Archiwum Państwowe w Siedlcach

Brief history of archives: a) the year of creation of archive: 1950; b) the previous name of the archive: In 1950 Oddział Powiatowy in Siedlce subordinate to Archiwum Akt Nowych in Warsaw came into being., since 1951 to 1964 was functioning as Powiatowe Archiwum Państwowe in Siedlce. Since 1953 this archive was subordinate to Wojewódzkie Archiwum Państwowe in Warsaw. In the period 1964 –1976 it was a branch of Archiwum Państwowe miasta Stołecznego Warszawy and was called Oddział Terenowy. In 1975 as a result of a general change of territorial division of the country, Siedlce became a capital of the newly born voivodship. A year later “Oddział Terenowy” was changed into Wojewódzkie Archiwum Państwowe w Siedlcach. In 1983 another change brought a contemporary name: Archiwum Państwowe w Siedlcach [The State Archive in Siedlce]. More information on the history of the archive: https://www.siedlce.ap.gov.pl/p,63,historia-archiwum 

Records at the archives cover the following geographic area: Lublin voivodship - counties: Łuków, Ryki (Kłoczew municipality); Mazowsze voivodship -counties: Siedlce, Garwolin, Sokołów Podlaski, Węgrów, Mińsk Mazowiecki (municipalities: Cegłów, Dębe Wielkie, Dobre, Jakubów, Kałuszyn, Latowicz, Mrozy, Siennica, Stanisławów; county Otwock (municipalities: Kołbiel, Osieck, Sobienie Jeziory); county Wołomin (municipalities: Jadów, Poświętne, Strachówka). Chronologically the record span from 1604 until 2005. On 30 November 2011 the archive contained 1.701 archival funds (3.472 running meters; 510.031 archival units. Collections of archival resources in the State Archive in Siedlce come mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The records in the State Archive in Siedlce can be divided into five main groups. 1) Documents of lower and higher law courts from the period 1865 – 1998. The most numerous is Sąd Okręgowy w Siedlcach [The Province Court] and courts of conciliation from various counties of Siedlce gubernia (governorship), municipal courts, district courts and public prosecutor’s offices. This records can give full perspective into social conflicts, their character and range. 2) Land records from the period 1810 – 2001 include 15.319 archival units. They are mainly mortgage books, each of them concerning the particular land property. They come from land registries in Garwolin, Łuków, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Siedlce, Sokołów Podlaski and Węgrów and cover the territory of previous Województwo Podlaskie [Podlasie Voivodship], created in 1815. The files present the financial state of land properties, sometimes they contain detailed descriptions of manor belongings, borders and maps. 3) Notary records of various notary’s offices from the period 1810 – 1951 contain notarial deeds connected to sales contracts, agreements, last wills, premaritals. Their territorial range covers countties of Garwolin, Łuków, Siedlce, Sokołów Podlaski and Węgrów. 4) Civil state records are the most numerous group among the archival collections. They present 210 parishes or religious communities living in the territory of the Siedlce gubernia and span the years 1810 – 1909. Initially (1810 – 1825) civil state records were kept and stored by local governments, then since 1826 they were kept by parishes. The State Archive in Siedlce possesses records from: - 101 Roman – Catholic parishes; 23 Jewish communities; 14 Greek – Catholic parishes (1826 – 1875); 12 Orthodox parishes (1837 – 1909); - 2 Evangelical parishes (1832 – 1909); 3 Mariavite parishes ;1 Protestant parish. The books contain births, marriages and deaths records which make the basic resource for genealogical research. 5) About 30 % of the archival collections come from administrative bodies of various ranks (city councils, local governments and self – governments, county authorities, voivodship authorities) and various counties: Łuków, Garwolin, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Siedlce, Sokołów Podlaski and Węgrów and span the period 1804 – 1998. These funds present almost all fields of social, political, economical and cultural activity in the region. Unfortunately the documents before 1945 are not numerous, but collections after 1945 are exhaustive. Documents from the Second World War are exceptionally scanty. The most meaningful of them is the collection of announcements issued by German police in Warsaw and Lublin and concerning the inhabitants of Siedlce, Sokołów, Węgrów and Łuków counties The collection of old postcards and photographs is worth of attention. The old postcards show Siedlce in the turn of 19th and 20th centuries, buildings which do not exist now, historical monuments and present the ways the city has changed. In the photographs prominent people, important events, industrial objects and housing estates are commemorated. The cartographic collection contains maps of granges (1826 – 1924) from the Siedlce county. (Another collection of that kind is included in mortgage books). The plans show not only manor houses, parks and gardens, grange buildings, but also point kinds of agricultural cultivations and their acreage. Another important collection here are “Maps of Siedlce” prepared and made before the Second World War by the geodesist named Wejchert. They show the urban development between the world wars and many non-existing buildings. It is noticeable that the significant part of documents produced in Siedlce institutions during the last two centuries is now kept in the State Archive in Lublin. The most valuable among them are: Urząd Cyrkularny Siedlecki (1797 – 1809) which covers documents from the period of Austrian partition on the territory of Siedlce; Prefektura Departamentu Siedleckiego [Prefect’s Office] (1810 –1814) and Komisja Województwa Podlaskiego [the Government of Podlasie Voivodship] (1816 – 1837) present Siedlce in the times of the Warsaw Duchy and the Kingdom of Poland. In the Lublin Archive many funds from the period of functioning gubernia in Siedlce are kept, such as Rząd Gubernialny Podlaski [Government of Gubernia in Siedlce] (1837 – 1844), then Rząd Gubernialny Siedlecki (1867 – 1912) and Kancelaria Gubernatora Siedleckiego [Governor’s Office in Siedlce] (1866-1913), Urząd Gubernialny Siedlecki do Spraw Stowarzyszeń [Gubernia Office on Controlling the Associations] (1906-1915). Due to numerous changes in territorial and administrative divisions and changes in territorial range of the Siedlce archive as well, many documents are stored in other archives: - the State Archive in Lublin – the Branch in Radzyń Podlaski possesses the files from county of Łuków; - the State Archive in Warsaw – the Branch in Otwock possesses the files from counties of Garwolin and Mińsk Mazowiecki. 

The documents are available in original form or in copies in the archival research room. Making research in the research / reading room is free. The users can apply for sending them a reproduction of the documents they need or information about their content. The archival staff can prepare or complete for users an archival research connected to social, genealogical or ownership matters to legal or administrative purposes. They do not complete scientific research. The State Archive in Siedlce issues certificates or authenticated copies of the documents. Archival materials are available after 30 years since the date they have been created. The users can send their applications by mail or e-mail. If send by e-mail, please enclose: - Name and surname of the sender - Their full address - The detailed subject of the request - In case your e-mails lack of this information, please complete them. We do not respond e-mails without full data of the sender. We also give information by phone.