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In depth
Galicia was the region of partitioned Poland under Austrian Habsburg rule from 1772 to 1918. It covered what is now southern Poland (Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów, Przemyśl) and western Ukraine (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil).
For CBD cases, Galicia matters because records from this region are held in: the National Archive in Kraków (for Polish Galicia), the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lviv (for Ukrainian Galicia), and the AGAD in Warsaw (which also has a Galicia collection).
Galician records are typically in Latin (Catholic parish books), Polish, or German. Jewish vital records from Galicia are held at the Jewish History Institute in Warsaw and the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem.
Related terms
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.
AGAD (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych) is the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, holding Polish records from the Russian Partition and earlier periods.
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.
A Wojewoda (voivode) is the Polish central government's representative in each province (województwo), who processes citizenship confirmation applications.
USC (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) is the Polish civil registry office that maintains records of births, marriages, and deaths, equivalent to the Italian anagrafe.
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.