Post by piwo on Jan 10, 2008 9:51:20 GMT -7
You're not able to get Polish phone directories (for people, not businesses) on the internet, but I found a different directory that is available there.. SKYPE.COM - the internet telephone service.
Last night I loaded SKYPE onto my PC. It will not help me talk to my family because they don't have it, nor high speed INTERNET. But I met lots of people at the wedding in Lodz last summer, and exchanged contact information. So I thought I'd search for them. Whilst doing so, I started entering family names. Very interesting stuff!
When entering just the surname Harasim, searching for people in Poland, it came back with many names, and some similarly spelled names. Sometimes these other names ( Harasimiak for example) show up on someone's research and they are unsure whether it's a different name then what they are looking for. Old immigration records here are notoriously flawed with respect to spelling, but when you find that exact name in use in Poland, well, you can figure it's probably the correct name. So long as people have entered their actual names and not cryptic log-ons, it can be helpful. Sometimes the people give the name of their town and village as well, so that can also be helpful. You can narrow or expand your search criteria to make it as restrictive of open you want. I found it very interesting. Another look into a "phone directory" that otherwise you would not find...
I found my Polish teacher (now living in Scandinavia), the people who drove me from Warsaw to Lodz, now living in Sweden, other guests living in Sweden, and of course some in Warszawa and Lodz.
It's not a monumental tool, but just another tool that in some instances might help....
Last night I loaded SKYPE onto my PC. It will not help me talk to my family because they don't have it, nor high speed INTERNET. But I met lots of people at the wedding in Lodz last summer, and exchanged contact information. So I thought I'd search for them. Whilst doing so, I started entering family names. Very interesting stuff!
When entering just the surname Harasim, searching for people in Poland, it came back with many names, and some similarly spelled names. Sometimes these other names ( Harasimiak for example) show up on someone's research and they are unsure whether it's a different name then what they are looking for. Old immigration records here are notoriously flawed with respect to spelling, but when you find that exact name in use in Poland, well, you can figure it's probably the correct name. So long as people have entered their actual names and not cryptic log-ons, it can be helpful. Sometimes the people give the name of their town and village as well, so that can also be helpful. You can narrow or expand your search criteria to make it as restrictive of open you want. I found it very interesting. Another look into a "phone directory" that otherwise you would not find...
I found my Polish teacher (now living in Scandinavia), the people who drove me from Warsaw to Lodz, now living in Sweden, other guests living in Sweden, and of course some in Warszawa and Lodz.
It's not a monumental tool, but just another tool that in some instances might help....
