Polish Ancestry and Heritage Research Guide

The below is a summary of some of the initial resources accessible online, I have used when I first started pursuing my family's history. They can easily introduce you to researching your Polish ancestry and heritage. I wrote this particular post in English with those in mind who live outside of Poland and do not speak Polish.

1. Pick a side of the family or better yet a person you want to start your research with: a grandmother or grandfather. I'd start with one I already have some basic information about and expand the search from there.
2. There are many tools online, including heritage and ancestry (DNA) platforms, family tree builders, databases, and professional genealogy researchers offering to do queries (pol. kwerenda) both in English and Polish. Your best bet, however, is to speak to your family or family friends first and look through family pictures and documents. If they are not available, I'd turn to online resources next.
3. Online resources can be overwhelming at first. Heritage and ancestry platforms are usually one and the same, which also go by a “family tree website” name, and sell DNA testing and testing kits. They are great, but their main goal is to collect your personal data and sell you their services. If you have ordered a DNA kit, chances are it’s one of the leading services and you have an account already.
4. If you do not have an account, pick one platform, such as Ancestry, GENi, FamilySearch, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, 23andMe, or any other, and start building your family tree. Even though occasionally all of these platforms offer a free trial, please keep in mind that most of the time all of the following products are billed separately or are accessible based on separate subscription levels: DNA testing and results, document and newspaper databases, and family finders or tree builders.
5. Family tree builders also come in the form of free-standing software and applications you can install on your computer if your family and personal data is something you don’t want the internet to know. Perform a simple Google search to find one. Please be sure to test a few before you settle for one.
6. One thing is for sure — It's good to know some of the terminology and culture. Gain knowledge and understanding of both ancestry (DNA) and (cultural) heritage. Explore the differences between the two, before you dive into research. It is not necessary, but it helps.
7. Research the internet for a genealogist based in Poland or someone closer to you who speaks the language. Most queries can be answered remotely and the genealogist you choose can only benefit from having access to some resources (archives, repositories) locally.

So that’s on “How”... now’s time for the “Where”, which more specifically means concrete sources and links.

1. Please note that the above list of ancestry and heritage platforms is not an endorsement. I’ve simply listed the leading platforms in alphabetical order. My preferred ones are the two which, in my opinion, complement one another: the FamilySearch and GENi. FamilySearch is free to use by anyone and according to Science (science.org) both their user and document databases are by far the largest and growing exponentially. GENi is also free for the most part and from my own research, I know that it has gained a lot of popularity among its Polish users. GENi is owned by MyHeritage and its “Smart Matches” feature enables matching of Geni profiles to trees on MyHeritage. MyHeritage's full features, however, are paid.
2. The largest and constantly growing metrical documents database can be found at https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/. It is a Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Society) website, whose vital records database is powered by the time of volunteers and donations. Please keep in mind that if you cannot find any of your ancestors on that website, it might mean that their names have not yet been entered. Numerous volunteers process the digitized records from multiple Polish National Archives (Archiwa Państwowe) on an ongoing basis. You can search those databases at https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/. It can, however, be a bit of a challenge if you don’t know any Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and/or German. You’ll find most of those original (scanned) documents being issued in one of those languages.
3. In recent years, a source, which has helped greatly with the Polish ancestry research is Grobonet, a nationwide gravestone search engine, which is linked to a database of over 1,300 cemeteries across the country of Poland. You can find it here − https://grobonet.com/.
4. For those whose ancestors arrived to America by ship, the best source to track them down, is The Statue of Liberty ― Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Passenger Search − https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger. I found here several arrivals for some queries I have run, including my own extended family.
5. For additional records, visit Arolsen Archive ― International Center on Nazi Persecution and search under this URL: https://arolsen-archives.org/en/search-explore/search-online-archive/.
6. The largest collection of Polish military data is Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe (Central Military Records). It can be searched under this URL: https://wbh.wp.mil.pl/pl/skanywyszukiwarka_zaawansowana/
7. Culture.pl/en hosts one of the best portals on Polish Culture and on some of its neighbors. In recent year, the spotlight has been on Ukraine. Here you'll find a comprehensive glossary of genealogical terms − https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Glossary-of-genealogical-terms?language=en_US

This list is by no means exhaustive. You may need additional resources depending on the depth and span of your genealogical research. Please leave questions and comments in the comment section. I'll do my best to review and answer them. 

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