How to find Birth certificates for 1800 and before for ppl born in East Prussia, Poland/Lithuania?

Question

There were a lot of changes geographically and politically in those areas and i am trying to establish a birth certificate for my ggg grandad Kazimir Janulin (1831-1904) and ggg grandma Kazimira Janulina (1841-1906; dont know her maiden name) both born somewhere around Merkine area (Polish/Lithuanian territory at the time) all i know is that their parents were from east Prussia area.

Answer 1

Hey anastasia,

Here are some sites for Polish/Lithuanian genealogy.

Answer 2

That might be a hard look - many records were destroyed in that area during WW2 and many were never recovered. Did these same grandparents emigrate to another country? Or one of their children? If so you may be able to get that information from immigration records. Also try other spellings as sometimes the immigration people were not really good at figuring out the correct spelling of unusual names.
If these relatives were of a particular church then you might try church records for their marriage banns, and christenings and baptisms. The death certificate of a person contains a lot of information see if you can get a copy of one of those-if you know the city where they died.

Many large libraries have genealogical societies you might check in with them for some advice .

Answer 3

If that's the area where they lived, that was called the "Russian Partition" and there were no birth certificates issued. You would know more than us whether your ggggrands were Jewish, Catholic, Ruthenian or Orthodox (in that area it could be either), but the only birth records would be at the local church in their sacramental books. Most of the Catholic records have been filmed by the LDS and you can order them from your nearest FHC. Most of the Orthodox records are not available in the US. Your best bet for finding those is to contact an Orthodox church in the US that's Russian or Ukranian Orthodox (Greek, Antiochian and other Orthodox priests won't be able to help you...all churches are autonomous and you need someone fluent in Russian). Ask the Orthodox priest to help you locate the churches in that area and help you write a letter requesting the info that you want.

The Ruthenian churches are considered one of the "rites" of the Catholic church, but they have their own bishops and their own dioceses that are separate from the Latin rite (what we normally think of as "Catholic") and their records are kept separately and under different rules. So you'll have to find a Ruthenian church to help you compose the letter and request the records (not to mention to help translate it). If you don't know of one in your area, you can look for on here:
http://www.catolicos.org/ritosruthenianbizcathchindex.htm

If they were Jewish, there are no birth records available. The Russians were quite good at destroying everything in Lithuania and extreme eastern Poland during the pogroms.

Any civil registers don't contain the kind of information we're used to seeing on a birth certificate. They're literally just large books that write the date, surname, first name of the child and the first name of the father. To access that information, you'll need to find a volunteer to retrieve it for you from one of the archives in Poland, Lithuania or Russia (depending on where that book went for safekeeping during one of the 2 wars).

Eastern Europe hasn't picked up on the West's addiction to genealogy and historical information. Very little will be on the internet. You'll have to think like we did 25 years ago in the pre-PC days when it comes to finding the information you need.

Answer 4

I see you've been given some good links for online research. Keep in mind that what you'd be looking for would not be birth certificates very likely but baptism or christening type entries, which points you at (whatever) religious institution. Some kept records over time better than others.

I don't know when and to where your Janulin family emigrated but if to America you may find more about them at castlegarden.org

Answer 5

Fine the birth certificate

Answer 6

Parish churches would probably be the best place to start.

Answer 7

Here are some sites that may help you.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/helpme.html

http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/Research.html

http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/?CIDA=414

Answer 8

See -- https://backgroundreports.im/birthrecords

Answer 9

ask them to take birth again if u can contact to them otherwise it is not possible.