timothy1's Page

Hi Timothy,

You need to know exactly where your father was born. In Poland research has to be carried out in the parish records if the person's records you are looking for are less than 100 years old. So if your father was born after 1910 then you would write a letter to the parish priest (adding a small donation for a copy of your father's/relatives birth/christening certificate). If the person's records you are looking for are more than a 100 years old then you still need to know in which parish your family member was born in and then you will have to do your research in the regional archives which are associated with the parish church in which you are interested in. There are government archives as well as church archives.

If your father was born in Lodz then it would be useful to know the name of the church/synagog (as you don't specify the year of your father's birth it's or his religious upbringing it's a bit difficult to pinpoint exactly where you should start looking for documents). The other thing that you could consider is contacting any know relatives at the last address you father lived in in Lodz. After WWII many families returned to live in the same flats that they had lived in before WWII. Knowing your father last address in Lodz may help you to find the name of the church he may has attended when he lived in Lodz.

I'm sorry that my reply may seem a trifle long but unless you can give me more specific details of what documents and the date you are researching it's a bit difficult to guide you. If you live in the States or in the UK and should you know the name of the church/synagog your father attended then one of the first places you could search are the Mormans website on www.familysearch.org where you could find out if they have the parish records on film.