Music Day Tribute will feature a presentation by John Glofcheskie using examples of music from the CDs, as well as a display of musical instruments and old spiewniks in the Polish Kashub Heritage Museum.

All are welcome.

______August 4 – 6, 2006

Gen Dobry!, Vol. VII, No. 6, June 2006 — 13

EEGS/FEEFHS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “DISCOVERING OUR ROOTS: FROM EAST EUROPE TO THE NEW WORLD”

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The East European Genealogical Society (EEGS) and the Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS) will hold a conference to explore East European ancestry on August 4 to 6, 2006 at the Victoria Inn, 1808 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The conference will feature presentations by renowned specialists from the U.S.A. and Canada focusing on areas in present day Poland and Ukraine as well as the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and German Empires. Presentations will cover research procedures, records, sources, language, and scripts and many other topics. There will also be a generic track for beginners to genealogy with general research topics including computer and others.

Winnipeg is the “gateway to the west” for East European settlement in Canada. It has many Ukrainian, Mennonite, Jewish, Polish, and other ethnic museums and research centers as well as institutions of genealogical importance such as the provincial archives, provincial genealogical society, two universities with Slavic and German studies and others. Winnipeg hosts the Folklorama Festival, a two week event that begins on the last day of the conference and features over 40 pavilions with ethnic food, entertainment, and cultural displays for many areas of east and central Europe. Pavilions include Warsaw-Poland, Krakow-Poland, Ukraine-Lviv, Ukraine-Kyiv, Russian, Czech and Slovak, German, Hungarian, and others. (see: http://www.folklorama.ca for more info).

EEGS website: http://www.eegsociety.org

FEEFHS website: http://www.feefhs.org ______

Friday and Saturday, September 22 and 23, 2006

2006 POLISH GENEALOGICAL CONFERENCE sponsored by

POLISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF CONNECTICUT AND THE NORTHEAST, INC. and

THE ENDOWED CHAIR OF THE POLISH AND POLISH AMERICAN STUDIES, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY

Place: Central Connecticut State University, Student Center, New Britain, CT Friday, September 22, 2006 — Beginner’s Workshop: Getting Started: Finding the Missing Pieces of Your Polish-American Family History

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Saturday, September 23, 2006 — (full schedule)

Registration will close September 12.

Fee: $40 Friday and Saturday $35 Saturday only $10 Friday only

Includes Polish-American buffet lunch (Saturday only)

Registration forms are available online at http://www.pgsctne.org/confintro_ccsu.html or e-mail Diane Szepanski, Conference Chair at or for more information.

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*** MORE USEFUL WEB ADDRESSES *** http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=39994 Logan Kleinwaks continues to spread word of online sources becoming available at the Digital Library of Wielkopolska, including this 1925 Western Poland Business Directory covering Great Poland, Pomerania, Silesia, and Danzig. He explains, “The directory is organized by province, then town, then mostly alphabetically by surname or business name. To facilitate searching by name across multiple towns, soundex and wildcard searching, searching by street address, searching by occupation, and other full-text searches, I have made the directory searchable at http://www.kalter.org/search. Instructions for viewing pages of the directory containing matches to search terms can be found in the FAQ of the search site (http://www.kalter.org/searchfaq.html). A town index can be found on images 39-52.” He also tells of “a 1937 business, school, and organizational directory covering various cities throughout Poland (Księga adresowa Polski: przemysłu, handlu, finansów, szkolnictwa, wolnych zawodów i organizacji społecznych)” available online from the Digital Library of Zielona Góra at http://zbc.uz.zgora.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=3496, which can also be searched at and can be searched at http://www.kalter.org/search. He explains, “For many of the cities, this is the latest online directory from before WWII that I am aware of. Thanks very much to Jarosław Gramacki of the University of Zielona Góra for providing extra images needed to make the directory searchable… The following cities are included, the numbers indicating the first images (in the Digital Library’s presentation) on which their entries can be found.

950 Będzin 868 Kazimierz Dolny 1140 Białystok 940 Kowel 1006 Chełmno 1172 Kraków 864 Czyżów Szlachecki 863 Kraśnik 985 Grajewo 980 Kutno 1171 Horochów 983 Łęczyca 862 Janów Lubelski (miasto i powiat) 866 Leżajsk 977 Jasło 869 Lipsko 867 Jozefów n. Wisła 1014 Łódź 1159 Kalisz 844 Łuck

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854 Łuków 986 Rypin 875 Lwów 864 Rzeczyca Ziemska 866 Nisko 865 Sandomierz (miasto i powiat) 978 Nowy Sącz 935 Siedlce 996 Nowy Targ 943 Sokal 1008 Olkusz 987 Sosnowiec 864 Opatów (miasto i powiat) 870 Szczebrzeszyn 868 Opole Lubelskie 869 Tarłów 997 Oświęcim 1001 Tarnopol 1127 Otwock 958 Tarnów 1010 Pabjanice 963 Trzebina 946 Piotrków-Trybunalski 39 Warszawa 998 Płońsk 1132 Włocławek 761 Poznań 857 Włodzimierz Wołyński 1008 Pruszków 871 Zamość 963 Przemyśl 1003 Zawiercie 869 Puławy 1167 Zgierz 999 Rabka 971 Złoczów 956 Radomsko 973 Żółkiew 867 Rozwadów 874 Zwierzyniec 867 Rudnik n. Sanem 974 Żywiec

______http://www.findagrave.com On the Poland-Roots mailing list Lynn Mills invited readers to visit the Najduk family “genealogy gravestone pictures” on this site: “So, if you’re at all interested in viewing them, go there. The last names are NAJDUK. John and Frances. God bless and thanks to Valerie [Valerie Koselka ] for the find a grave idea!” I wanted to pass Lynn’s note along, not only for anyone who might have Najduks in his/her family tree, but also for those who want to check out the site and consider doing the same thing. ______http://bazy.hoga.pl/kody.asp On the PolandBorderSurnames list Tina Ellis posted this address for a Website giving postal codes in Poland. ______http://www.amwaw.edu.pl/ On the newsgroup soc.genealogy.jewish a researcher wrote to ask for help finding an ancestor who was a doctor from Płońsk. She had been unable to find any medical school or licensing agency to answer her e-mails. Researcher Alexander Sharon explained that in the second half of the 19th century, the only medical school in Russian Poland was in Warsaw; that’s probably where the doctor in question trained. Sharon added that in Poland medical schools are academically separate from universities. He suggested writing the Warsaw Medical Academy, which should have records from that time and can communicate in English. The main Website is here, but Sharon found it difficult to use, and suggested contacting the administrator, Dr. R. Rzepka , or the Webmaster, Dr. M. Grabowski

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. I have heard of others looking for information on doctors in Poland, and thought this bit of info might be worth passing along. ______http://www.torugg.org/trip_letter_writing_guide.html On the Galicia_Poland-Ukraine mailing list Jim Onyschuk advised a researcher to use the Ukrainian letter-writing guide at this address. He explained, “Simply highlight the phrases you want to use and paste them into your word processor.” Incidentally, when I saw this note I thought, “Oh, a Ukrainian letter-writing guide. I wonder where they got it?” I looked on the page and realized they copied it – with permission – from the book Jonathan Shea and I did, In Their Words … Volume 2: Russian. I remembered I had given them permission to do so. Sometimes it’s like I wake up in a whole new world every morning! ______http://www.mapywig.org On the Polish-Surnames list Ceil Jensen forwarded a note from the FEEFHS e-mail list explaining that this site offers Polish pre-World War II topological maps for free viewing for download. Marek Zielinski added, “Once we get a complete collection of 100K Polish (WIG) maps (by end of this summer) we will begin to work on a database of place names linked to the map sheets for quick identification. I hope our project will help people find whatever they are looking for.” Note that near the upper right is a box that allows you to choose the interface language, so that users not fluent in Polish can choose English—a very considerate feature we see on more and more Polish sites these days. If you visit such a site and find it helpful, take a moment to contact the Webmaster and let him/her know how much you appreciate it!

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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. VII, No. 6, 30 June 2006, PolishRoots®: http://www.PolishRoots.org/.

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