By clicking on this page, you have indicated an interest in the records from Kraków or your search of the JRI - Poland database has turned up marriage and banns records with SURNAMES from Kraków. Please note the following announcement and instructions regarding this city/town and/or the noted records:

The Records and how to order copies

Extracts of the more than 23,000 Krakow marriage and banns records were uploaded to the JRI-Poland database on May 20, 2001.

Because the original registers are large, unwieldy, and difficult to photocopy (see photograph below), and because a flood of orders for photocopies could overwhelm the staff at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Genealogy Project (RSLF) at the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI), it was decided to fully extract these records. Thus, on-line search results include bride and groom, father and mother's names, mother's maiden name (where available), and town of birth. Search Results also include notes indicating when handwriting was impossible to read. In such cases, researchers may want to order copies of the records and do their own investigation. Researchers who would like copies of their parents, grandparents, etc., banns or marriage registration can, of course, order them. The Search Results page for the Krakow Marriages and Banns links to an order form to be sent to the Ronald S. Lauder Genealogy Project at the Jewish Historical Institute. Click here for the order form.

PLEASE NOTE: The Marriage records (fonds 998 -1010) contain more information than the Banns (fonds 991 to 997). To see if you can obtain additional information by ordering copies of the original records, refer to the fond tables below.

Thank you

A debt of gratitude is owed to many who made this terrific resource possible - starting with the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (New York) whose generosity enabled JRI-Poland to launch the project to index all records of genealogical value at the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw.

We also would like to thank are Professor Feliks Tych, Director, Jewish Historical Research Institute, and Yale Reisner, Director of the Ronald S. Lauder Genealogy Project who have played vital roles in this project. Yale's assistant Ania Przybyszewska helped move the files up and back from Warsaw as the data entry progressed and the long "quality control" phase lingered on. Finally, of course, Adriana Choros, JRI-Poland's full-time transliterator at the Jewish Historical Institute labored so intently to transcribe the data and to ensure that it would be as accurate as possible.

Our appreciation also goes to Howard Fink who did the extensive database manipulation to prepare the file for uploading. Finally we must say thanks to Michael Tobias who moved quickly to make the data live.

Surname List from Krakow Marriage & Banns Registers

A list of 8843 surnames extracted from these records can be viewed by clicking (above). This will enable you to see if your family names are included or if there are other spellings not picked up the Daitch-Mokotoff soundex. Note, where there are two names together separated by an "f" or "r" or "z", it indicates the SURNAMES of both the father and mother under which the bride or groom was originally registered.

Supporting the Project

To launch the fundraising for this project, the initial target was set at $3000. However, because of some of the hard-to-read handwriting, the decision to create full extracts, and the extensive efforts to ensure the best possible data, the actual cost is close to $4200. We urge researchers benefiting from these extracts to express their appreciation by making a contribution to the project.

As a special incentive, researchers contributing a minimum of $100 will be eligible to receive an Excel spreadsheet with the indices to the entire collection.

Contributions should be made to Jewish Records Indexing – Poland. Please specify "For the Krakow Marriage and Banns Indexing Project" on your check or other correspondence.
Click on the following logo for instructions on how to make a contribution.

For further information on the Krakow Marriage and Banns Register project, please contact Town Leader Judy Wolkovitch.

Return to JHI project page.

Surviving records less than 100 years old are held in the Civil Records Offices (Urzad Stanu Cywilnego) of each town. For information on the 20th century records available for your town, visit the Routes to Roots Foundation website, click on "ARCHIVE DATABASE" and then "Search DataBase" and enter the town name. Look for the town name in the Repository/City column of the search results. There are typically links to lists of available births, marriage and death records for the town. Note, however, the Routes to Roots Foundation database may indicate turn of the century records that have already been transferred to the appropriate branch of the Polish State Archives where they can be indexed for the JRI-Poland database. JRI-Poland is an independent non-profit tax-exempt Organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Under special arrangement, the JRI-Poland web site, mailing list, and database are hosted by JewishGen   Email: JRI-Poland WebMaster

© Copyright 2006 JRI-Poland