The Polish State Archives Project

What is the Polish State Archives ?
What is the Polish State Archives – JRI-Poland Project ?
What information is available already in the JRI-Poland Database for this project ?
When will the indices for my town be available in the JRI-Poland Database ?
Who decides which archive will be indexed ?
How do I find out which archives branch holds the records to the towns in which I am interested ?

Q:  What is the Polish State Archives ?

A:  The Polish State Archives is the governmental body responsible for preserving the vital and legal records of the nation of Poland which are more than 100 years old. There are more than 80 branches of the archives (repositories) around Poland where documents and registers from nearby towns are stored.

To learn more visit the web site of The Polish State Archives.

Q:  What is the Polish State Archives – JRI-Poland Project ?

A:  An historic agreement between Jewish Records Indexing - Poland and the Polish State Archives was signed in July, 1997, to create a computerized, Internet-searchable database of approximately five to seven million Jewish birth, marriage and death records (called "vital records") of Poland from the last part of the 19^th century. The records mentioned in the agreement are those Jewish vital records not microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints ("LDS"). In general, they tend to cover the years 1860-70 to 1898.

In some cases, the indexing will include registers from years in the earlier period which were somehow excluded in the LDS microfilming project in Poland. In other cases, the indexing will be for the records of towns entirely overlooked in the microfilming work.

JRI-Poland is NOT microfilming these registers. A database of indices is being created from the index pages in the vital record registers.

Q:  What information is available already in the JRI-Poland Database for this project ?

A:  Indexes for the Polish State Archives Project become available as the fundraising for each town is completed.

For a complete listing of records already included in the JRI-Poland database, read our data contents file.

Q:  When will the indices for my town be available in the JRI-Poland Database ?

A:  There are several concurrent projects (archive branches) underway and the status changes rapidly. As of March 1999, the Polish State Archives – JRI-Poland Project had completed the indexing of the records in two archives, Pultusk, and Mlawa, and work was underway on Nowy Dwor. The status of all projects can be found on the Polish State Archives – JRI-Poland, Project Status Report.

Q:  Who decides which archive will be indexed ?

A:  To a great extent, this depends on the availability of a volunteer to act as the Archive Coordinator. The Archive Coordinator will typically have a strong research interest in one or more of the towns whose Jewish vital records are held in the specific branch of the Polish State Archives. The principle responsibility of the Archive Coordinator is to find and appoint Town Leaders to spearhead the fundraising for the indexing of the Jewish vital records for each of the towns in the archives.

In some cases, the records in a selected branch of the archives may be temporarily unavailable for indexing due to renovations or other unanticipated reasons. The final decision rests with the Polish State Archives.

Q:  How do I find out which archives branch holds the records to the towns in which I am interested ?

A:  Refer to Jewish Roots in Poland: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories (Miriam Weiner, Routes to Roots Publishing Inc.) If you have an interest in volunteering to be an Archive Coordinator, contact JRI-Poland Project Coordinator, Stanley Diamond.