Polish Settlers in Alberta and from Galicia

An immigration movement from Poland to Alberta was initiated in 1895. The Polish people were mainly Roman Catholic and came mostly from Galicia. According to the 1911 Census of Canada, there were 2,243 and in 1921 there were 7,172 Polish people in Alberta. The first two significant waves of Polish immigration to Canada were from 1854-1901 and 1902-1915.

When I started my genealogy and family research on the Kalynchuk family branch over 30 years ago I was told that my great grandparents, Elko and Anastasia Kalynchuk’s first son Wasyl, married a Polish girl from Vermilion, Alberta. When I traveled to the Ukrainian Catholic cemetery at Northern Valley with my Father, he pointed to a spot next to her husband, Wasyl’s grave and said that Anilia was buried there. She had no gravestone nor marker. A black cross has since been added.

Anilia Zaraska was born in 1895 in Mostys'ka, L'vivs'ka and came to Canada in 1913 with her father, Ivan (John), stepmother, Mary and two brothers, Wolodymir (Walter) and Michael (Mike). Mostyska is still in the Lviv Oblast (province) and close to the Polish border.

Screen Shot from Google.ca/maps

In 2002, I took on a big project with assisting my friend, Anne V. (Thoms) Lummerding with her Thoms Family History book. Her father’s family village is Stare Selo (Siolo) which is in the Przemysl Oblast and now in Poland. Stare Selo means Old Village. I made a trip to Salt Lake City to attend a FEEFHS Conference and in my spare time, researched in the Polish microfilms for Anne. I learned so much during this process. The records were in Latin which is easy to read (at least for me). Here is an example of what I found at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City. Now, a lot of this information is available online and has been digitalized.

The Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS)
https://feefhs.org/
https://feefhs.org/index.php/resource/poland



One of the issues in genealogical researching in the northwestern part of Galicia is that there was a population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine. Ethnic Ukrainians were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR and ethnic Poles and Jews were transferred to Poland. The population transfer took place between 1944 to 1946.

Population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_exchange_between_Poland_and_Soviet_Ukraine

World War II and Its Aftermath: Western Ukraine under Soviet and Nazi Rule
https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Ukraine/World-War-II-and-its-aftermath

Organizations:

Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society
https://kpkalberta.com/

Canadian Polish Historical Society
https://www.cphsalberta.org/

https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/

Canadian Polish Research Institute
http://www.canadianpolishinstitute.org/

Polish Genealogical Society of America
https://pgsa.org/

Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Association)
https://genealodzy.pl/index.php


Resources:

Polish Settlers in Alberta, Joanna Matejko (ed), 1979

Polonia in Alberta 1895-1995: The Polish Centennial in Alberta, Andrzej M. Kobos and Jolanta T. Pekacz (eds), 1995

The Polish Community in Canada, R.K. Kogler, 1979

History and Integration of Poles in Canada, W.B. Makowski, 1967

A Member of a Distinguished Family: The Polish Group in Canada, H. Radecki and B. Heydenkorn, 1976

The Poles in Canada, L.K. Zubkowski, 1968

In Their Words, A Genealogist’s Translation Guide. Vol. 1: Polish, Vol. 2: Russian, Vol. 3: Latin, Vol.4: German, J. Shea & W. Hoffman

A Translation Guide to 19th Cent. Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents, Judith R. Frazin

Polish Parish Records of the Roman Cath. Church, G. Ortell

A History of Poland, Oskar Halecki, 1992

Poland: The First Thousand Years, P.M. Dabrowski, 2016

Jewish Roots in Poland (book), Miriam Weiner, 1997
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Roots_in_Poland

Polish Pioneer Settlements
https://www.cphsvirtualmuseum.com/the-beginning-of-a-community.html

Polish Immigration to Alberta before the Second World War
https://www.cphsalberta.org/publications/polish-immigration-to-alberta-before-the-second-world-war/

Poles in Kalyna Country - From Krakow, Poland, to Krakow, Alberta: Kalyna Country’s Polish Connections
https://www.kalynacountry.com/poles-kalyna-country/

Polish Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/poles

Polish Canadians – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Canadians

Poland Genealogy
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Genealogy

Poland Online Genealogy Records
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Poland_Online_Genealogy_Records

Association of Polish Professional Genealogists
http://progenealogia.org/en/main-page/

Geneteka Genealodzy
https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php

Metryki.Genealodzy.pl
http://metryki.genealodzy.pl/

Polish Roots
www.polishroots.org/Home/Index

Polish Origins
https://polishorigins.com/

Researchers in Poland and Translation Services
Polish Genealogical Society of New York State
https://pgsnys.online/research/polish-researchers-translators/

Facebook Polish Genealogy Group (private group)

https://sites.google.com/view/polishgenealogygroup/home

Monument honouring Polish immigrants erected at
Pier 21 in Halifax, Copyright of Globalnews.ca