Polish grandfather

Oh, Curious George!! How I could use your help! I've been wondering if you were still on this list....

I do not know if my Grandfather had a passport. The remaining family members do not seem to have any papers on him. There is nobody left to ask. Is there an agency I can ask, here in Poland, that can TELL ME if he had a passport? A computer I can run this through? (I'm laughing because I have visited the Urzad Stanu Cywilnego's in Poland and have witnessed first-hand the absolute lack of computers....).

The lady at the Warsaw Maviowiecki office (where your cousin submitted for you) told me yesterday on the phone that I should write a statement that says that Grandfather's birth certificate cannot be obtained. So, simple enough - I can do that.

The whole problem with getting his birth certificate is that there is a different last name in the old log book. We used to have a longer last name, before the [Germans?] changed it on us. So I saw his birth record, in Russian hand-written script, but they would not give us the birth cert until we produce the marriage cert of his parents (my great-grandparents). And even if I can produce THAT document, the resulting birth cert would have a different last name on it than all my other documents (and different than my Dad's last name, who is the link in the middle here, and my last name). I can get both my Dad and his sister (my aunt, here in Poland) to write up statements that this is the same man, despite the last name...but that surely weakens my case. I was hoping to stay completely away from the longer last name, since alll the documents i have so far are in agreement with the shorter (new) last name...

Help! thanks. Christine.

 

Re: Polish grandfather

Its sounds like you've solved it!

 

Sorry about reposting this but does anyone have any ideas where to look?

 

Anybody know the best way to send documents from America (New York City area) to a small town in Poland?
These are vital documents (for my Confirmation of Polish citizenship) that I want to be tracked, and not lost.

Recommendations?

Thanks.
Christine--
celtdancer@yahoo.com

 

I've used Fedex, but its about $95. USPS is cheaper at about $84, but they will only track up to the US border. UPS and DHL are around $120.

 

I just got off the phone with the Polish Consulate in Vancouver and they say wait times for confirmation is currently 2-3 years.

 

I've heard varying wait times. The only thing that remains consistent is that submitting your paperwork through the consulate as opposed to directly in Poland will take longer.

 

Update

Hello everyone!

I posted some questions to the group ages ago (it is good to see you're still here Curiousgeorge). Below is an excerpt of my situation.

So the update... I submitted a Confirmation of Citizenship on behalf of my father in 10/2007. I have been in contact with the Consular General in Washington DC too quite frequently about my case.

I saw that you finally got your Polish passport Curious... congrats!

My question to you all is this --- what is the timetable really? I hear so many different things, and all I can get out of the consular general is that my application is "on schedule" and "everything looks good".

Any opinions would be much appreciated.

Thanks~

----------------

I am an an American citizen - born & raised.

My Grandmother emigrated to America from Poland, in 1955, and married an American (my Grandfather).

I have her birth cirtificate from Poland & citizenship papers.

The other side of my family is American, albeit, my lineage is all Polish - just further removed.

To add complexity to the matter, my father was born in Germany - if this even matters...

Granted I have just begun my search; but I am seeing all different things from everyone, and literally every resource, on the internet.

 

Re: Update

Hello from one New York Mike to another. If ANYONE official told me that my case "looks good" I would be very happy. I can't speak of a timetable, but I have ZERO documents from Poland, so at least you have that. The oldest document I have is my grandparents marriage certificate from a German town where the DP camp they lived in was after the war. I also have their naturalization papers from NYC, but I don't think that means anything to Warsaw. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

Re: Update

Interesting -- I have the same situation: no documents from Poland whatsoever. A copy of my grandparents German marriage certificate from when they forced to go to Germany in 1946. They were considered DP as well and then came to the States. The only difference is that mine never naturalized.

Have you met with anyone at the NY consulate? I've tried repeatedly to contact them but they never respond. I should really just take a long lunch one day and walk over there...

 

Re: Update

Seems like a common theme among consulates. Man, If I could walk over to my consulate, I would have marched over the first week, forget the phone and email. But they are 1200 miles away, so I had no choice

 

Re: Update

Well any progress you make will be good for me too! Susano when I first messaged you, I had a lot less than I do now. My uncle uncovered all of these documents that he copied and sent to me:

both of my grandparents naturalization certificates from 1954 (the photographs on them are hilarious)

my grandmothers declaration of intention from when she arrived in NYC in 1949 which revealed the ship they arrived on... The USAT General W.G. Haan. It also states that she left from Bremen Germany, that she resided in Leipheim Germany (in the DP camp) and she was born in Zychlin, Poland

their marriage certificate from Leipheim Germany, which was excited because it was the first document I ever saw from before they reached NYC.

both of their US passports, which I didn't know they had because I don't remember them ever leaving the county, really.

both death certificates

So I guess I am in much better shape than I was before. I received a reply back from Wloclawek Poland stating that most records were destroyed in the war, and if I wanted something official stating that, then to send $10 or whatever the cost is.

I have never been the NY Consulate... if I went what would I even ask? I have someone working directly with Warsaw on my behalf right now so I don't know if I need to go the NY consulate, but I will if you think it will help at all.

Mike

 

Susano, if I am reading this correctly, Germany had copies of your grandparents' birth certificate? I am in contact with Leipheim Germany and I am pretty sure they have the marriage certificate, do you think they could possibly have birth certificates too?

 

marriage certificate

Hi Neumann

Does the marriage certificate that you have of your grandparents include nationality/citizenship on it? I know the Canadian one does. For I am trying to get a copy of my grandparents marriage certificate. Since they were married in Schelklingen and am not sure where to begin tracking it down. I do know the date they were married, but I do not know if and which church it was done in, if at all. Any clues?

 

Re: marriage certificate

On the version I have, which is just a photocopy that my uncle sent me, it does not state their nationalities. However it does state that they live in the Leipheim DP camp, and mentions UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). However I went to the website for Leipheim, and there is contact info for marriage certificates. I had a German friend call them up, and they were more than willing to help. We sent an e-mail with every possible spelling, and I think they have at least one match, because now they are asking me to send them proof of my relationship to my grandparents. Have you checked if Schelklingen has a website?

 

Re: marriage certificate

Found it for you, here you go: http://66.102.1.101/translate_c?hl=en&s ... HVSwP8hHGA

 

Thanks Neumann. I looked into the website you mentioned in the previous message. I sent them a message asking for the information. Now I just have to wait and see what they have to say. At least I have some infor to connect him to me. But I am not sure if they will be acceptable.

 

Mike,

With respect to the document that I have that is sited as "Certificate of Baptism & Birth", it was provided to me from USCIS under FOIA. It was one of the documents included in the packet they sent to me when my grandmother arrived in New York.

This document is NOT a birth certificate. It is written in either Polish or German (I don't know either language well enough to distinguish on my own), but also includes the Latin and English translations on the same document. In fact, it specifically states that the document in provided in lieu of a birth certificate. It also indicates that that document is insufficient to contract marriage.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but every document I have on my grandparents is from the US government. As soon as I can save up some extra money, I'm hiring a lawyer to help me out as I do not have any contacts or exact locations in Poland in order to further my research and guide me through this process.

 

I just filed index searches for my grandparents via the link you provided me a few weeks ago susano. My grandparents were receiving reparation checks from the German government (well, I'm assuming that's where it was coming from) until the day they died. I wonder if those check stubs count towards proof. I remember reading somewhere that Poland only recognizes Polish documents. If that is truly the case than we both could potentially out of luck. I would hope the Polish government would give some leeway in cases like this, when it is well known that millions of files were destroyed in the war.

 

Yes I believe that is true BUT everything you provide to them must be translated into Polish with an apostille (I probably spelled that wrong).

My understanding is that the burden to confirm citizenship is actually on the Polish authorities BUT only from the information you have provided to them. If that information is sufficient, and it can be confirmed through records in Poland, then confirmation is granted. The less information you have, the less likely they can find supporting documents.

Someone out there may have to confirm my above statements and I may be incorrect there. Or it could be misleading in that you do still have to provide as many documents and information as you are able to obtain.