Tens of millions of our ancestors’ identity documents
Can you imagine the Archive with information about millions of Poles (including the ones born in 19th century) in one place? Such Archive really exists and it is the Archive in Milanowek (about 20 kilometers from Warsaw). In 1951 the bill was passed which imposed on every Polish citizen the obligation to have an ID document. Every citizen needed to provide a few photographs, application form and some other documents like: previous ID documents, documents proving repatriation from the East, forced labor in Germany or being in Nazi concentration camps. The envelope also contained military documents, metrics with Civil Status or how many children one had and information about employment.
The envelopes with these documents are kept in Milanowek. Every citizen had one envelope. The contact details to this Archive can be found by typing “Archiwum Milanówek”
A hint regarding research of death records
Why should we search death records starting from the oldest years? One of the most important reasons is the case of married couple. When a husband died the woman very often married another man. Sometimes even after a few weeks of the time of her husband’s death. At that time people had lots of children who needed both parents to feed them and take care of them. When a woman married another man she changed last name. When it happened she would have her 2nd husband last name in the death record. That is why it is always important to check marriage records after the death of husband. This way one will discover if the woman changed the last name.
It would not be possible to discover if we start searching deaths from the most recent records