Which am I?

Question

My Great great great grandfather came over from What was then russia but is now poland. What am I?

Answer 1

Stick with being what you are. Although I have an ancestor who was from a place which is now it modern-day Poland, at the time, it was Silesia.

I have ancestors from Massachusetts, and ancestors from New Hampshire, but technically, at the time, New Hampshire didn't exist, and it was a territory governed by the Massachusetts Colony. None of these people were Americans, of course. They were all British subjects.

Things change.

It's probably better to look at your ancestor's culture, language & religion, than national borders. Cultures change slowly, but borders, especially in Europe, changed frequently, and become meaningless with time.

Answer 2

What did your grandfather consider himself to be?  Did he call himself Russian or Polish.  That would be the answer.  Nationality is as much a matter of choice as it is blood.

Answer 3

I'm sorry? Poland is Poland now, was Poland while Russia was Russia...

You are whatever ALL of your ancestors were. I have ancestors from Poland and Russia (and all other countries in Europe...) and I am a part of them all.

Try:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

http://www.geocities.com/griffith_histor...

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Russian culture goes way back...

See this website:

http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/rusorig.htm....

I have read about the Tartars; they were a nomadic people who even had their houses on wheels.

As you can see from this article, Russian people come from quite a few ancient tribes.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ukrainian_l...

And, as to Russian/Viking relationships, see:

http://www.viking.no/e/info-sheets/eston...

For a more thorough analysis, opt for a DNA test. I used www.ancestry.com. It revealed that I have Russian, Ukranian, etc., ancestry.

Answer 4

Prussian?

Answer 5

Hmm... good question... possibly Pollsian? :)

Haha... yeah, I have NO clue.  Good question though!

Answer 6

Highly developed agricultural people have lived in the area that is now Poland for the last 7500 years, the Slavic people have settled in this territory for over 1500 years, and the History of Poland as a state spans well over a millennium. The territory ruled by Poland has shifted and varied greatly. At one time, in the 16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the largest state in Europe, before the rise of the Russian Empire. At other times there was no separate Polish state at all. Poland regained its independence in 1918, after more than a century of rule by its neighbours, but its borders shifted again after the Second World War.

By the 18th century the nobles' democracy had gradually declined into anarchy, making the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign intervention. Poland's location in the middle of Europe became especially significant in a period when both the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire were intensely involved in European rivalries and alliances and modern nation states were established over the entire continent. Over the course of three successive partitions by the countries bordering it (the Russian Empire, Habsburg Austria and the Kingdom of Prussia), the Commonwealth was significantly reduced in size the first two times and ultimately ceased to exist in 1795. The idea of Polish independence however was kept alive throughout the 19th century and led to several Polish uprisings against the partitioning powers.

Answer 7

Nationality is not a matter of choice, it is the citizenship of where YOU are born.. or, become a naturalized citizen of.  I assume you were born in the US, meaning your nationality is American.

Your background/ heritage/ ancestry is something else entirely. My answer is to find him in the census, if he lived until the early 1900s.. and see WHICH language he spoke in the home. In fact, Poland was/is a very proud country, which existed long before the partitions which forced it under Russian jurisdiction. HIS ancestry (in all likelihood) was Polish, even if he was forced to show "Russia" as his place of birth.

My ancestors, by the way, very much fit this criteria, and my mother was absolutely of Polish heritage.  Her father was born in the part of Poland that was under German rule, but I am certain he would never have called himself a German.