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In depth
AGAD (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Central Archives of Historical Records) is the Polish national archives in Warsaw, holding historical records from the Russian Partition (1815-1918), the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1815), and earlier Polish states.
For CBD cases, AGAD is the primary source of pre-1945 Polish records from the central and eastern territories (Warsaw, Lublin, Radom, Kielce). Records include civil registries (akta stanu cywilnego), parish records, census records, and cadastral records.
AGAD also holds records from territories that were Polish before 1945 but are now in Ukraine, Belarus, or Lithuania — including Lwów (now Lviv), Wilno (now Vilnius), and Grodno.
Related terms
Potwierdzenie posiadania obywatelstwa polskiego (confirmation of Polish citizenship) is the legal process by which the Polish government confirms that a person is a Polish citizen by descent.
USC (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) is the Polish civil registry office that maintains records of births, marriages, and deaths, equivalent to the Italian anagrafe.
A Wojewoda (voivode) is the Polish central government's representative in each province (województwo), who processes citizenship confirmation applications.
The Partitions (zabory) were the three divisions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria from 1772 to 1795, after which Poland ceased to exist as a sovereign state until 1918.
Galicia was the region of partitioned Poland under Austrian rule (1772-1918), covering what is now southern Poland and western Ukraine.
Haller's Army (Błękitna Armia, the Blue Army) was a Polish military force formed in France during WWI (1917-1919) that fought for Polish independence, and whose members are presumed to have been Polish citizens.