Ancestry Research

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Polish Ancestry Research, done for you

I trace your ancestors through the original archives of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus — working with the Polish, Russian, Latin, and German records you can’t access on your own. Every discovery is carefully documented and shaped into a clear, well-researched history your family can finally read.

Start with Origin Research

Why family history hits a wall

Most people make impressive progress on their own. They identify grandparents, great-grandparents, perhaps even the village their family came from. Then the trail goes cold.

American records rarely tell the whole story. Once your ancestors crossed the Atlantic, their history disappears into archives written in Polish, Russian, Latin, and German — often in handwriting difficult even for native speakers to read today — scattered across several countries and hidden in records that were never digitized.

This is exactly where my work begins.

The trail ends at immigration

U.S. records take you back to the ancestor who arrived – and then the paper trail crosses an ocean and goes quiet.

The records are in another language

Polish, Russian, Latin, German – often all within the same family line, written in old handwriting that’s hard to read even for native speakers.

The documents aren’t online

The records that matter are still held in parish and state archives across Central and Eastern Europe — most never digitized, many reachable only in person.

The map has changed

Borders shifted, towns were renamed, and the village your family came from may sit in Lithuania, Ukraine, or Belarus today — under a name no search engine recognizes.

How it works

Every project moves through the same path. We start small and certain, and only go as deep as the records allow — so you always know what you’re paying for, and why.

Step 1

Origin Research

Typically $500 · Around 3 months

Before anything else, we need one thing: exactly where in Europe your family came from. If you don’t know yet, this is where we find out.

I work backward from American records to pin down the essentials — where your ancestors came from, when they emigrated, and whether the records needed to go further still survive in the archives. By the end, you have a clear, documented answer and an honest assessment of how far your family’s story can realistically be traced.

It’s the smallest, safest way to begin — and it makes sure you never pay for research that can’t be done.

If the information you provide is sufficient, we’ll be able to move on to Step 2 right away.

Step 2

Deep Research

From $2,000 per stage · about 6 months per stage

This is where the real archival work begins.

I examine the original sources most people never reach — parish and civil registers, census returns, military and notarial records, and other archival documents held across Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus, in Polish, Russian, Latin, and German.

Depending on when your ancestors left and how many lines you want to follow, the research may take one stage or several. After Step 1, I’ll tell you exactly how many stages I recommend and what each will cost — so there are no surprises, and you’re never buying blind. I work in large blocks rather than piecemeal lookups, which is what makes the deepest discoveries possible.

Step 3

Your Family Chronicle

Priced individually

When the research is done, you can choose to gather everything into a Family Chronicle — a narrated book built to outlive all of us, and to tell the generations who come after you exactly where they came from, long after they might have forgotten.

Because every family’s story is a different size, chronicles are priced individually.

See what a Family Chronicle is →

Where I research

Your ancestors were Polish — but the town they came from might not be in Poland today. That’s not a problem. It’s exactly what I do.

I research across the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: today’s Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. For centuries these were one country, and millions of Polish families lived far beyond the borders of the modern Polish state. When your great-grandparents emigrated, the village they left may have been Polish then — and sit in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, or Belarus now.

So if any of this sounds like your family, you’re in the right place:

Roots in Galicia — southern Poland and western Ukraine, including Lwów (today’s Lviv) and the surrounding region
Ancestors from the Russian Partition — central and eastern Poland, and the old eastern borderlands (the Kresy)
Origins in the Prussian Partition — western Poland, including Poznań, Pomerania, and Silesia
A town name in Lithuania, Ukraine, or Belarus that your family always called Polish
Polish-Jewish roots — Jewish families lived throughout this region for centuries, and their records survive in many of the same archives

If your family thought of themselves as Polish, their records are almost certainly within the area I work — wherever the borders happen to fall today.

Records & languages I work with

Here’s the part most people worry about: “I don’t speak Polish.” You don’t need to. That’s my job.

The records that hold your family’s story were never written in English — and rarely in just one language. Across a single family line, I routinely work with:

Polish — 19th- and 20th-century civil and parish records
Russian — imperial-era records from the Russian Partition, written in Cyrillic
Latin — the language of Catholic parish books for centuries
German — including old Gothic handwriting (Kurrent) from the Prussian Partition

Much of this is written in scripts that are difficult to read even for native speakers today — faded ink, archaic handwriting, abbreviations that take years to learn to decipher. Reading them is a craft in itself, and it’s one I’ve spent fifteen years on.

And not everything is online. The records that matter most are still held in parish offices and state archives across the region — many never digitized, some reachable only in person. Where I can’t be on the ground myself, I work with trusted researchers on location, so the research doesn’t stop at whatever happens to have been scanned and put on the internet.

You bring the family. I handle the languages, the handwriting, and the archives.

What you receive

You don’t just get a verdict at the end. Every stage of research delivers something real you can hold, read, and share with your family. With each stage, you receive:

The original documents

Birth, marriage, and death records, census entries, and more, as high-quality scans straight from the archives.

Translation of every record

So a Latin baptismal entry or a Russian marriage record becomes something you can actually read.

Written narrative

Your ancestors’ lives told as a story: who they were, where they lived, the work they did, and how the pieces connect.

Clear family tree

Showing exactly how each generation links to the next, with every name backed by a source.

My notes and next steps

What the records revealed, what remains open, and what could still be found in a further stage.

For you / Not for you

This is for you if…

You want to know who your ancestors really were – their names, their village, their lives – not just a percentage on a DNA chart.
You want a lasting record of your family’s history to keep and pass down.
Your roots trace back to Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, or Belarus – anywhere in the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
You’d rather have an expert do the work properly than spend years stuck in archives you can’t read.
You see this as something worth investing in – a legacy, not a quick lookup.

This isn’t the right fit if…

You need genealogical proof for Polish or EU citizenship. That’s a separate legal process – I research family history for its own sake, not for passports or claims.
You’re looking to settle an inheritance or estate matter.
You want a guided heritage tour or help planning a trip to your ancestral town.
You need a single document pulled or one record translated as a standalone service.
You want to find and contact living relatives abroad — for that, DNA platforms like Ancestry or MyHeritage are the right tool.

Not sure which side you’re on? Start with origin research – we’ll find out exactly where your family came from, and what’s possible from there.

Answers to your questions

It’s a fair question — you’re considering meaningful work with someone you’ve never met, in another country. Here’s how I make that easier: we start small. Origin research is a focused first step, so you can see the quality of my work before committing to anything larger. Every stage is paid in installments as the work progresses, never all upfront. You’ll work directly with me — not a call center or a rotating team. After decade years and a magazine I founded, my reputation is the thing I protect most.

This is exactly why the process begins with origin research rather than a large project. That first step tells us honestly whether the records needed to go further still survive — before you invest in deeper research. I can’t promise what the archives will reveal; no honest genealogist can. But I can promise you’ll never pay for research that can’t be done, and you’ll always know what’s realistic before the next stage begins.

Not at all — that’s the whole point of working with me. The records are in Polish, Russian, Latin, and German, often in handwriting difficult even for native speakers today. Reading them is my job, not yours. You bring whatever you know about your family; I handle the languages, the archives, and the research.

Origin research (step 1) is typically $500. Deeper archival research (step 2) starts at $2,000 per stage, and after origin research I’ll tell you exactly how many stages I recommend and what each will cost — so there are no surprises. A Family Chronicle, if you choose one, is priced individually. You’re never committed to more than the stage you’ve agreed to.

Origin research (step 1) usually takes around three months. Each stage of deeper research (stwp 2) typically takes about six months, because real archival work — especially in records that aren’t digitized — takes time to do properly. I’ll always give you a realistic timeline before we begin, and I’d rather be honest about the pace than promise speed I can’t deliver.

Almost certainly, yes. I research across the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth — today’s Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. For centuries these were one country, and millions of Polish families lived far beyond today’s borders. If your family thought of themselves as Polish, their records are very likely within the area I work.

No — and I want to be clear about that. I research family history for its own sake: identity, story, and legacy. Citizenship is a separate legal process with different requirements, and it’s not something I take on. If that’s your goal, you’d be better served by a lawyer who specializes in it.

Every stage delivers something real: high-quality scans of the original documents, full translations, a written narrative of your ancestors’ lives, a clear family tree with every name backed by a source, and my notes on what was found and what could still be uncovered. If you’d like, it can all be gathered into a Family Chronicle — a book made to be passed down.

CONTACT

Let’s discover where your family story begins

Whether you have only a surname, the name of a village, or simply know your ancestors came from Poland, that is enough to begin.

Tell me what you already know, and I’ll personally explain what records are likely to exist, where we can begin, and how far your family’s story may be traced.

No obligation. Just an honest assessment of what’s possible.