Societies and Organizations

It is an important idea to use the resources of your ethnic and religious groups. It is an especially great idea to join a Polish and/or Ukrainian genealogical association. There you will be able to learn about genealogical topics directly related to you and your research. Researching Polish and Ukrainian roots have unique concerns and stumbling blocks that others do not know about or need to know about. Such organizations that focus on areas particular to your interest will benefit you enormously. Also, Polish and Ukrainian organizations have publications, in which are articles of interest to your research, interesting information that deals with your own family research, as well as bulletin boards or surname indexes where members can post surnames and villages they’re researching. It’s a great place to network, share information and possibly find a long-lost relative!

Other worthy organizations:

FEEFHS (Federation of East European Family History Societies)

The Ukrainian Genealogical Society

Gesher Galicia: A special interest group for Galician Jewish Family History

• Polish Genealogical Society of America
• Polish Genealogical Society of California
• Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut
• Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts
• Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan
• Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota
• Polish Genealogical Society of New York State
• Polish Genealogical Society of Greater Cleveland Ohio
• Polish Genealogical Society of Texas
• Polish Genealogical Society of Wisconsin (website down)

Polish genealogical societies in Poland

• Kujawsko-Pomorskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Lubelskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Lubuskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Małopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Pomorskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Sląskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
• Towarzystwo Genealogiczne Centralniej Polski
• Towarzystwo Genealogiczne Ziemi Częstochowskiej
• Wielkopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne

Select Web Sites of Foreign Archives

These sites are a great place to learn more about the archives.  Although they do not contain information on specific village records, you'll find interesting histories, archival structures and complete addresses.

Polish State Archives (in Polish with link to English version)

State Committee on Archives of Ukraine (formerly the Main Archival Administration of Ukraine)
     (in Ukrainian)
    (Of particular interest is a new link in English on genealogical research through the archives.  Although one may still inquire directly to the archives, the State Committee on Archives of Ukraine also suggests the newly created Ukrainian Center of Genealogical Research.  Please visit them at their website "The Genealogical Tree")

Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine-Lviv (in Ukrainian)

• State Archives of Lviv Oblast
• State Archives of Ternopil Oblast
• State Archives of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast

Galician Related Links

The Greek Catholic Church in Lviv  Official website of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine (Latin Rite)  Website maintained by the Archdiocese of Lviv

1929 Polish Business Directory Project  Search for your ancestral town/village to download pages (in PDF format) from the 1929 business directory

New film "A Forgotten Odyssey"  Information on a new film which "deals with the forgotten tragedy of 1.7 million Polish citizens of various faiths and ethnicities (Polish, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish) deported from eastern Poland (Kresy) in 1940-42 to special labor camps in Siberia, Kazakhstan and Soviet Asia".

Galizien Online Homepage  Surname databases with over 70,000 names

JewishGen: Home of Jewish Genealogy  Extensive links to Jewish genealogical research in Halychyna / Eastern Galicia

Galicia and Bukovina : a research handbook about Western Ukraine, late 19th and 20th centuries  An excellent resource about Eastern Galicia / Western Ukrainian, written by John-Paul Himka. 

Partial listing of Polish casualties in the Austro-Hungarian army  About 4500 names of Poles from Galicia, who were casualties in the Austro-Hungarian army from 1914 through April 1915.  Provided by Paul Valasek at Polish Roots.

Kresy Links  A great place to find many websites related to the Kresy, or old Polsih Eastern Borderland.  Spend hours on the web viewing a wide variety of information!

Ukrainian Related Links

Ukraine GenWeb  Great source for Ukrainian genealogical research

Vital and Marriage Records From Greek Catholic and Orthodox Parishes in Former Austrian Galicia, Former Malo Rus, Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus (former Byelorussia)

http://www.infoukes.com/genealogy/  Great source for Ukrainian genealogical research

Scope Travel  Travel agency from New Jersey specializing in Ukrainian travel.  Very friendly and helpful, especially for non-native speakers!

Polish Related Links

Polish Roots  Best Polish genealogical site!  Many of the Galician-related sites above come from Polish Roots.  It's definitely worth a visit!!

Poland GenWeb  Great source for Polish genealogical research

Polonia in Lwów/Lviv  Great list of resources for contemporary Polish culture in that important city.

Polish telephone book  Search for names using proper Polish spelling and by choosing a province/województwo.

Surnames Map in Poland (www.moikrewni.pl)   In the box "Mapa nazwisk" (Map of surnames), type your surname and click "Szukaj" (Search).  For best results, type in proper Polish spelling.

Carpatho-Rusyn Related Links

Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogy Research Pages

Carpatho-Rusyn Society/

Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base

A Rusyn discussion/mailing list through Yahoo

Bilyi Kamin / Biały Kamień Related Links

Złoczów / Zolochiv travel website  Contains description and photos of the city of Zolochiv (Золочів) / Złoczów (in Polish)

Gazeta Powiatowa Oławska  Online newspaper for Oława district (in southwestern Poland).  A majority of ethnic Poles settled in Oława region after WWII.  The newspaper features many articles on the Kresy and the Złoczów / Zolochiv region.

Bilyi Kamin' / Biały Kamień Monuments (in Ukrainian)

District of Złoczów / Zolochiv Information Page

Bulletin Boards

Bulletin Boards are a great part of genealogy on the internet.  You can post a message about the surnames or regions you're researching.  And you can read others' posts as well!   Helpful Hint:  Please don't use a subject heading such as "family research".  Please try to be more specific, such as "Researching village of Jelichowice/Yelykhovychi" or "Surnames: Prokop & Skowron".  This is successful strategy sure to yield better results than the mysterious generalizations.

Ukrainian and Polish Bulletin Boards at Genealogy.com
Ukrainian Board at Genealogy.com
Polish Board at Genealogy.com

Ukrainian and Polish Bulletin Boards at Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com's Ukrainian boards (broken down by Ukrainian oblast)

Ancestry.com's Polish boards (broken down by Polish region)

Guest Book and Announcements for the Kresy.  Here you can find a bulletin board where people post information on lost relatives and friends for whom they're searching from the Kresy. (In Polish)

Mailing Lists and Listservs

Internet Mailing Lists (also known as listservs) are a wonderful way to interact with other genealogists.  You must sign up for the particular mailing list to begin receiving the emailed messages.  Each mail list has two email addresses.  One address is used to send commands, such as subscribing or canceling your subscription.  The second address is the address to which you send your email questions/queries.  If you send an email to that one address, your email is disseminated to all members of the mailing list.  Here are some popular mailing lists concerning our region of interest:

Galicia_Poland-Ukraine Group

Rootsweb Galicia Mailing List

Poland Border Surnames

Genpol Listserve