Archives we work in
Polish archives that hold most of the records we research — what they are, where they are, and how we use them.
National Archive in Krakow (Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie)
The largest archive in southern Poland and the holding institution for almost every source we research in the former Western Galicia — parish books, notarial deeds, cadastral maps, voter lists, military files, court books, and magistrate records. Archive number 29.
Read more →
AGAD — Central Archive of Historical Records, Warsaw
The flagship Polish archive for everything pre-1795 — Royal Chancellery registers (Metryka Koronna), castle and land court books, Crown Treasury records, and the foundational sources of Polish nobility research. Archive number 1.
Read more →
State Archive in Kielce (Archiwum Państwowe w Kielcach)
The principal archive for the former Kielce Governorate and Sandomierz lands — Russian-partition parish books, notarial deeds, magistrate records, and post-1918 administration files. Archive number 21.
Read more →
State Archive in Katowice — Cieszyn Branch (Archiwum Państwowe w Katowicach oddział w Cieszynie)
The branch that holds the records of historic Cieszyn Silesia — the former Habsburg Duchy of Teschen. Parish books of every confession, records of the Cieszyn Chamber estate, land and court files, and the largest Protestant parish in Habsburg Poland.
Read more →
Other Polish state archives (Archiwa Państwowe)
A network of regional state archives operates one per major city, each holding the local records of its region — from 19th-century parish books and notarial files to interwar municipal archives. We access them in person and through the szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl online catalogue.
- Białystok
- Bydgoszcz
- Częstochowa
- Gdańsk
- Gorzów Wielkopolski
- Kalisz
- Katowice
- Koszalin
- Leszno
- Lublin
- Łódź
- Malbork
- Olsztyn
- Opole
- Piotrków Trybunalski
- Płock
- Poznań
- Przemyśl
- Radom
- Rzeszów
- Siedlce
- Suwałki
- Szczecin
- Toruń
- Warszawa
- Wrocław
- Zamość
- Zielona Góra
Specialised national archives
AAN— Archiwum Akt Nowych w Warszawie
Records of the Polish state from 1918 onward — government, parties, organisations, prominent individuals.
CAW— Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe (Warszawa-Rembertów)
Central Military Archive — personnel files of the Polish Armed Forces 1918+, officer yearbooks, war decoration registers.
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
Institute of National Remembrance — WWII victims, deportations, communist-era secret-police files, persecution records.
Diocesan and archdiocesan archives
Catholic Church archives hold the original parish books for Galicia and other regions where these were never transferred to the state. Each diocese keeps its own records; visits are arranged in advance with the archive director.
AAK— Archiwum Archidiecezjalne im. Kard. Adama Sapiehy w Krakowie
Roman-Catholic parish books and bishops’ records of the Archdiocese of Kraków — covering the western half of historical Galicia. Access by appointment.
AAPrz— Archiwum Archidiecezjalne w Przemyślu
Roman-Catholic parish books of the Archdiocese of Przemyśl — covering the eastern half of historical Galicia, including former Greek-Catholic parishes. Access by appointment.
All Catholic dioceses and archdioceses in Poland
- Białystok
- Bielsko-Żywiec
- Bydgoszcz
- Częstochowa
- Drohiczyn
- Elbląg
- Ełk
- Gdańsk
- Gliwice
- Gniezno
- Kalisz
- Katowice
- Kielce
- Koszalin-Kołobrzeg
- Legnica
- Lublin
- Łomża
- Łowicz
- Łódź
- Olsztyn (Warmia)
- Opole
- Pelplin
- Płock
- Poznań
- Radom
- Rzeszów
- Sandomierz
- Siedlce
- Sosnowiec
- Szczecin-Kamień
- Świdnica
- Tarnów
- Toruń
- Warszawa
- Warszawa-Praga
- Włocławek
- Wrocław
- Zamość-Lubaczów
- Zielona Góra-Gorzów
Parish archives
Individual parishes — especially Roman-Catholic parishes in Galicia — often keep their own parish books (księgi metrykalne) on site rather than transferring them to a diocesan or state archive. These hold baptismal, marriage, and death registers from the 17th to the early 20th century, sometimes parish censuses (status animarum), confirmation records, and parish chronicles.
Working with a parish archive requires direct contact with the parish priest and an on-site visit — both of which we arrange. We travel regularly to parishes across the Archdioceses of Kraków, Przemyśl, Tarnów, Kielce, and Sandomierz, and on request to any other parish in Poland.