PoloniaRoots exists for one kind of client: the American whose great-grandparents left a Polish village and whose family lost the thread somewhere between the parish book and Ellis Island. We pick the thread up again, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Our approach
What we research
The whole journey of a Polish-American family: parish and civil registers in Poland, the books of residents and conscription lists that show a household, the passports and manifests of the crossing, and the naturalization, draft and parish records written after arrival. Each project states which of these it covers.
Why a Polish record never stands alone
For a hundred and twenty years there was no Poland on the map. The same village could sit in the Russian, Prussian or Austrian empire, keep its books in Latin, Russian or German, and appear under three different names. A single entry only means something once it is placed in the right partition, the right language and the right decade, and that is the first thing we do with it.
Why we publish our prices
Working out what can be found for a family is already research, so a free estimate is either a guess or unpaid work. We would rather tell you exactly what a project includes and what it costs, and let you decide before any money changes hands.
How we make sure it is the right family
Every Polish parish has more than one Jan Kowalski. Before we attach a record to your family it has to agree with everything else we know: the parents’ names, the ages, the witnesses, the house number, the date the American documents give. When two candidates remain, you see both, with the reasons for and against.
What you receive
A PDF report in plain English: the image of each record, its translation, its exact citation, and a short narrative that ties the generations together. The searches that came back empty are listed too, because they save the next researcher, or your grandchildren, from repeating them.
Our commitments
- We cite the original page, never just an index or someone’s online tree
- The price you pay at checkout is the price of the project, full stop
- If a search fails, you are told where, why and what else could be tried
- Difficult findings, such as a birth outside marriage or a second family, are explained privately and with care
- Your family’s information is used for your research and nothing else