Karski's birthdate

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Karski
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Joined: 15 Jun 2016, 11:59
Location: Belgium

Karski's birthdate

#1

Post by Karski » 28 Aug 2022, 10:16

As you may know, some documents give Karski the date of birth June 24, 1914 and other documents, including his baptismal record, give the birthdate as April 24, 1914. Karski said the correct day was June 24 and he explained (jokingly, it seems) the mention of April 24 in the baptismal record as follows: "after his christening, his father and the priest got drunk on vodka while recording his birth in the parish register. One of them wrote the date as 24 IV - April 24 - instead of the correct 24 VI."
According to Patryk Małecki, "Jan Karski urodził się 24 czerwca 1914 roku. Nic tego nie zmieni", November 27, 2013,
https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230 ... /131129618

"In August of that year [1914], his father, Stefan, with two witnesses, went to the parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Łódź, where he announced the birth of his son, date and names given to him. As a result of a mistake, the month of birth was misspelled: instead of June - April."

Can anyone confirm that it was customary at the time to have a child baptized more than a month, and possibly more than two months, after birth? Has a copy of the baptism certificate been published? (It seems to me that it is not reproduced in Patryk Małecki's article.) Is this baptismal certificate dated in August?

On the other hand, was there not a civil birth register in Łódź at the time? If so, what date of birth does this register attribute to Karski?

Thank you in advance for the answers.

GregSingh
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Re: Karski's birthdate

#2

Post by GregSingh » 28 Aug 2022, 12:11

was there not a civil birth register in Łódź at the time?
AFAIK there was no civil register in Imperial Russia. That was introduced after 1917 revolution.
Can anyone confirm that it was customary at the time to have a child baptized more than a month, and possibly more than two months, after birth?
That was not customary, but happened a lot for various reasons.
Has a copy of the baptism certificate been published?
Most of those which survived wars, were already scanned and are available at https://genealodzy.pl/
And yes, this one is available. His surname was: Kozielewski.
Although as required by law in Russian Empire it is in handwritten Russian and dates are according to both: Julian and Gregorian calendar.


Karski
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Location: Belgium

Re: Karski's birthdate

#3

Post by Karski » 28 Aug 2022, 15:21

Thanks a lot. So there are no more problems. I would like to ask you a favor again. I do not know Polish or Russian and could probably hardly use the genealogical site you indicate. Could you tell me if the baptismal certificate indicates "Jan Romuald" as first names for the Kozielewski child? Thanks in advance.

GregSingh
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Joined: 21 Jun 2012, 02:11
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Karski's birthdate

#4

Post by GregSingh » 29 Aug 2022, 02:35


Karski
Member
Posts: 74
Joined: 15 Jun 2016, 11:59
Location: Belgium

Re: Karski's birthdate

#5

Post by Karski » 29 Aug 2022, 09:06

Thank you very much.

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