Polish Genealogy Research

Find the records — and the story — behind your Polish roots.

Whether you need documents to prove Polish citizenship, or you simply want to know where your family came from, we search the Polish and international archives for you — state, church and civil records, wherever your ancestors lived.

Tell us what you're looking for → See real research cases

Based in Kraków · Direct access to Polish state, church & diocesan archives

Child looking on old photography of her ancestors
Where our research helps

Documents for citizenship — or the story of your family

Documents for citizenship

You're pursuing Polish citizenship and need solid proof

Confirmation by descent is a document-driven process. If you're missing the records that prove your ancestor was Polish, our research is often the first step — we find the specific documents your application needs.

  • Birth, marriage and death certificates of your ancestors
  • Proof of Polish citizenship — old passports, registration cards
  • Records from Polish state, church and parish archives
  • Bridging documents where names or dates don't line up
Ready to use them? See Polish citizenship by descent → Need a specific certificate retrieved or registered instead? Polish vital records →
Heritage & roots

You want to know where you come from

Maybe citizenship isn't the point — you want to understand your family's past: where they lived, what happened to them, the branches that scattered. We go as deep as you'd like.

  • Tracing your family line back through the generations
  • Reconstructing your ancestors' history and their world
  • Locating living relatives and rightful heirs
  • Interpreting DNA results, and researching lost family property
Where we search

The archives, not just the databases

Online indexes only go so far. We work the original sources — on site, document by document — across present-day and former Polish lands.

State archives
The largest holdings of birth, marriage and death records, censuses and passport files.
Church & parish records
Baptisms, marriages and burials in parish books reaching back to the 1700s.
Civil registry offices (USC)
Modern vital records held by local registry offices across Poland.
Military & institutional
Service files and records from Polish forces and institutions, including 1918–1945.
Borders moved, and families with them. Many people of Polish descent have ancestors who lived in what is now Ukraine, Belarus or Lithuania — we research those former Polish lands too, working with records in Polish, German, Russian, Latin and Hebrew.
How the search works

The trail follows what happened to your family

There's rarely a single archive with the answer. Where we look depends on your family's story — emigration, war, displacement — and often the records sit far from where you'd expect.

In Poland and abroad
We search institutions inside Poland and in other countries that hold Polish-related records — the paper trail rarely stays in one place.
Former Polish lands
Where borders shifted, we follow records into what is now Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania — regions that were once Polish.
Points of arrival
Immigration records and ship manifests at the destination often reveal original names, hometowns and the relatives left behind.
Where Poles fought
Poles served across Europe, and institutions in several countries preserve records tied to those wartime paths and formations.
War, deportation & displacement
Deportation lists, refugee-camp and forced-labour records, and worker registries can document families scattered by the war.
Jewish records & institutions
For families of Polish-Jewish heritage, dedicated archives and institutions often hold what local records lost.
How we work

From what you know to a documented answer

01
You share what you know
Names, places, a few dates, and what you're hoping to find — the more detail, the faster the start.
02
Initial analysis & plan
We assess feasibility and send you a research plan and quote — no blind commitment.
03
Archival research
Our researchers work the relevant Polish and foreign archives, document by document.
04
Your records & report
You receive every record found — and, for deeper projects, a documented family narrative. Where a document needs translating, we can arrange it.
Real research cases

What a search actually looks like

1920s immigration · US
Only Americanized names, no town — rebuilt from scratch
The challenge
Client born in New York knew only the Americanized names of his grandfather and family. The US death certificate said only "Poland" — no town, no original names, no great-grandparents.
The outcome
A US marriage certificate revealed both great-grandparents; cross-referenced with the 1930 census and Ellis Island manifests to recover original names and the last residence in Poland. Then the 1913 marriage certificate (Białystok archdiocesan archive) and 1919 birth certificate (Białystok state archive) were located.
7 months of archival research · USD 590
Deportation & forced labour · UK
Katyń, Kazakhstan, India and a German labour camp — one family line
The challenge
Client near Kingston-upon-Thames had only family stories. His grandfather's father was shot at Katyń; the family deported in 1941. The grandmother was sent to Austria as forced labour. Dates, birthplaces and name spellings were unconfirmed.
The outcome
The grandfather's mother and siblings were found on IPN deportation lists; the father confirmed as a Katyń victim — fixing names, places and dates. UK arrival records showed the route via a Polish refugee camp in India; the grandmother's records were traced in German archives.
Multi-archive research across PL, UK & DE

Tell us what you're looking for

Every family is different, so we start with a conversation, not a form. Email us with your story and what you hope to find, and we'll come back with whether it's feasible and a research plan.

genealogy@polishdescent.com
What to include in your email
  • What you're looking for — documents for citizenship, family history, living relatives, or something else
  • Your goal — why you're searching, and how far you'd like to go
  • Your family details — names, places, and dates you already know, however incomplete
  • What you already have — any documents, old photos or family stories
Why families trust us
On-site archival accessWe work the original state, church and diocesan archives directly — not just what's been digitised.
Former Polish lands tooUkraine, Belarus, Lithuania and beyond, in five languages of the records.
Every fact documentedEach finding is backed by a source document. If a record needs translating — say a German document for a citizenship application — we can arrange that too.
A path to citizenshipIf your research supports a claim, we can take it all the way. See citizenship by descent →
Frequently asked questions

Polish genealogy — common questions

I only know a name and a country — is that enough to start?
Often, yes. Many of our cases begin with just an Americanized surname and "Poland." We work backwards through immigration, census and archival records to recover original names, hometowns and dates.
How long does research take?
Basic research typically takes a few weeks; multi-generation projects or searches in Ukraine, Belarus or Lithuania take longer. We give you a realistic timeframe in your research plan.
What if the records were destroyed in the war?
Losses are real, but often less total than families assume. Deportation lists, refugee-camp records, church books and foreign archives frequently fill gaps that seem hopeless at first.
Can research lead to Polish citizenship?
Yes — for many clients that's the goal. If the documents we find establish an unbroken line to a Polish ancestor, we can take your case all the way to citizenship confirmation and a passport.
Do you help find living relatives or lost property?
Yes. Beyond documents, we locate living relatives and rightful heirs, help interpret DNA results, and research family property — tell us what you're hoping to find.