Page 1 of 1

Krakow Province Jewish Censuses 1790-1792 (instructions)

Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 4:09 pm
by logan
A very important collection of Jewish census records from 1790-1792 for about 240 towns and villages in what was then Krakow Voivodeship (Province) is now viewable (but not searchable) online, as scans on szukajwarchiwach.pl. The format and details vary somewhat by place, but generally list entire households, with given names, patronymic of head of household, relationships between members, and ages.

Genealogists able to link this information with post-surname sources might learn the name of an ancestor born in the early 18th or late 17th century. And the information could potentially help link families whose most recent common ancestor lived before surname adoption. However, for many researchers there might be a gap in the availability of later sources making it difficult to connect to these people.

The scans are presented as small thumbnail images, medium-size images that are sometimes legible, and full-size images that are usually legible. To begin using the collection, view the nearly 1000 thumbnail images at:

http://www.szukajwarchiwach.pl/29/30/0/ ... 0#tabSkany

To check if your town or village of interest is included, you can consult the fifth-seventh images at the beginning, an alphabetical list of places (I do not know whether it is accurate). After that, the images are generally alphabetical by place name. So, if you are interested in Zagorze, scroll to the bottom. Click on a thumbnail image where you think it might approximately appear based on the alphabetization. (This step could be improved if a linked index were created.)

The medium-size image will pop up on your screen, which might be sufficiently large for you to read the place name, which is usually near the top left in pencil. If you do not see a place name, click on the right or left side of the image (an arrow icon will appear under your cursor) to go to the next or previous image. Once you see a place name, click outside of the image or on the "x" on the top right to close the medium-size image, and then click on a different thumbnail image that should be closer alphabetically to your place of interest, repeating until you find your place.

Once you have found your place, or if you cannot read a place name on a medium-size image, you are ready to view the full-size image. In the bottom right of the medium-size image's pop-up are two icons in white on black circular backgrounds -- one a rectangle with marks at the corners and the other a "z." To view the full-size image, click the rectangle icon. Another window should pop up, probably without any image initially. Wait, and the full-size image should appear within a minute. The image will probably be too big to be displayed all at once, in which case you can move your cursor over the image, click with your mouse, and, while holding your mouse button down, drag the image around so other parts are visible. Below the image, centered, is a download link (you might have to use the window's scrollbar to see the link).

An example of a typical full-size image is the following from Radwanowice:

http://www.szukajwarchiwach.pl/29/30/0/ ... Kc411IGw2w

These scans were provided by the National Archives in Krakow. What a tremendous gift they have given us by putting them online.

Logan