# Pre-War Polish Passport and ID Applications Source: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/records/pre-war-polish-passport-and-id-applications/ Last updated: 2026-10-12 Summary: Pre-war Polish passport and ID applications: what the files contain, the photographs they hold and how our research links them to your ancestor. Publisher: The Polish Genealogist (professional Polish genealogy research, polishgenealogist.co.uk) --- An old Polish passport file can put a face to a name and reveal a journey that never reached the family story. For descendants researching from Britain, photographs, signatures, occupations and places can connect an ancestor’s Polish identity with later records abroad. Our [commissioned family-history research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/) follows those clues through surviving archival records and explains the findings in English. > **Want these records searched for your family?** We trace your ancestors in Polish civil, parish and archival records and bring the findings together in an English-language report. [View research packages](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/) The examples below show three distinct sources: an application made in 1920, a passport dated 1921 and a passport register recording several travellers. Read them together to see what each source adds, while keeping an intended journey separate from evidence of an actual arrival. ### Old Polish passport records: pre-war applications, booklets and registers Interwar passport research reaches beyond the passport booklet itself. An application may preserve an attached photograph, a declared birthplace, residence, occupation, travel companions and guarantors. An issued passport can add official certification, serial numbers and travel conditions. A register may record issuance, fees and collection even when the individual application has not been located. Application **Identity and declared plans** Passport **Issued travel document** Register **Administrative paper trail** **Dates and document types matter** The date of an application, the date of an authorisation, the passport issue date and a later border stamp may describe different stages. A catalogue date range describes the archival unit as a whole. It should not replace the date written on an individual document. ### A Polish passport application with a photograph: Piotrków, 1920 Document example 01 / Application / Piotrków #### A tailor, a portrait and plans to join family abroad This form was attached to an application for a foreign passport. The name appears to read **Aron Jarosz**. Rather than a list of dates alone, it preserves a portrait, an occupation, a signature and a statement about the intended move. Birth year **1885** Occupation **Krawiec - tailor** Application date **12 November 1920** ***01 / The application sheet**The photograph is attached; the physical-description fields alongside it are unfilled. The completed travel and identity entries carry the evidence. [View the full-size image](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/aron-jarosz-passport-application-1920-scaled.webp)* #### What the entries tell us Birth and residence The form gives **1885** and Piotrków in both the birth/population-registration field and the permanent-residence field. The first field combines two possible concepts in its printed label: compare it with a birth entry before treating it as independent proof of birthplace. Work and household *Krawiec* means tailor. The entry for accompanying family reads *sam jeden* : he intended to travel alone, which says nothing either way about a wife or children at home. Destination and intention The destination names America and New York. A further entry states *na stały pobyt do rodziny* : for permanent residence, to join family. This gives a research question about relatives abroad, without identifying those relatives. Photograph and signature The portrait shows the applicant in 1920, and his signature can be compared with later papers, alongside names, dates and places. Guarantors and addresses Two guarantors signed the declaration at the foot of the form, with address entries. Their names may suggest associates worth investigating, but the declaration does not establish a family relationship. Check the handwriting before adding them to a tree. **A declared journey is a lead to follow** This application does not by itself establish that a passport was issued, that the applicant boarded a ship or that he arrived in New York. Passenger lists, arrival records and later residence evidence can test the stated plan. > **Could a passport file contain your ancestor’s photograph?** Commission a search through the Polish records relevant to your family, with findings and available copies explained in English. [Explore family research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/) ### Inside a 1921 Polish passport: portrait, description and New York destination Document example 02 / Passport booklet / Polish and French #### Compare the application with the issued document The supplied passport pages show a matching portrait and overlapping identity details. These are strong comparison points with the application above, though the exact archival sequence should still be checked against the complete file. The booklet adds official seals and a completed physical description. Passport series **A 302417** Certification **25 April 1921** Destination entry **New York, America** ***02 / Photograph and identity pages**The photo certification is dated Piotrków, 25 April 1921. The identity page names the holder in Polish and records tailor as the occupation. The form of the surname in a sentence may differ from its dictionary form. [View the full-size image](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/aron-jarosz-polish-passport-photograph-1921.webp)* ***03 / Description and travel conditions**The facing pages record physical characteristics, language and the proposed journey. Their Polish and French headings help identify the meaning of each field. [View the full-size image](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/polish-passport-description-new-york-1921.webp)* #### What the entries tell us Repeated identity clues The booklet gives **1885** as the birth year, Piotrków as the residence and *krawiec / tailleur* as the occupation. Agreement across several fields matters more than a single matching surname. Physical description The entries describe medium stature, an oval face, dark hair and brown eyes. The height is descriptive rather than a measurement in centimetres. No distinguishing marks are recorded in the relevant entry. Language The language field records Polish, with the French equivalent alongside it. Route and validity The travel page states a journey from Piotrków to New York, America, for permanent residence. A handwritten validity condition is also present. These entries describe the document’s authorised or intended use, not proof of a completed voyage. Serial numbers, stamps and dates The printed series number **A 302417** , other handwritten administrative numbers and the official seals can help compare related papers. Record each number with its label; a serial number is not automatically an archive reference. **Read the whole booklet when it survives** These two spreads do not show every page. A complete passport may have further visas or border endorsements, but none should be assumed from the supplied images. ### A Polish passport register: Vienna trips and emigration to Brazil in 1921 Document example 03 / Passport register / August 1921 #### One page, several very different journeys A *książka paszportowa* is an administrative register, distinct from a personal passport booklet. This page records several travellers, with columns for destinations, travel purposes, fees, documents left with the office, issue dates and receipts. Vienna entries **Business and treatment** Brazil entries **Permanent residence** Recorded fee **600 mk per shown entry** ***04 / Entries 29-32 in the passport register**The visible foreign-passport issue dates fall in August 1921. The separate domestic-passport columns on the right are unfilled in these entries. [View the full-size image](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/piotrkow-passport-register-1921-scaled.webp)* #### Trade and treatment in Vienna One Vienna entry states that the purpose was to buy a machine; another records travel for treatment, *na kurację*. A destination alone cannot tell us whether a trip was commercial, medical or an attempt to emigrate. The purpose column supplies that distinction. #### Permanent residence in Brazil The Brazil entries state permanent residence, with different supporting papers recorded. One collection receipt is described as an impression of a finger of the right hand; another carries a handwritten name. #### What the entries tell us Documents left with the office The column headed *Rodzaj pozostawionego dowodu osobistego* records the type of identity evidence retained. Visible examples include a temporary identity document and a birth record. In 1921 *dowód osobisty* did not yet mean the standard municipal identity card introduced in 1929. Fees and collection The shown entries record **600 mk** . The amount is in Polish marks, the currency before the złoty was introduced in 1924. Issue dates and receipt signatures or marks document administrative steps; they do not prove departure. Routes into other files Passport, series and declaration numbers provide possible links to applications or other office records. Preserve the entire row and its headings when extracting information, so that dates and numbers are not assigned to the wrong person. **Other travellers on the page** The register page is shown for the range of journeys it records. The travellers on it are separate cases from the Jarosz application and passport. > **Follow the journey behind a name** We can investigate your ancestor’s Polish origins and compare passport clues with civil, parish and residence records. [View research packages](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/) ### How to search old Polish passport records for an ancestor A search for an old Polish passport starts with the person’s name, the approximate date of application or issue and the place of residence. A surviving booklet can add a photograph, passport number, issuing office or signature. We compare those details with civil, parish and residence records to identify the person and the office that created the passport paperwork. Applications and issue registers are often arranged differently, by surname, by date or by administrative locality, so a name search in a catalogue does not cover the whole archive. For a family researching from Britain, the report explains the identity details, intended destinations and further leads, with available copies of the records found. The destination stated in an application is then tested against passenger lists and later residence records, which show whether and how the journey happened. ### Commission research into old Polish passport and ID records Our family-history research starts with your ancestor and the question you want answered. For a family researching from Britain, that might mean identifying the Polish town behind an anglicised surname, investigating a reported emigration or finding earlier identity evidence. The locality, approximate date and records already held determine which archive collections are relevant. #### Identify and compare the evidence We search the surviving records covered by your research package, read the relevant entries and compare names, dates, places and family details. A negative search is reported as a result within the sources checked, rather than proof that a document never existed. #### Receive findings in English The research report explains the records found, their references, available copies and remaining uncertainties. Passport research can form part of the wider investigation of one family line or research question. ### Pre-war Polish ID records: photographs, parents and residence Identity papers need to be interpreted in their own administrative setting. The temporary document mentioned in the 1921 passport register is not evidence that its holder received the standard municipal identity document regulated later in the decade. The regulation of **29 November 1928**, effective from **1 January 1929**, allowed a resident entered in a municipal register to request an identity document. It required two photographs, provided for the holder’s signature and required its entries to agree with the municipal register. Municipalities kept a list of issued documents and retained the second photograph in the files. It did not oblige every adult to obtain one. The prescribed model included name, birth details, parents’ given names, occupation, residence and physical description. Certification of Polish citizenship was addressed separately in the regulation. For genealogy, a surviving ID file or issue register may therefore add a photograph or a useful link to municipal residence records. Survival and content must be checked for the particular collection; the supplied images here illustrate passport records, not a separate ID application. ### Where to find old Polish passport records and ID applications The right collection follows the office that created the record. The published archive inventory identifies the **State Archives in Piotrków Trybunalski** and the fonds **Starostwo Powiatowe Piotrkówskie**. The two units separate applications arranged by surname letters from a chronological passport register. A name search alone can miss the register entry. For commissioned research, we use the ancestor’s locality and dates to identify relevant district, municipal or other surviving administrative records. Papers created by a consulate abroad require a different archival route from a passport issued locally. A collection title or date range establishes scope; it does not guarantee that a particular person’s file survives or that every page has been digitised. ### Connecting old Polish passport records with migration and family history #### Keep the recorded spelling Transcribe the original name before adding variants. Polish grammatical endings, handwriting and later anglicisation can produce different-looking forms of the same surname. Compare birth details, residence and occupation rather than normalising every spelling immediately. #### Connect Poland with records abroad A proposed New York or Brazil destination suggests where to look next. Arrival and residence records can establish what followed. For a family later based in Britain, establish that intermediate journey rather than assuming the ancestor travelled directly from Poland to the UK. **Distinguish a blank from an answer** An unfilled field does not mean “none”. The application’s blank physical-description panel, the passport’s completed description and the register’s unfilled domestic-passport columns each need their own reading. Partial scans and missing files also limit what can be concluded. ### Sources and archive references for the illustrated examples The archive’s published series inventory confirms **48/1/0/1/206**, *[Wnioski o wydanie paszportu litery H-J]*, dated 1920, and **48/1/0/1/217**, *Książka paszportowa*, dated 1921-1923. These are references to archival units, not individual page numbers. - [Szukaj w Archiwach: published series inventory, including units 206 and 217](https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/seria?_Seria_cur=2&_Seria_delta=200&_Seria_id_serii=440417&_Seria_nameofjsp=jednostki&_Seria_resetCur=false&p_p_id=Seria&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_mode=view&p_p_state=normal). - [Regulation of 29 November 1928 on identity documents, Dz.U. 1928 no. 100, item 898](https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/1928/898/ogl), especially sections 1-5 and 9 and the prescribed document model. - Four historical document reproductions illustrated in this article. The descriptions give selected readings rather than complete certified translations. ### Related guides - [Polish Population and Residence Registers](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/records/tracing-households-and-addresses/) - [Border Crossing Permits from Poland](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/records/border-crossing-permits/) - [Polish Passenger Lists](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/records/polish-passenger-lists/) > **Trace the person behind the passport** Explore paid research into your Polish family’s records, with a clear report and copies where available. [Start family research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/) --- Research help: The Polish Genealogist researches Polish family history, military service and citizenship evidence in Polish, British and international archives, with reports in English. Services and prices: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/