Genealogical & Historical Societies

Poland is a great place to do research because of the wealth of historical material that can be found at the country's many archives, libraries, and other repositories. A variety of records can also be found locally at civil registry offices, church parishes, regional archives, and elsewhere. Many records are also now available online at a number of great websites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and Geneteka, all of which have large searchable databases relating to Polish history and genealogy.
In addition to these great resources, we have compiled a large number of links that should prove helpful to your search, many of which are are listed below and on our other pages relating to Polish genealogy. If you would like a professional genealogist to help you with your search, please click below.

Genealogical Societies

​Polish Genealogical Society of America 
984 North Milwaukee Ave. 
Chicago, IL 60622
Website: http://www.pgsa.org/
​​Polish Genealogical Society of California 
P.O. Box 307
Buena Park, CA 90621-0307
Website: http://pgsca.org 
​Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, Inc.
8 Lyle Road
New Britain, CT 06053-2104
Website: http://www.pgsctne.org 
Polish Genealogical Society of Greater Cleveland
c/o St. Mary's PNC Church
1901 Wexford Ave.
Parma, Ohio 44134
Website: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohpgsgc/
​Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts
P.O. Box 381
Northampton, MA 01061-0381
Website: http://www.pgsma.org/ 
​Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan 
Burton Historical Collection 
Detroit Public Library 
5201 Woodward Ave. 
Detroit, MI 48202
Website: http://www.pgsm.org/
​Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota
P.O.Box 16069
St. Paul, MN 55116-0069
Website: http://pgsmn.org/ 
Polish Genealogical Society of New York State
P.O. Box 984
Cheektowaga, NY 14225
Website: http://pgsnys.org/
Polish Genealogical Society of Texas 
Route 1, Box 475-S 
Navasota, TX 77068
Website: http://www.pgst.org/
Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
(Germans from Russian Poland and Volhynia)
Box 905 Stn. “M”
Calgary, AB T2P 2J6
Canada
Website: http://sggee.org 

Historical Societies

​Polish Historical Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne)
Address:
Rynek Rynek Stare Miasto 29/31
00-272 Warsaw
Telephone: +48 22 831 63 41
Email: pth@ihpan.edu.pl
Website: http://www.pth.net.pl/
Polish History Museum
Address:
Mokotowska 33/35 Street
00-560 Warsaw
Telephone: +48 22 211 90 02 Email: info@muzhp.pl
Website: https://muzhp.pl/en/
​Immigration History Research Center 
University of Minnesota 
826 Berry Street 
St. Paul, MN 55114-1076
Internet: http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/ 
Polish American Archives 
Alumni Memorial Library 
St. Mary’s College
The Orchard Lake School 
Orchard Lake, MI 48033
Internet: http://www.stanford.edu/~rondest/PolAm96.html

Fraternal Societies

​Alliance of Poles of America (1895)
6966 Broadway Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44105
Telephone: 216-883-3131
Internet: http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/research/vitrage/all/aa/ihrc135.html 
​Association of Polish Women of the United States
7526 Broadway Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44105
Telephone: 216-441-1544
Association of Sons of Poland
333 Hackensack
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
Telephone: 201-935-2807
Internet: http://www.sonsofpoland.org/ 
Polish National Alliance of the United States of North America
6100 North Cicero Ave.
Chicago, IL 60646-4385
Internet: http://www.pna-znp.org/content/historyofpna/historybrief.htm
​Polish Roman Catholic Union
984 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622-4101
Telephone: 800-772-8632
Internet: http://www.prcua.org/ 

Societies in Poland

​BTH-G Bydgoskie Towarzystwo Heraldyczno-Genealogiczne 
​GTG Galicyjskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne 
​KPTG Kujawsko-Pomorskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​LTG Lubelskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne 
​MTG Małopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne 
​OTG Opolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​OTG Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​PTG Pomorskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​STG Suwalskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​ŚTG Śląskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne
​TGCP Towarzystwo Genealogiczne Centralnej Polski
​TGZC Towarzystwo Genealogiczne Ziemi Częstochowskiej 
​TG-HwP Towarzystwo Genealogiczno-Heraldyczne w Poznaniu 
​WTG Warszawskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne 
WTGG Wielkopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne "Gniazdo" 
​ŚTG Świętokrzyskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne "Świętogen" 
​PTH Polskie Towarzystwo Heraldyczne 
​SPSW Stowarzyszenie Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego 
​TBP Towarzystwo Bambrów Poznańskich 
​TGW Towarzystwo Genealogiczne Worsten
ZSP Związek Szlachty Polskiej

Websites

​http://sites.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/societies.html
FEEFHS Foundation For East European Family History Studies http://feefhs.org/
​http://www.pgsa.org/
​http://www.sggee.org (Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe)

Administrative Areas of Poland

Many Polish family records can be found online and at various archives and libraries located throughout the country. Many millions of records aren't yet available online, though, and many of these are awaiting your discovery at the local level at civil registry offices, church parishes, cemeteries, and elsewhere in Poland. To find these and other records, click on the links below to discover more information about the specific places where your ancestors lived. You'll find information on these pages that will lead you to the specific documentation you're searching for.

It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain areas in Poland have changed over the past few hundred years. For example, your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one area and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family might have been located in another area entirely. When looking for records it is therefore a good idea to search in adjacent areas. Following is a complete list of Poland's present administrative areas, along with links leading to where to find records in all of these places.

Voivodeships

Dolnośląskie
Kujawsko-Pomorskie
Łódzkie
Lubelskie
Lubuskie
Małopolskie
Mazowieckie
Opolskie
Podkarpackie
Podlaskie
Pomorskie
Śląskie
Świętokrzyskie
Warmińsko-Mazurskie    
Wielkopolskie
Zachodniopomorskie

Capitals

Wrocław
Bydgoszcz & Toruń
Łódź
Lublin
Gorzów Wielkopolski & Zielona Góra
Kraków
Warsaw
Opole
Rzeszów
Białystok
Gdańsk
Katowice
Kielce
Olsztyn
Poznań
Szczecin

Powiats

30 powiats
23 powiats
24 powiats
24 powiats
14 powiats
22 powiats
42 powiats
12 powiats
25 powiats
17 powiats
20 powiats
36 powiats
14 powiats
21 powiats
35 powiats
21 powiats

Gminas

169 gminas
144 gminas
177 gminas
213 gminas
82 gminas
182 gminas
314 gminas
71 gminas
160 gminas
118 gminas
123 gminas
167 gminas
102 gminas
116 gminas
226 gminas
114 gminas