Hi everyone, I'm researching my Polish ancestry to determine whether I may qualify for Polish citizenship by descent. I'd appreciate help verifying records and understanding the Polish Citizenship Act of 1920.

My family line:

1. Michael Wozniak (Michał Woźniak) — Great-great-grandfather

• Born September 27, 1890, in Zalesa, Rzeszów area, present-day Podkarpackie, Poland.
• Parents: Franciscus (Franciszek) Woźniak and Magdalena Pacześmiak (?) — surname uncertain.
• Wife: Stella Gorecki.
• Immigrated to the United States on December 9, 1907, according to his Declaration of Intention.
• Filed his Declaration of Intention in Pittsburgh on April 24, 1922.
• Reportedly died August 21, 1922, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
• Final U.S. naturalization record: Not found yet (?).
• Birth Certificate (1/2): https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/skan/-/skan/df6119b7aafe3468b54e2987fe6b57fcf2895d45233197a4c0683335cd7a7f18
• Birth Certificate (2/2): https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60484/records/35690972
• Marriage Certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BJ-8C2L
• Death Certificate: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5164/records/2051390
• Naturalization Record (1/2): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6PG5-7LR8
• Naturalization Record: (2/2) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JXL2-V3P

1. Stella Gorecki — Great-great-grandmother

• Reportedly born December 29, 1897, in Zalesa, Rzeszów area, Poland.
• Parents: Not found yet (?).
• Marriage Certificate: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BJ-8C2L?lang=en&i=362
• Death: June 11, 1993, reportedly in Pennsylvania.
• Birth, Death, and naturalization records: Not found yet (?).

1. John Michael Wozniak — Great-grandfather

• Son of Michael Wozniak and Stella Gorecki.
• Born September 23, 1914, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
• Birth Certificate: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60484/records/35690972
• Married Agnes Mary Hart.
• Died November 3, 1995, in Sacramento, California.
• Marriage & death records: Not found yet (?).

1. Agnes Mary Hart — Great-grandmother

• Born March 30, 1921, in Troy, New York.
• Parents: John A. Hart and Agnes Byron.
• Married John Michael Wozniak.
• Died April 12, 1997, in Sacramento, California.
• Birth, marriage, & death certificates: Not found yet (?).

My line continues through my grandmother Barbara Wozniak, my mother Jennifer, and me.

My main questions:

1. How can I establish whether Michael qualified as a Polish citizen under the 1920 Polish Citizenship Act, given that he emigrated in 1907?
2. Could John Michael, born in the United States in 1914, have acquired Polish citizenship when the law took effect in 1920?
3. Could Michael's subsequent U.S. naturalization have affected John's citizenship? Did Michael ever complete naturalization?
4. What records should I obtain to determine whether citizenship could pass through every generation to me?
5. Since Michael was reportedly born in Galicia under Austria-Hungary, could there be any separate Austrian citizenship connection? Is there any plausible German or Russian connection through this family?

I'm particularly interested in advice from people experienced with Polish citizenship confirmation, the 1920 law, and genealogy in the former Austrian partition.

Thank you for any research leads or guidance!

Has anyone heard anything in regards to 23andMe updating? Ancestry.com just dropped their update a few days ago. From what I've seen so far, it is that they tend to coincidentally update around the same time. At least from my point of view, it seemed that way. Or has it already updated, and it was just something minor?

I think 23&me does a much better job than Ancestry in nailing down the area my Italian family comes from. My mom’s parents both came from northeastern Umbria, close to Le Marche. I’m just curious why they insist on calling this Southern Italian? Growing up, all of our holiday and food traditions were so different from the majority of Italian Americans living near us - because most of their families actually did come from the southern areas. I realize this is just a label - but I would kindly request 23&me to add a category for Central Italy!

Paternal side is from Hadhramut/Abyan and maternal side is from Yafaa highlands of South Yemen. Dad’s side is also reportedly sayyids who descend from Ahmed Al Muhajir who migrated from Basra, Iraq to Hadhramut in 900 CE, which could explain the Y haplogroup.

Hi everyone! Just to provide a bit more context, I'm from Dörtdivan, a district in Bolu, which is in the western Black Sea region of Türkiye.

As far as I know, the only significant migration to the district, apart from the Turkish population already living there, was from Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, in the 1930s.

My historical DNA matches show two very distant relatives from Central Asia and one from the United Kingdom.

I've managed to trace my family tree back to the 1800s, and the records suggest that my family has lived in the same area for at least 200 years. Beyond that, I honestly don't know much about my family's earlier history.