IN THIS ISSUE.. VITAL RECORDS IN POLAND --A PRIMER by Warren Blatt 3 PVT. DOV BENETS 194 5 RADOMER SURVIVOR ENCOUNTERS 8 LDS MICROFILM MASTER (POLAND ) aaom by Michael Tobias 9 SURNAMES FROM WESTERN RADO M Speci^C interest Group compiled by Alexander Beider ...1 2 KIELCE-RADOM SIG PROJECTS .. 1 8 EARLY SURNAME USAGE SURVEY by Lauren B. Eisenberg Davis 1 9 DON'T LET A LITTLE EXTRACTIO N SCARE YOU by Lauren B. Eisenberg Davis 2 1 01997 EXTRACT DATA I N THIS ISSUE .... 2 8 •KIELCE MARRIAGES, 1869-188 4 by Dolores Lee Ring and David Zakai 29 •OLKUSZ BIRTHS, 1810-182 5 by Robert E. Heyman 4 0 of cjevvisft geneatog^ LETTERS 4 5 MISCELLANY: News of Interest 17 , 47 •| I coverin g Ifte of Glossary 4 8 "Tee a n Polish Pronunciation 4 8 but first a word from your coordinator 2 1867-19*? Page 2 Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Spring 1997 m»â. ... bu t first a word from your coordinator .Site Applause is the stimulus that feeds entertainers, but it's letters of approval that nourishes your volunteer editors. W e were thrilled and amazed at the overwhehningly positive response we received mt Group after our first issue hit the mailboxes. I t tends to make us try harder to meet the standards we have set for ourselves. Than k you, thank you, thank you!. Our journal may now be found in a number of places other than ; ; ISS N No. 1092-8006 the personal resources of our members. A growing number of Jewish genealogical societies as well as general and Judaica libraries ." publishe d quarterly by the world-wide have seen fit to subscribe to our journal. Th e more . KIELCE-RADO M subscribers we have, the better we can improve our ability to provide . Specit i Interest GroupJSIG) you with resource materials. A special thanks to Mike Meshenberg who came up with a long . a non-prôât,;Monna! world-wide : - list of potential members. , bod y of individuals teterestèd in Tell your friends about our new presence in cyberspace. Thank s Jewishgenealogical research fronr to David Egelman, we now have a page on the Web, telling all about Kielce and Radom, two gubemias in the K-R SIG. Yo u can find it at <wwwl .jewishgen.org/krsig/>. the ISngdOTiJcrf Poland as defined by From our questionnaires we are beginning to discover what you the:boundarie$ as they existed from : want from our SIG in the way of information. Res t assured that •---;_- -----v> ^ 3867-1917. - ;;;T:: , we'll try to satisfy everyone, but it takes time... and more importantly, it takes fellow members like yourselves to help us. ; MMSOR Y GROUP: We are enclosing a copy of the questionnaire to all those who have • V Warre n Blatt , yet to reply. Pleas e return them as quickly as possible. ; UutenDavi s ='-. We are in particular need of translators-Polish especially, Gene Stem, Coordinator Russian, Hebrew and Yiddish-to help translate and extract the material we have available. W e also need the names and addresses of landsmanshaften, burial societies and their cemeteries and an R-RSÎG WEB PAGE inventory of their tombstones. W e need you to come forward with the resources you have that would be helpful to other members such as census information of Polish towns, tombstone transcriptions, photographs and such. ^membership questions,, etc^shouid be Practically any of us can learn the techniques that add so much - . : directe d to: T to our own personal family histories — extracting. Chec k out the article by Lauren Davis, who heads the research end of our group, for a better insight into what's involved. The n contact us to :•': :{kneSpm , volunteer your services. W e can use the help. Also in this issue you'll find Warren Blatt's informational piece FL32752 ÛJ^jA. on researching Polish vital records and an explanation of how to and what it means to extract vital information from the Polish records filmed b y the LDS (Mormon) Family History library, an explanation Phone: §(S7) 788-3898; of a new database regarding those microfilms by Michael Tobias, and more names, names, names: of a few Radomer survivors found by Pvt Dov Benet after WWIL Alexander Beider's continuing index "^ al l quaitraty.publicatbnsfor'flie C of Jewish surnames from western Radom gubemia and extract data from Kielce (marriages) and Olkusz (births), plus other interesting material in our "letters" department and elsewhere. -- Annual-dues (U.S.iunds) are: - Read on... then tell us what you think. $24.00 for UfS.;.Canadâ and Mexico 7:1: ": : \$30-Ô0 forMâtheiS: _ ;1:>L Spring 1997 Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Page 3 Vital Records in Poland - A Primer by Warren Blatt Poland has always had an excellent system of Records before 1896: civil registration o f vital records (birth, marriag e Records older than 10 0 years are held a t the and death records), better than most U.S. States. various Stat e Archive s branche s o f th e Polis h In what became the Kingdom of Poland (Russia n State Archives . Al l correspondenc e mus t g o Poland), civi l registratio n bega n i n 1808 , an d through the main archive i n Warsaw, whic h wil l most o f th e record s surviv e t o thi s day . Thes e forward you r reques t t o th e respectiv e regiona l documents ar e extremel y informativ e — fo r archive wher e th e record s fo r eac h particula r example, a birth registration usually contains the town are held. Writ e to the State Archives at: names an d age s o f both parents , th e date , tim e and plac e o f birth, th e father' s occupation , an d Naczelna Dyrekcj a Archiwo w Paiistwowyc h often both grandfathers' give n names. ul. Dhig a 6 Skr. Pocztowa Nr 100 5 These record s ar e kep t i n man y differen t 00-950 Warszawa, POLAND archives and town halls across Poland, an d many have als o bee n microfilmed , an d ar e thu s The archive s requir e a $3 0 deposit , an d available fo r viewin g aroun d th e world . Vita l charge a n hourl y fe e o f $15 , an d $1 0 fo r eac h records less than 10 0 years old are still in each document copy . Response s usuall y tak e abou t town's tow n hall , an d record s mor e tha n 10 0 six months. B e sure to include dates and places years old are at one of the Polish State Archives in you r reques t — without knowin g a specifi c regional branches. Mos t existing records befor e locality, n o researc h ca n b e done , becaus e al l 1880 have been microfilmed b y the LDS. vital records are kept on a local, municipal basis. There are no nation-wide indexes. Se e the end of Records after 1896 : this article fo r tips on writing to Poland. Vital records i n Poland are recorded i n each town's Civil Registration Office (i n Polish, Urzqd LDS Microfilms: Stanu Cywilnego), an d thos e record s les s tha n The Mormons have microfilmed ove r 2,00 0 100 year s ol d ar e kep t there . Th e record s ar e reels o f 19th-centur y Jewis h vital records i n the supposed to be transferred t o one of the regional Polish Stat e Archive s branche s ove r th e las t 3 0 State Archive s branche s afte r 10 0 years . years — quite literall y million s o f record s — Therefore, birt h marriage and death records after dating fro m th e beginning o f civil registration i n 1896 should be at: 1808, generall y u p throug h th e 1860 s o r 1880 s (depending upon when they filmed the records of Urz^d Stanu Cywilneg o a particula r tow n — they coul d onl y film thos e [YourTown], POLAND records that were more than 10 0 years old at the time of microfilming) . The town's Civil Registration Offic e ma y or may not write back to you — it depends upon the To see wha t record s hav e been microfilme d whim o f th e clerk . M y experienc e ha s bee n and ar e availabl e fo r you r town , loo k i n th e about 50/50 . Th e US C clerk wil l provide onl y Family History Library Catalog™ (FHLC ) typewritten abstracts o f the vital records i n their Locality sectio n unde r th e headin g "POLAND , possession; the y wil l no t provid e photocopies . [Province], [Town ] - JEWIS H RECORDS" . The response will usually come back through the For example , "POLAND , KIELCE , CHEjCIN Y Polish Embassy , an d the y ar e no w reportedl y - JEWIS H RECORDS" . For Jewish records fo r asking for $30 or $35 per record, but this is not 1810-1825, se e unde r "POLAND , [Province] , consistent. [Town] - CHURC H RECORDS" . Page 4 Kielce-Radom SIG Journal Spring 1997 To find th e correc t province , there' s a Mormon microfilmin g a t th e Polis h Stat e cross-reference o n the first two fiche for Poland .