Archive for the 'History' Category

The Niedziałkowski Family and the Changing Borders of Poland

Monday, August 18th, 2008

While continuing my research on my ancestors, I’ve discovered two areas where the information I had entered into my genealogy database was deficient: identification of locations and source citations.

A Forgotten Odyssey

Friday, June 23rd, 2006

The documentary film, A Forgotten Odyssey, describes the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939 and the consequences of that invasion.
The truth is, the odyssey of the Polish people after the Soviet occupation was not forgotten.  It was hushed up by the West.

Warsaw Memorial to the Villages Overrun by the Soviets 
As the Soviets […]

Wiktor Dziurzyński and The Katyn Forest Massacre

Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

A synopsis of the events surrounding the Katyn Forest Massacre
in which Wiktor Dziurzyński was murdered

Sign on the Road near Katyn
“Memorial to the Polish Officers Who Perished in Katyn”
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/1791/ 
On August 23, 1939 the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed by Germany and the Soviet Union.  Formally, the pact was a non-aggression agreement between the two countries, but it also contained a secret protocol […]

The Church in Dubiecko and What I Found There

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

Yesterday, I showed how to find the parish church for a town in Poland by using a gazetteer.  Two other gazetteers that cover Galicia are the Skorowidz Miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Index of Place Names of the Republic of Poland) and the Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia by Brian J. Lenius.  There are others.
To be honest, I didn’t need […]

When Genealogists Become Family Historians

Monday, May 1st, 2006

The terms genealogy and family history are generally used interchangably, although the terms can mean quite different things.  Genealogy uses facts such as births, marriages, and deaths to define family relationships and documents these facts with source materials such as vital records.  Genealogy can show the descendants of a single individual or the ancestors of an individual.  Family history, […]