Researching our Polish ancestors has been frustrating and still very limited. The reasons are many but principally because Poland is a great country in a bad neighborhood. Poland did exercise some military and political power in its history when it formed a large Polish-Lithuanian Union (see included map). Beginning in the late 1700’s, it came under the influence and control of its neighbors. Those neighbors (the Danes, Prussia, Austria, and Russia) in time annexed all of Poland and essentially obliterate it from a political standpoint. During these annexations, many of the powers attempted to eliminate the culture of Poland. This was true especially in the Russian zone where the Russian language was mandated for all important documents It is from this area that what we know of the Pugacz and Lichota family story begins. The country of Poland came back into existence after the end of World War I, but parts of the country were devastated in the constant battles between Axis and Russian forces. Even then its borders were changed in the peace treaty. Even after WWII, Polish borders were again change in a shift eastward. However, Poland still remained under Russian influence behind the Iron Curtain after the war. Many document archives were destroyed and the access to the surviving documents has been slow as compared to many other countries of Eastern Europe. To understand some of the complex history, I have included a summary of Polish history. From a ancestral viewpoint, we should recognize that Poland was one of the crossroads of Europe. Its history is littered with invasions and border changes. As early as the Vikings, foreign raids were common throughout Europe and Poland was no exception. So those of you who think about being half, whole or something Polish don’t be surprised when your DNA testing comes back with parts of Scandinavian, German, Russian, or somewhere else in your heritage.
In these documents, I am sharing what I know at the moment with the hopes of adding to in the future or doing the groundwork for some next generation family genealogist.
You will note that one of challenges of family names is what happens in translations. I will use the name Pugacz in America because this is how we know it. But in the records I have found it could be Pugach, Puhacz, Pukhalsky, and even Pogatch. The surnames I have used are what is shown in records located in Poland to make it easier for current or future family genealogists to follow the trail. Under the Russian partition, the local priest served as both the church and secular record keeper. He was obligated to record birth, marriage, and death. These records may have been recorded in Russian rather than Polish. Then there is the issue of handwriting. As an example, if you search EllisIsland.org for Jozefa Pugacz and her arrival with her two daughters in 1907, you will not find a listing. However, if you search for Qugacz it will appear. The writer in the ledger got carried away with an exaggerated P and later a person doing the digital indexing thought it was a Q. Thus are the challenges facing a genealogist? Fortunately, Lichota seems to have been unaffected in the records I have come across so it will remain Lichota in my usage.