Volume XXII, No. 1 31 January 2021
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Volume XXII, No. 1 31 January 2021 ISSN 1555-774X. Copyright © 2021, PolishRoots®, Inc. Editor: William F. “Fred” Hoffman, e-mail: [email protected]< > CONTENTS Welcome! FamilySearch and Inaccessible Records The Latest from PolishOrigins Geneteka Index Updates An Overview of Recent Periodicals Upcoming Events More Useful Web Addresses You May Reprint Articles... *************************************** *** WELCOME! *** to the latest issue of Gen Dobry!, the e-zine of PolishRoots®. You can find this and previous issues here: <http://polishroots.org/GenDobry?PageId=60> Also, Agnieszka Maja Migalska of the Facebook group Polish Genealogy has made the PDF available via this link – thanks, Agnieszka! <https://tinyurl.com/y8v6j2wu> Gen Dobry!, Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2021 — 1 ************************************** *** FAMILYSEARCH AND INACCESSIBLE RECORDS *** by William F. “Fred” Hoffman <[email protected]> Frustration continues for some Polish researchers who try to access records from their ancestral villages via the FamilySearch website. If I understand correctly, not everyone who goes to find records on the website is out of luck. I can’t guess at a percentage of those who are missing out. I just know I continue to see questions online from people wondering why their records are not available – especially those that were online at one point but have now been withdrawn. A gentleman named Ed posted a note to the PolishGenius mailing list, quoting a form letter response he got from FamilySearch when he asked about specific records in the Żnin area. He summed up the answer as follows: “In a nutshell, I can only get to the film I want if I go to a FHC. There is a FHC that is supposed to have the film about an hour’s drive away from me, but with COVID I think I will wait on making the trip for now.” Who can blame Ed? Most of us old enough to be interested in genealogy are also old enough to be careful where we go these days, and whose air we share! I’m going to quote the form letter he received, omitting only a few details out of regard for Ed’s privacy. Unless I am very much mistaken, it is a form letter and there’s nothing here that doesn’t show up in other responses from FamilySearch. ===== We know it appears that these films have not been scanned but they have, or they would not have been assigned a DGS folder #. Please review the following knowledge article that addresses this issue: Why are some catalog items available only as microfilms? <https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/why-are-some-catalog-items- available-only-as-microfilms> Not all microfilms are digitized yet, which means a microfilm is not yet available in a digitized version on the FamilySearch.org website. There are several possible reasons: There may be a contractual, data privacy, or other restriction preventing access to the microfilm. FamilySearch is making every effort to ease restrictions, which are dependent on the decisions of record custodians and applicable laws. In some cases, we do not have permission from the content owners to digitize the content. Gen Dobry!, Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2021 — 2 Some content is digitized (you see a DGS number in the catalog entry), but not available to view online (you do not see a camera icon in the catalog entry). In these cases, a contractual, data privacy, or other restriction prevents us from making the images available online. We suggest the following: • Keep searching in the FamilySearch blog for “monthly record updates” where they list all the records that are now available on FamilySearch. It’s possible that these records were recently digitized and they just haven’t made them available yet for online access. • Digitized records will typically be dropped into the Images section of the main Search menu. When we searched for Żerniki, Żnin, Poland we had three choices geographically and found the same record set for both Zerniki, Znin, Posen, Prussia, Germany and Żerniki, Żnin, Bydgoszcz, Poland. • Also don’t forget to use the Research Wiki and searched for information based on the location of choice. We found the following article that may be of interest to you: Germany, Prussia, Posen, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records - Inventory <https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Germany,_Prussia,_Posen,_Catholic_and_ Lutheran_Church_Records_-_Inventory> We searched for “Znin” and found many hits. Unfortunately the links of interest may take you right back to the Catalog notes with microfilm icons. Note: we added a screenshot showing the pulldown menu of Family History Centers that are suppose to have a copy of the microfilm. We know most centers are closed due to the virus, but if you see one located near you, you can call when they finally open and see if the film is there before you go over. Good luck in your Polish research. You can also find answers to your questions by using our Help feature at the top of any FamilySearch screen by clicking the Help icon (the small circle with the question mark), then Help Center. Enter a few key search terms to find and select knowledge articles appropriate to your question. You can view your case details, including relevant knowledge articles in the Help Center by clicking the link below. You may be required to sign in. [I’ve omitted the link just in case it might involve privacy concerns.] If you have further questions regarding this case, please reply directly to this email message. If you have different questions or concerns, please contact us directly by phone or chat. Click <https://www.familysearch.org/help/> for details. Gen Dobry!, Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2021 — 3 ===== Of course, we have to keep reminding ourselves that FamilySearch doesn’t have to do one damned thing to satisfy us. It has its own reasons for doing what it does, and its interests don’t necessarily coincide with ours. I don’t think it’s outrageous for us to express some frustration, however. There are a few things about this that don’t seem to add up. Honestly, I believe addressing our concerns just a bit more openly would benefit FamilySearch. On the other hand, no one asked me.... Fortunately, in the meantime, our Polish friends are putting more and more material online. Perhaps there will come a point where we won’t need to pester FamilySearch any more! I don’t know when that day may come – but then I never expected to live long enough to see records available online in the first place! ************************************** *** THE LATEST FROM POLISH ORIGINS *** by Zenon Znamirowski <[email protected]> Editor – I like to pass along the contents of newsletters sent out by PolishOrigins because they often contain valuable info for researchers, and I know not everyone subscribes to the newsletters. Have you ever thought about what your forefathers would tell you if you met them? The question does not have to do anything with religion. It doesn’t matter at the moment if you believe that you will meet them again or do not believe in that at all. You can look at it as a thought experiment. So, what would they say if they could talk with you? Would they worry about you? It is possible in this time we experience now they would be worried about you. Or maybe they would tell you that actually, you are very lucky living in this time, in this place, even if the future is uncertain (when was it certain?). Would they give you advice? I am sure they could share with you their life wisdom. If some of them left a memoir or other written testimony of their life then you are lucky. You may also remember stories told by them or their descendants (parents, grandparents). You can take some of their experience and apply it in your today’s life. Gen Dobry!, Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2021 — 4 Also, when you read or hear about their life, their struggle, their achievements, don’t you feel pride? The confidence that if they managed to overcome all these obstacles you can do the same? Would their advice be useful in today’s world? In many ways they could understand you better than younger generations as they could grasp better of what you had to come through in your life. You subscribed to this newsletter which means that you most probably are interested in your family history. Many of you have been doing their family genealogy for years (we know it is a “never- ending story”). Dry facts included in vital books or even information from other more descriptive genealogical sources do not necessarily help you directly with your current life’s problems. But still, by learning about the life of your forefathers, reading history books about their times and places, visiting their villages, can give you hints to some of the decisions you have to make today. No matter how civilization and technology have developed, what modern cultural or political trends have become popular, there are universal truths, foundations, that let us survive thousands of years as humankind. Even if you ignore or “cancel” from your consciousness or social life those natural laws followed with humility by our ancestors, the disturbed natural systems will ultimately prevail with painful consequences. A few more things your ancestors could tell you. Would they be interested in your opinions, if you were right in all the arguments, or would they look at what you actually did in your life? Would they notice that you were a “spectator,” “commentator,” “critic,” or that you were an example and left traces of a meaningful life? Would they notice what you did for your own life? What did you do for your (and their) kin and descendants? If you made them stronger? If you contributed in any way to the life of your neighbors, communities, by sharing your talents? If you made the life of others even just a little better? Not by just pure existence, avoiding mischiefs or misbehaviors, but by your actions? Would they be proud of your life? No matter what answers I am getting for myself to these questions, the thought to make my ancestors proud guides my most important decisions and actions.