How PolishOrigins Started
It happened in the summer of 2004. Nancy and her husband, James, arrived in Kraków and met with Zenon and his cousin, Cezary. They headed east of Kraków to the old central Galicia, today’s south-eastern Poland, Zenon’s homeland. It was Nancy’s first time visiting her grandparents’ places, and it was Zenon’s first time assisting a grandchild of emigrants on a journey to the land of her ancestors. The first two days were spent following traces of two of Nancy’s grandparents, visiting their home villages more than 100 years after they left them, and discovering, with more or less luck, family history in the old parish books.
What happened on the third day was the culmination of the whole adventure. They drove to the third village where Nancy’s father was from. There they met the kindest priest so far and, after more than an hour of digging in the books, Cezary suddenly looked up and said, “These people could still be living!” After a few phone calls made by the priest, they arranged to meet with one of the families. Nancy described what happened next: “They greeted me warmly and handed me pictures of Dominik and his brother Ambroży. I was shocked, because it was as though I was looking at photos of my own father!”
After this emotional and profound experience, we decided to help others discover, understand, and feel the same connection that Nancy and her family experienced in Poland. Nancy became the matka chrzestna (godmother) of this venture.
Growing a Community
We started with a simple website offering help with Genealogy Tours. Next came a second version where we added a Forum, and later the Surnames and Places databases. Month after month and year after year, Forum activity has grown. People just starting their family history journey have received invaluable support from experienced contributors who generously share what they know. Very often, these beginners become experts and then share their knowledge with others. The number of surnames and places in the databases increases every day, helping people from the same towns and with the same surnames connect easily. The PolishOrigins community is growing stronger, and our collective wisdom continues to develop.
Our Team
Our team has been growing, too. Even a single day-long tour requires a lot of preparation from both organizational and genealogical perspectives. That is why we say we are in a team sport. We are genealogists, guides, historians, folk dancers and singers, culture lovers, and life lovers. What unites us is that we are from here, and we are proud to share our insider experience and passion for this land.
The PolishOrigins brand is a registered tour operator. Our internal systems and processes have been tested in the trenches hundreds of times, and we continually improve them. Through years of providing genealogy and tourism services, we have acquired unique skills and developed our own know-how in organizing tailor-made genealogical, historical, and cultural tours. You cannot predict everything or control every event, but what we can control we strive to execute with excellence. This allows our guests to focus fully on the most important moments during their trip of a lifetime.
Since 2004, we have facilitated and witnessed hundreds of stories like Nancy’s. Some are described on our blog by our honorable guests. Almost all of our guests want to return, and many do. Some have visited Poland with us three times and are planning their fourth trip.
Each year, more family stories like these are being written. We know this is only the beginning of the journey. There are still hundreds of families waiting to be reconnected, thousands of family histories waiting to be discovered, and even more new family stories yet to unfold. Future generations — children and grandchildren of our guests — are waiting to experience these unforgettable, meaningful moments. This is why we are here: to make it happen, to reconnect families, and to help you uncover your roots in old Poland.