****JavaScript based drop down DHTML menu generated by NavStudio. (OpenCube Inc. - http://www.opencube.com)****

Searches of the All Poland Database can be filtered geographically.  While some datasets pertain to a specific region of Poland, other datasets cover all of Poland, and cannot be filtered.  These geographic regions are based primarily on the historical pre-WWI jurisdictions, as follows:

Congress Poland   WWWWWWWW

Congress Poland = "Russian Poland" (in Polish, called Królestwo Kongresowe or Kongresówka).  The part of Poland occupied by the Russian Empire, 1815-1918.  The 10 gubernias (1867-1917): Suwałki, Łomża, Płock, Warszawa, Siedlce, Lublin, Radom, Kielce, Piotrków and Kalisz.  Today, this area is east-central Poland (except northern Suwałki, which is in southwest Lithuania).

Galicia   WWWWWWWW

Province of Austro-Hungarian Empire 1772 until 1917; Belonged to Poland between the two world wars (the Polish interwar provinces of Kraków, Lwów, Tarnopol and Stanisławów).  The latter three became part of Ukrainian SSR in 1945.  Today, this area is in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.

Russian Pale   WWWWWWWW

Gubernias (provinces) of the Russian Empire's "Pale of Settlement" which were in Poland between the two world wars.  Today, these regions are primarily not in Poland:

• Vilna Gubernia:  Became the Polish provinces of Wilno and northern Nowogródek between the two world wars.  Today, in southeastern Lithuania and northwest Belarus.
• Grodno Gubernia:  Became the Polish provinces of eastern Białystok, western Nowogródek and western Polesie between the two world wars.  Today, the eastern 2/3rds are part of Belarus, the Białystok area is in Poland.
• Volhynia Gubernia:  The western half became the Polish province of Wołyń between the two world wars.  Today, in northwestern Ukraine.

Prussia   WWWWWWWW

Areas which were part of the German Empire before WWI, and are in Poland today.
Between the two world wars, this included the Polish provinces of Pomorze (Pomerania), Poznań (Posen) and Śląsk (Silesia); and parts of the German provinces of Westpreußen (West Prussia), Pommern (Pomerania), Schlesien (Silesia), and Brandenburg.  Since WWII, this also includes the southern half of Ostpreußen (East Prussia).

For more information about the geographic divisions of Poland, see the JewishGen InfoFile "Polish-Jewish Genealogy — Questions and Answers", Question #15.

JewishGen Database Sharing:

Because of overlapping political borders over time, some regions are shared with other JewishGen databases.  Therefore, the same data is available in more than one JewishGen Database.

• Regions shared with the JewishGen Lithuania Database: Suwałki gubernia.  [See details].
• Regions shared with the JewishGen Belarus Database: Vilna and Grodno gubernias.  [See details].
• Regions shared with the JewishGen Ukraine Database: Volhynia gubernia, Lwów, Tarnopol and Stanisławów provinces.
• Regions shared with the JewishGen Germany Database: Prussia.

Copyright ©2006, JewishGen®, Inc.
Last Update: May 5 2006   WSB