Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne

Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (OTG) is a genealogical association operating since 2005 with its seat in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland. Its statutory aims include scholarly and publishing activity — in particular the publication of guides, genealogical research results, bibliographies, sources and their inventories — as well as organising conferences, lectures and sessions devoted to genealogy, maintaining an archive with data on the history of individual families, mutual cooperation and assistance among members, advisory services and training for members and other interested parties, cooperation with persons and institutions in collecting information and exchanging experience in genealogical research, maintaining contacts with similar organisations and institutions at home and abroad, and integrating members through cultural, recreational and social activity. Since 2006 the society has published the Rocznik Ostrowskiego Towarzystwa Genealogicznego (ISSN 1897-2322). Notable publications issued by OTG also include a nationally unique edition of the civil-register records of the Roman Catholic parish in Ostrów Wielkopolski (1808–1874) on DVD, a CD containing sources for the history of the Greater Poland Uprising in the Ostrów region from the State Archive in Poznań, and a DVD on the Second World War in Ostrów County. A significant event in the society's life was the discovery in 2009, at the Ostrów civil registry office, by OTG president Maciej Kowalczyk, of the death record of Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary German flying ace of the First World War. The society's board has included Marian Franciszek Nowak as president, Jan Przybylski as vice-president, Magdalena Bartkowiak–Strzelecka as secretary, Magdalena Niedziela as treasurer, and Zbigniew Marcinkowski, Ryszard Boślak and Henryk Przerwa on the audit committee. OTG's activities have ranged from organising its first genealogical conference in 2005 and cooperating with the Evangelical community, through research projects on Ostrów families and cooperation with the Polish Historical Society branch in Kalisz, to regular meetings with descendants of notable Ostrów residents, lectures on archival and genealogical topics, care of old cemeteries and indexing of graves, and the publication of successive volumes of its Rocznik.

Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (OTG) has operated since 2005 with its seat in Ostrów Wielkopolski. Its statutory goals centre on scholarly and publishing activity, including guides, genealogical research results, bibliographies, sources and inventories; organising conferences, lectures and sessions on genealogy; maintaining an archive of family-history data; mutual aid and training among members; cooperation with persons and institutions in genealogical research; contacts with similar organisations in Poland and abroad; and cultural, recreational and social integration of members. In its first year the society organised its first genealogical conference (2005) and produced the first issue of the Rocznik Ostrowskiego Towarzystwa Genealogicznego. It cooperated with the Evangelical community, holding joint lectures with Rev. Dr Krzysztof Rej on the genealogy of Jesus. It carried out a research project on Ostrów families, including discussion of the archives of Rev. Prelate Alfred Mąka concerning the Radziwiłł family of Antonin, and cooperated with the Polish Historical Society branch in Kalisz, publishing scholarly work by OTG members in the Rocznik Kaliski (including dissertations on the 600th anniversary of Ostrów Wielkopolski and on the Ostrów–Kalisz borderland during the First World War). Lectures and papers have featured historians and genealogists such as OTG vice-president Jacek Malkowski on genealogy in southern Greater Poland using OTG as an example, archivist Aneta France on the metrical books of the Ostrów region in state and church archives, and Lt. Col. Eng. Henryk Przerwa on the genealogy of the Przerwa family of Odolanów 1855–2005. As part of its bi-monthly meetings with descendants of notable Ostrów residents, the society met Bettina Lande, who came from Paris as a descendant of Ostrów's first rabbi, Jakob ben Jicchak Halewi Lande, and of synagogue builder Mortiz Lande. Aneta Franc and Edyta Pietrzak of the State Archive in Kalisz gave talks on using archival materials for genealogical research. The second issue of the Rocznik appeared in 2006. Zbysław Jeżewski lectured on links between scouting and genealogy, using the example of Polish scouting founder Andrzej Małkowski and his wife Olga née Drahnowska, and promoted his book on the Ostrów Scout Troop named after Zawisza Czarny. Karol Paterski of the Kalisz State Archive spoke on using the Internet in genealogical research, and Ewa Mielczarek, head of the Ostrów civil registry office, on the legal rules for using civil-registry archival resources in Poland. The society met Götz Urban from Germany, a descendant of pastor Arthur Rhode, who was meritorious for Ostrów, and Prof. Roman Dziergwa of Adam Mickiewicz University. It also took care of old Ostrów cemeteries and indexed graves. The third issue of the Rocznik appeared in 2007. Lectures included Maciej Kowalczyk (Adam Mickiewicz University) on registering the deaths of soldiers killed and missing in the Prussian army during the First World War (1914–1918), and Aneta Franc (State Archive in Zielona Góra) on the source value of guardianship and inheritance court records from the Prussian partition in family-history research (1879–1919). Honorary membership was granted to Ewa Mielczarek and Tadeusz Krokos, president of the Polish Historical Society in Kalisz. The society met Łukasz Bielecki, initiator of the indexing and online publication of marriage records from the Poznań Province (Poznań Project). It held a historical session devoted to Haller's Army, an exhibition of old family photographs, and a scholarly conference on the events of 1914 in the Ostrów–Kalisz borderland, organised jointly with the Kalisz branch of the Polish Historical Society and the International Military Historical Association. It issued the fourth number of the Rocznik, the DVD "Sources for the history of the Second World War in Ostrów County", and Grażyna Karolak's book "Przepisy naszych przodków" (2011, ISBN 978-83-930587-1-6). A notable episode in the society's life was the 2009 discovery, at the Ostrów civil registry office, by OTG president Maciej Kowalczyk, of the death record of Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary German First World War flying ace.

• 2011

  Publication of Grażyna Karolak's book "Przepisy naszych przodków" (ISBN 978-83-930587-1-6).

• 2009

  OTG president Maciej Kowalczyk discovers the death record of Manfred von Richthofen at the Ostrów civil registry office.

• 2007

  Third issue of the Rocznik published; honorary membership granted to Ewa Mielczarek and Tadeusz Krokos.

• 2006

  Second issue of the Rocznik Ostrowskiego Towarzystwa Genealogicznego published; the annual has ISSN 1897-2322.

• 2005

  Society begins operating in Ostrów Wielkopolski; organises its first genealogical conference and publishes the first issue of the Rocznik.

Regional genealogical society and publisher focused on the history of families in the Ostrów Wielkopolski area.

• Rocznik Ostrowskiego Towarzystwa Genealogicznego

• Akt stanu cywilnego parafii rzymskokatolickiej w Ostrowie Wielkopolskim (1808-1874)

• Źródła do dziejów Powstania Wielkopolskiego na Ziemi Ostrowskiej ze zbiorów Archiwum Państwowego w Poznaniu

• II wojna światowa w powiecie ostrowskim

• Przepisy naszych przodków

1. 1Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne – Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Ostrowskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne – Wikipedia (Polish)pl.wikipedia.org
3. 3Official websiteotg.vot.pl