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Church Research in Maków Podhalański

Polish Genealogy

Tim Firkowski

Thursday, 18 August 2016

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Church in Maków PodhalańskiMy Blog Posts have not occured that often the past few days, as I have been busy doing some client research in the church office

(Kancelaria) in Maków Podhalański. For those that wonder what it is like to do research here in Poland, you will gain some insight from this post.

I guess first and foremost, you must make some plans & know when the kancelaria is open. This is the only chance you will have ot do your research. There have only been a few times that a priest has allowed me research time outside of the office hours, so be prepared for a short research time window. sometimes the office has two blocks of time they are open in one day, so find their website and note those hours. Try to get as many records as possible during that time and then organize it and extract information between visits. This is very intense work as you have to think fast & ALWAYS keep a notebook with you to note what you already looked at and found. Making these notes will save you in the long run as your time is limited. Ask permission to take photos,

sometimes they will allow you take a photo of the page with your record of interest, but sometimes you may have to block out otherrecords on the page. Every priest/church has his own rules, so ask first otherwise your actions may not allow further research.

You will also want to allow yourself more time than you are hoping to spend researching. Indexes are not always available and you need quality time to search the books page by page. The other problem that occurs is that you may find that a person was not originally from the parish you are researching and you will need time to go to another village & church to continue your search.

The nun in the office was very friendly and was eager to help. She enjoyed the fact that I was from the USA as it gave her the opportunity to practice her English. She had been to the US once and visited San Antonio. Research was done during the short 1 1/2 - 2 hours blocks set aside for office hours, but during one day, she allowed some research outside of those hours. I spent long days of work getting records, analyzing all data, searching more & going through the cemetery. As always you should leave a generous donation for the church. They have managed to pass along those records over the centuries from priest to priest and in some cases, priests may have risked their lives trying to save records during times of war.

Church Office in the background

Inside the church in Maków Podhalański

An old church book

Some Marriage Records

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About the author

Tim Firkowski

I have been doing genealogy research since 2002 & have worked full time as a Professional Genealogist since 2008. I specialize in Polish and American-Canadian Genealogy. As a member of APG, I was the 2010/2011 President of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG). I have Certificates of Completion for studies in "Foundations of Forensic Genealogy" and "Advanced Forensic Genealogy Techniques". I have been a volunteer librarian at the local Family History Center, and a genealogy research consultant at “Ask the Expert” Ancestry Road Shows. I have traveled to Poland numerous times & researched in churches and archives. At conferences and special events, you may find me dressed up in my Sherlock Holmes outfit, or my Kujawy (the folk costume from the region in Poland where my ancestors came from).

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Comments 2

Guest - Leon Konieczny on Friday, 19 August 2016 08:00

I think you are in a beautiful part of Poland with the Tatry in the distance. One set of my great-grandparent are Górale, from Ludzmierz and Krauszów, near Nowy Targ. I was fortunate to visit those cities very briefly in 2010. I enjoy reading about your adventures.

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