Polish-Galician Culture

Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear.

Walter Lipman

Culture is as important to a genealogist as is the actual records themselves. In order to gain a better understanding of who our ancestors were, we must understand the context of their life. We must dive in and learn about their beliefs, religion, occupation, social structure, hopes, education, politics, speech, and much more. Our ancestors were as complicated as we are today and were not as “old school” as we may think they were.

Western Galician culture varied by area as well as sub-ethnic groups. In the far west could be found the Krakowiacy, with the Highland Gorals living in the Carpathian mountains. In the eastern half of Western Galicia, the Lasowiacy were prevalent in today’s northern Podkarpackie voivodeship with the Rzeszowiacy being centered around Rzeszów.

Latest Culture Posts

  • Constitution Day and Index Updates

    Constitution Day and Index Updates

    Earlier this week, Poles celebrated Polish Constitution Day, where in 1791 the “first constitution of its type in Europe” as described by historian Norman Davies was enacted. Unfortunately, the constitution…

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  • The Lasowiacy: An Introduction

    The Lasowiacy: An Introduction

    The Lasowiacy is a sub-ethnic group from southeastern Poland that lived between the cities of Sandomierz and just south of Kolbuszowa, in an area known as the Sandomierz Forest. While…

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Culture is a way of coping with the world by defining it in detail.

Malcolm Bradbury