Bump in the road

Yesterday, the Civil Registry archives emailed me to let me know that they had found Mama Manya's birth record, as well as her parents' marriage record--both of which they were willing to copy for me. Mama Manya's siblings' records and Papa Joe's siblings' records, however, they also had found but were only willing to give me if I demonstrated a legal interest in the documents. I went to the office this morning to pick up my records and to try to work something out to get the siblings' records as well.

Well, in a nutshell, they wouldn't give me the siblings' records. They said that since I'm not a close enough relative to the siblings, that they were not legally allowed to show/give me the documents. You have to be either the person in the record, their parent, child, grandchild, sibling, or spouse to see the documents they have there, or you have to demonstrate a legal interest in the documents--which they explained to me, meant proving to them that you need the documents for an ongoing court case. I tried to explain to them that none of those closer relatives exist, and even if I found 100 lawyers to say that I needed the documents for a court case, the only reason why I want them is for personal family research. Some of the people there were understanding, but some were not, so it made it a frustrating situation: although most of them took me seriously, one didn't, and even though she was speaking in Polish behind my back, I could understand what she was saying. I asked them if they could just show me the record, since making a copy was basically already out of the picture unless I wanted to start a court case. They said no, since they signed agreements to protect the personal data found in the records. I asked--whose personal data? And they replied, the data of the people listed in the documents. I told them that those people no longer exist, and the closest family member was me, standing in front of them--so in a way, it was really my personal family data that they wouldn't show me, even though I gave them permission to do so. I think this got to them. They all huddled and starting trying to come up with a solution, and in the end they decided to give me each sibling's birth-date and year of birth, something they were not going to give me before, but they wouldn't show me the original records. So I guess that was a step in the right direction...

Anyway, one of the most exciting parts of the day was getting to see Mama Manya's parents' marriage record, since the document listed both of their parents' names, which helped me find Mama Manya's father's birth record in the other archive later today. Mama Manya's grandparents names were Isak and Chanzia Nissenbaum, and Moses and Dobryz Wolfzahn, and I found out that Mama Manya's father, Nissen, was born in 1900!

So, while much of the day was spent in frustration, it turned out that I discovered a lot in the end. Soon I'll be going to synagogue for Friday night services and dinner, and then tomorrow I'll go back in the morning! Although it was sunny this morning, it's currently raining. I know what I'll be praying for tonight...(besides those birth records!)