Though devout Americans, my Polish lineage ancestors were also proudly Polish. As a result it never occurred to me that they might have been of an ethnic or religious mix in Europe, that is until I began to learn history as a result of genealogy research.
Did you know there was once a migration of Scots into Poland, the Scottish surnames Polishified?
Actually there was considerable mixing in Europe in the 20th, 19th, 18th Centuries and past. Maybe not the American Melting Pot type mixing but more than we thought, as DNA proves. It's just that there was also a lot of trouble - migrations - forced movement and resettlement - genocide - border disputes - prejudice - politics - Two World Wars being played out that included tremendous horror, numerous uprisings, The Holocaust, ongoing issues related to what I call the battle for souls between Catholics and Protestants, and socio-cultural expectations that were not always compatible. So, I think people had to choose to self identify and if you said you were Polish when you left the Austrian Empire that included a new "country" called Galicia, not to be confused by the Spanish Galicia, it meant you self identified as Polish no matter what country it was. This ethnic identity was about your values, your lifestyle - such as your food, your clothes, style of house and church, your occupation, and how you got married and to whom - most important.
Today Poland is known for traditional Catholicism, having contributed a Pope who may someday be a saint, rural poverty, non-gmo farming, and a place where Jewish people tour to affirm or recover their family history.
All this tumultuous history our ancestors were living through makes for a certain stress for the researcher because location of documents may require more obstacles and, as much as I talk about fires being blamed for missing documents, well, there really are lots of missing documents when it comes to Poland research. This is what happens when enemies want to destroy your people - your country and burn and blow up houses of worship and use your tombstones for road.
Sometimes when you're aside someone whose traced back to 1600s in England or Germany it can feel a bit competitive and like you're a dummy for not being able to go back too far. I want to give you hope.
I'm calling it Poland research because the country of Poland didn't always exist but it's where you're now seeking documents even though you might find out your ethnicity is German Mennonite, or Carpathian Rus (also called Ruthenian Greek Catholic, Lemko, Boyko, etc.), or Ukrainian, or Russian or Scottish. You might also be Jewish or part Jewish and maybe not know it.
I feel the Holocaust that was played out in Poland also has the effect of emotionally upsetting researchers and there's some avoidance of learning truths. But honestly this is tied in with my only complaint about the Finding Your Roots genealogy show series: There's a lot of slavery and slave ownership and Holocaust revelation on that show and an asking for condemnation. (The only show I saw that traced back for a Christian Polish roots person was on Martha Stewart.)
I don't think we need to apologize or take credit for our ancestors deeds or ought to be held accountable or shamed, which happened to the actor Ben Affleck. I've met many who have some heritage linked to violence or the loosing side of war. I eish humanity would be at peace.
Who you are and what you stand for in this, your life, is what counts. And we as Americans long past the Civil War do not know what it's like to live in war on our land. We need to do more listening to those who have. I'm not hiding from soldiers who might rape me as one of my ancestors explained to her daughters.
I'm going to be telling you about some archives that include open source images and data. Please be conscience of following the rules and not reusing what you find in any way to hurt people today. (No perpetrating pain with Neo Nazi or anti Polish or anti Catholic stuff!)
Poland is a country that's experienced great hardship with crimes against humanity having taken place there while Occupied during World War I II by Germany. It's ironic because Russia was an allie and liberated Poland but Poles living in or near Russia faced tremendous bigotry similar to what Irish immigrants faced in America, such as being depicted as apes on anti-Polish posters by Russians. And Poles have found themselves subject to bigotry and prejudice in America too. The Polish joke always depicts Poles as stupid. I was hearing that crap into the 1990's.
What other country has to put that "no abuse of our images and documents" warning up on archival possessions?
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