IN THIS ISSUE... KSIÇGIMETRYKALNEISTANU CYWILNEGO WARCHIWACH PANSTWOWE WPOLSCE [Metrical and Civil Registration Books in the Polish State Archives] Introduction by Hanna Krajewska translated by Dr. George Alexander 3 KIELCE JOURNEY by Todd Lefkowitz 1 4 BOOK REVIEW: DEATH COMES IN YELLOW: SKARZYSKO-KAMIENNA SLAVE LABOR CAMP, by Felicja Karay reviewed by Mark Froimowitz 1 8 Qpecial interest Group BOOKS OF RESIDENTS (KSIEGILUDNOSCI) AND OTHER BOOKS OF REGISTRATION by Fay Bussgang 2 3 journal NEWS AND NOTES 2 7 • Vital Records Recorded in Other Towns • Kielce-Radom Family Finder EXTRACT DATA IN THIS ISSUE 2 8 • KLIMONTÔ W DEATHS 1826-185 3 by Ronald Greene 2 9 • CHMIELNI K BIRTHS 1876-188 4 A^ journoC oj^fcwisf t by David Price 4 5 pu6CisFiccf ^ua MAP of Kielce and Radom Gubernias 7 1 covcrinjjtfic (3-u6ernias of GLOSSARY, PRONUNCIATION GUIDE ... 72 and ...but first a word from your editor 2 of the ÇKJngdo m of Roland as defined fr^ the boundaries as tfte^ existe^ 1867-1917 Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Volum e 4, Number 3 Summer 2000 ... but first a word from our editor I'm ofte n aske d "Ho w do you decide which town's extracts to run in each issue?", or more bluntly "Whe n are you going to do my town?". Th e answer to that question is, of course: "When are you going to do your town?". Whic h extracts appear in which issue is purely a function o f what we have available, ^Journal created by our volunteer extractors. I n each issue, I try to ISSN No. 1092-8006 archive a balance: geographically between the two gubernias; ©2000, all material this issue between births, marriages, and deaths; and between time periods. I also try to introduce one "new" town in every issue published quarterly by the — a town for which we have never published extracts before. KIELCE-RADOM Unfortunately, thi s is the first issue in which the last goal — Special Interest Group (SIG) to introduce a "new" town — was not achieved. U p until now, our fifteenth issue, we have published extracts for a never-before a non-profit, informal world-wid e published town in each issue. Bu t as of now, there are none body of individuals interested in Jewish available. S o the extracts of Jewish vital records from LD S genealogical research from Kielce and microfilms i n this issue are from town s for which we have Radom, two gubernias in the Kingdom previously published extracts: Chmielnik (Stopnica district, of Poland.as defined by the boundaries Kielce gubernia): all microfilmed birth records covering 1876 - as they existed from 1867-1917 . 1884; and 1826-185 3 death records from the town of Klimontôw (Sandomierz district, Rado m gubernia). ADVISORY GROUP: There are over sixty towns in our region which have Jewish "Warren Blatt, Editor vital records on microfilm. W e have published extracts from 21 Mark Froimowitz, Coordinator of them. I sincerely hope that we can publish extracts from the other forty-plus towns. Bu t only you can make that happen. VISIT OUR WE B PAGE In this issue we again have an assortment of articles which www.jewishgen.org/krsig should be of interest to our readers: The translation of the introduction to the Polish State Archives' new inventory o f all Subscriptions and all administrative their vital records, detailing the history of vital records-keepin g correspondence should be directed to: throughout Poland; a travelogue of a recent visit to Kielce; and a KIELCE-RADOM SIG, review of a book on the Skarzysko-Kamienna slave labor camp. Mark Froimowitz, Coordinator Also in this issue is an article by Fay Bussgang on a 90 Eastbourne Rd. fascinating under-utilized research source: Books of Residents Newton, MA 0245 9 and other Books of Registration in Poland. Whil e the article e-mail: [email protected] describes these records for towns outside of the Kielce-Radom Phone: (617) 527-4036 region, it is know that these records also exist for a few towns within our region. I f you have any reports, positive or negative, All matters relating to research and about the existence of such records for towns in our region, please let us know. editorial articles should be directed to: I'd again like to take this opportunity to remind people of Warren Blatt, Editor Jewish Records Indexing-Poland's "Polis h State Archives" 8 Bishops Forest Drive project, t o obtain indexes of non-microfilmed Jewis h vital Waltham,MA 02452-880 1 records of the late 19t h century. Ther e are still no Archive e-mail: [email protected] g Coordinators for the seven archives holding the Jewish vital records for towns in Kielce and Radom gubernias. N o work Dues (U.S. funds) are: will be done at an archive until someone volunteers to be the $26.00 forU.S., Canad a and Mexico "Archive Coordinator" fo r that archive. Se e page 26 of IV: 1 $32.00 for all others (Winter 2000) issue, and get in touch with JRI-Poland to [add $6.00 for overseas airmail delivery participate in this important endeavor. A t the upcoming 20th instead of surface mail delivery] International Conference o n Jewish Genealogy in Salt Lake City, JRI-Poland will hold workshops on Sunday July 9th to train I Archive and Shtetl Coordinators for this project. •s t. Summer 2000 Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Volum e 4, Number 3 Ksiçgi Mettykalne i Stanu Cywilnego w Archiwach Paristwowe w Polsce Book Notes, by Warren Blatt Ksiçgi Meîrykalne i Stanu Cywilnego w Archiwach Panstwowe w Polsce. Informator. ,„• Naczoln a Dyrokeja Archiwù- ,- [Metrical and Civil Registration Books in the iy Çcntraln y (ttrodek Infonnacjp Polish State Archives: Guidebook]. Prepare d by Ann a Laszuk . (Warszawa : Naczeln a Dyrekcja Archiwô w Paristwowyc h [Mai n Office of State Archives], 1998). Introduction by Hann a Krajewska . Editor : Aleksandr a Belerska. 46 9 + xvii i pages . ISB N 83-86643-57-9. This book, published i n 199 8 by the Polish State Archives, is an inventory of all vital records (birth, marriage and death records) in all branches of the Archives. Thi s is the Polish government's first attempt to compile a comprehensive lis t of these records , store d i n th e sevent y differen t branches of the Archives. Entirely in Polish, this book consists of a ten page introduction describin g the history o f vital records keepin g i n Polan d (whic h ha s bee n translated into English by Dr. George Alexander for the Kielce-Radom SIG Journal, and appears on Cywilnego (USC) offices. Thirdly , Jewish Roots the following pages), a list of the seventy archives in Poland also lists many other types of records and thei r addresse s (page s xiv-xvii) , an d 46 9 other than vital records, beyond the scope of the pages of inventory, alphabetical by town. Polish State Archive's inventory for this book. The inventories are easy to use — there are The on e typ e o f recor d relevan t t o ou r only a fe w word s o f Polish yo u nee d to know : research which the PSA book does cover and is mojzeszowe means Jewish , an d U M Z refer t o omitted fro m Jewish Roots in Poland i s th e births, marriage s an d death s respectively . Th e 1808-1825 Napoleonic civil registration records. few othe r Polish abbreviation s used i n the book During thi s period , th e vita l record s o f al l are listed at the end of the introduction. religions wer e recorde d i n the Roma n Catholi c civil registers in the Duchy of Warsaw and later How do the contents of this book differ from Kingdom of Poland. the inventories in Miriam Wiener's Jewish Roots in Poland? (reviewe d i n Kielce-Radom SIG In comparing the entries for various Kielce- Journal 11:2) . Firstly , thi s boo k cover s al l Radom area towns between the two books, there religious groups , while Jewish Roots in Poland are difference s i n nearl y ever y case . I n mos t covers only Jewish records. Secondly , this book cases, the PSA's Informator contains one or two is concerned only with vital records at the Polish additional years worth of acquisitions, and more State Archives, while Jewish Roots in Polandalso detailed information regarding gaps in the records. inventories those vital records less than 100 years But thi s leve l o f detai l appear s t o var y from old hel d a t th e variou s loca l Urza d Stan u archive to archive. Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Volume 4, Number 3 Summe r 2000 Introduction to Ksiçgi Metrykalne i Stanu Cywilnego w Archiwach Panstwowe w Polsce [Metrical and Civil Registration Books in the Polish State Archives) By Hanna Krajewsk a Translated from the Polish by Dr. George Alexander. Edite d by Warren Blatt. "Metryka" (in Latin, matricula) denotes a basis, a source of something. I n a more specific meaning, it was used to define entries , registries, census listings of people. Th e term "metryka" was used i n several meanings: as a book for entries of births, baptisms, marriages and funerals, thus, as a metrical book, but also as a individual document, a certificate, also as a collection of old lists and formal government documents, as well a s a separate ite m i n a n office , an d eventually i n a n archive , fo r exampl e the Royal Polish Metric a {Metryka Koronna), Lithuanian Metrica {Metryka Litewska, Lietuvos Metrika).