Where can I find vital records in Poland?

First you need to know that until recent years, the Catholic Churches in Poland were the official keepers of birth, marriage, and death records. You will find however, that a willingness to share those records with curious foreigners will vary from parish to parish. Fortunately, there are several ways you can try to obtain vital records.

• The easiest way to find birth, marriage, and death records in Poland is via LDS microfilms. The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have spent millions of dollars and man-hours photographing vital records in Poland (and around the world) and they will allow you to view them at your local Family History Center for a small fee (generally $2-$7 per film). You need to understand that not all the parish records in Poland have been photographed. But if the records you are looking for are available via the LDS, this is your quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to access those records. Try to search for the city/village where your ancestor was from on the LDS web site. If you find records for the area and time period you need, run... don't walk to your nearest Family History Center and order those films! The folks there are all volunteers and will be happy to help you. And no you don't need to be a Mormon... And no they won't try to convert you to become a Mormon!
• You can write to the individual parish. Many priests are very cooperative and willing to help you find your ancestors' records. Some are less willing to help. You won't know until you write them. To find a parish address, you'll first need to find the Archdiocese. Click on the map for the area you want. This will take you to a web site for that archdiocese. Look for the word "parafie" which means "parish". Then click on the city/village you are looking for. Do not expect the parish priest to speak English. You'll need to write your letter in Polish. If you need help doing this, check out the PGSA web site.
• Copies of records that are roughly over 100 years old (think pre-1900) are kept at the National Archives of Poland. They have several branches though, so you'll have to start with the one closest to your ancestor's home. Write them first and if they don't have records for the area you need they will tell you where else to write. You can write to them in English, but expect their response to be in Polish. To see what records are available at which branch of the Archives, you can try to search the Sezam database but you'll need a little help to get this done. Consult the searching guidelines first.
• Copies of records roughly less than 100 years old (think post-1900) are kept at local civil records offices. The JewishGenWeb site has good instructions on how you can write these offices for copies of records.

I'm confused about the "three partitions" of Poland. Where can I find a map and get a brief history?
The history of Poland is complicated. Poland was conquered and divided up by its neighbors Russia, Germany and Austria many times in its history. At the point where most of our ancestors immigrated to the US, it didn't exist on a map at all! Here's a nice a nice little one-page history w/ maps that tells the story nice and concisely.

My ancestor served in the military in Poland. Where can I get information about his military service?
Well... that all depends on who's army he was in. If he lived in the Galician section of Poland, look for Austrian army records. For those from the Prussian section of Poland check for German army records. And for those from "White Russia" look for Russian army records. There are a few databases available on the internet, but not many. In most cases, you will have to write a letter the old-fashioned way to get the information you're looking for. For more information on what's available on the 'net and where to write for more information, check out the European Military section of the PBS web site.

Where can I find the "Kod pocztowy" (postal code or zip code) for a city in Poland?
Go to the web site Poczta Polska (Post Office of Poland). You'll see a map of Poland, just click on the section of Poland you are interested in. On the next page, click on the first letter of the city/village you are interested in.