While I had previously done some research in Czechoslovakia, uncovering my great-grandfather's birth records in Moravia, It was Wolfgang who did the major research there, discovering the Pollenz line several generations in the past. Then, out of the blue, I was contacted by Janine Pollenz, a descendant of one of those "out East" branches, Otto Patterson from the European Pollenzes and now living in Australia, Felix Winkler from England whose grandmother was a Pollenz, and Margaretha (Gretel/Grebe)Jirschik, of Vienna, whose father was a Pollenz. So it was in October 2000 that I felt I now had sufficient verified data to publish at least a "first draft" or first edition Pollenz genealogy (as I explained on the Home page, this genealogy first saw the light of day as a hard-copy book). After mulling it over I decided to expand the work to include extended family members, to the extent that I received sufficient information.
What follows is the fruit of 30+ years of research, pestering, phone calls, and cooperation of family members. It should be noted that a genealogy is inherently always a work in progress. A family is a living, breathing organism, and even the Internet has trouble trying to keep up with the dynamism, the mutability, the continuous evolution of something as amazing as this. It should also be noted that the writer or editor of such a work, in effect, acts as a filter, presenting information recorded in formal archives, family scrapbooks and other people's memories. However, accepting full responsibility here, it is also true that whatever I have written is also uniquely me. The great dancer and choreographer Martha Graham once wrote in discussing creative effort, "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated though you into action, ... there is only one of you in all time.. ..and this expression is unique..." That to me sums up this effort - - the creation of a family history honoring 1500-plus unique extended family members, each "one and only", whose stories have been translated and placed on paper through the unique expression of another family member. I hope it will prove to be of interest and perhaps a source of some inspiration to the younger generations of this extended family.
Ed. Note (January 2017): Since the creation of this website I have been contacted over the years by various individuals wondering if they might have a Pollenz family connection. Most have been proven to be non-related, but a number are related in some manner. These include Kate Austin Diminich, Lisa Krain, Jean Phillips, Randy Schoenberg, Fanny Mittler, and Natasha Wegerer Soufi.
In addition, in the Updates Section I have provided a list of individuals with the surname "Pollenz" whom I have not yet been able to connect to the families documented in this genealogy. The names have come to light during various searches - census, newpapers, et al. As time goes by further research may connect these Pollenzes to those listed herein.
Richard Stanley Pollenz - - September, 2001
(updated January 2017)