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Some of the photos used do not have permission
but a link to the site is offered


The map above, of Germany in 1871 can be found at
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de(1871.html

Germany went from several small states to the unified country in 1871. German is not only the official language of Germany, but is also an official language in the countries of Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Belgium.

In much of Germany, Jews did not have fixed surnames until 1812 or even later.  At that time, German Jews took all kinds of surnames.  Many of these names were based on the profession of the person taking the name.  Someone who ran a small shop might well have called himself Kramer or Kraemer.  From a posting by Roger Lustig.

The earliest known documentation of a Jewish presence from Wuerzburg to Fuessen exists from just a millennium ago.  The phenomenon of the 'landjudentum', or countryside Jews, peaked between the 16th and early 19th century when, in 1818, almost 85 percent of Jewry in south-central Germany lived in places with populations under 2,000.

There were more than a dozen emigrant control stations established by Germany along its Russian border.  In "Fame, Fortune and Sweet Liberty," an excellent book on the "Great European Emigration" published in Bremen (in both English and German editions) the authors write:

"Health inspection stations) were set up at points where the Russian and Prussian railroad lines met, and all emigrants were required to use the special trains or cars, which were now often uncomfortable."

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, there were around 500,000 Jews in Germany and approximately 185,000 immigrated to Shanghai. Over 180,000 German Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.  In June 1942, all Jewish schools in Germany were closed by government decree.  German Jews could no longer receive ration cards for eggs.

With the influx of tens of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union, German's Jewish community has grown from 35,000 to 120,000 in the last decade, making it the only growing Jewish population in Europe today.

There is a more descriptive detail in Bernard Horwich's
"
My First Eighty Years" (excerpts available)
www.uic.edu/depts/hist/nearwest/docs/jews/horwich/horwich.html

German Jews, contrary to the pervasive view that most Jews were city folks, they were also cattle raisers and traders, vintners, backwoods peddlers and moneylenders in off-the-beaten track areas.  And in these places, they left many traces in some of the least expected places.  There is a wonderful story, written by Phyllis Ellen Funke in the June/July 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine that describes many of these 'places' that documentation can be found today.

Note: "A lot of the records are held, not in the local Standesaemter, but in various Polish State Archives.  Many of the records are  missing or have been destroyed."  From a posting by Anita Springer on JewishGen

Jewish Communities
http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/bestehende_juedische_gemeinden.htm


Books   
          

Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com by
clicking here > Jewish Genealogy 

"A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Germany & Austria"
Published in January, 2001by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Great Britain -This guide gives an insight into researching your family roots both in these countries and in Britain.  This is an informative guide to the archives of available records and explains how to obtain the records you thought no longer existed.  In addition, the guide has sections on registration, the Holocaust, vital records, Kindertransport, alien registration, useful addresses, census and cemeteries. The guide is price at £4.50 (UK) - £6.00/US $10 (Overseas includes postage)  Payment with orders and is available from The JGSGB Membership Secretary, PO Box 27061, London, N2 OGT
ISBN: 0-9537669-1-8


"BriefeMeiner Erinnerung: Mein Uberleben in Judischen Ghetto von Minsk 1941-1942" 
Roughly translated to
"My Letter Living Through the Jewish Ghetto in Minsk".  This book, written in German by Ana Krasnaperko, is available from the publisher Haus Villigst, 5840 Schwerte, Germany Telephone: 02304/755230.  The Holocaust Museum has a copy and discusses the story of the many German Jews from Bremen and Hanover deported to Minsk and includes photos and text, but does not list names.  And, along with her mother, who was a doctor, escaped into the woods and lived with the partisans.


"Buddenbrooks"
Authored by Thomas Mann and published by Everyman's Library, follows the decline of a north German mercantile family.  It is set in Lubeck, and also in Hamburg.


"The Children's War"
Authored by Monique Charlesworth and published by Anchor, interweaves the Holocaust story of half-Jewish Ilse Blumenthal, a teenager who flees the Nazis in Paris, Marseilles and Cannes, with that of teenager Nicolai of Hamburg, where Ilse's Aryan mother, Lore is the family's nursemaid.


"Die Familie BENIES; in: Adler - Zeitschrift fuer Genealogie  und Heraldik," 
21. Band, Heft 3 page 81 - 86.  Other families mentioned are David, Benedikt, Eisler Von Terramare, Egger Von Moelwald, Mercy and Stern.  The family is originally from Kolomyia and Brody, but moved in 1860 to Vienna and later to Prague.  The publication is available at: Heraldisch-genealogische Gesellschaft Adler, Universitaetsstrasze 6/9b, A-1096 Wien.  $10.00 US cash only per
Georg Gaugusch at e952666@student.tuwien.ac.at 


"Die Judischen Gefallen des Deutschen Heeres, der deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen  1914-1918, Ein Gedenkbuch"  (A Memorial Book listing German Jewish soldiers who died in WWI) Published by Reichsbund Judischer Frontsoldaten in 1932
http://www.germanjewishsoldiers.com/


"The German Research Companion"
Authored by Shirley J. Riemer, this a big volume of facts and references to aid German family history researchers and it is written in clear English.. Subjects included are Books/Films/Fiche Numbers, Library Holdings, Jurisdictions, Military resources, Migrations, Resource Lists and much more 
http://www.softcom.net/users/lorelei/index.html


"The Goldapple Guide to Jewish Berlin"
Authored by Andrew Roth and Michael Frajman and published by Goldapple in 1998.  Reviews Berlin's Jewish history and describes its present Jewish character.  Catalogs the city's memorials, museums, and cultural sites, and list synagogues, cemeteries, organizations, services and restaurants.  There is a chapter on researching Jewish genealogy and property claims in Berlin.  Provides maps, numerous photographs and an index.


"In Search of Your German Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your Ancestors in the Germanic Areas of Europe".  Fourth edition
Authored by Angus Baxter and published by Genealogical Publishing Co. 1001 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202-3897.  Cost for the 114 page paperback is $11.95 Helps trace your German ancestry, not only in Germany, but also in all German-speaking areas of Europe. 


"Jews and Other German"
Authored by ill Van Rahden and published by The University of Wisconsin Press
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/2941.htm


"Juedisches Leben in Alme, Altenbueren, Brilon, Madfeld, Messinghausen, Roesenbeck [und] Thuelen" , von den Anfaengen bis zur Gegenwart.  Mit bild-/textdokumenten u. A. Zu den juedischen friedhoefen/ [von] Ursula Hesse/ Aschoff, Diethard Brilon, Stadt Brilon, 1991] 380 p. illus., facsims., plans, ports., tables. 23x25 cm. "Aspekte juedischer Geschichte in Westfalen, von Diethard Aschoff": p. 9-12. Bibliographical footnotes. 10. Cemeteries--Westphalia. ID # DS 135 G4 W4 H48 [LBI ]


"Library Resources for German-Jewish Genealogy"
Authored by Angelika G. Ellmann-Kruger & Edward David Luft


"The Memoirs of Glueckel of Hameln"
Dates from 1690 and is a unique chronicle written by a widowed German Jew, a business-woman and mother of 14, who lived in Altona and Hamburg and traveled around Germany. (Schocken)


"Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835"
Authored by Edward D. Luft - Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Amazon.com


"Not of This Time, Not of This Place"
Authored by Yehuda Amichai who was born in Wuerzburg and published by Vallentine Mitchell


"The Pity of It All: A History of Jews in Germany 1743-1933"
Authored by Amos Elon and published by Metropolitan


"Portraits of Our Past: Jews of the German Countryside"
Authored by Emily C. Rose is a family history and published by Jewish Publication Society
www.PortraitsOfOurPast.com


"Stammbuch der Frankfurter Juden"
Authored by Alexander Dietz and published in 1988 by Vanderher Publications in Cornwall, UK.   The Cercle de Genealogie Juive stated that the Society bought it in 1999 and that it can be useful not only for members of Frankfurt Jewish families but French researchers. Leo Baeck Institute is one of the holders of this book. The one feature of the English translation that adds to its utility is that, unlike the German original, it has an index.
ISBN 0-95141580-8
http://www.genealoj.org  


"Traveler's Guide to Jewish Germany"
Authored by Billie Ann Lopez and Peter Hirsch and published by Pelican in 1998.  A guide to Jewish sites in 186 towns and cities in Germany.  Provides for each entry its geographic location, significant cultural or historical sites, and an overview of its history  Includes practical travel tips, a chronology of German Jewish history, a glossary, an introduction to Hebrew letters and numbers, regional maps, color photographs and an index.


"The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family"
Authored by Ron Chernow and published by Vintage



General German Genealogy 


      
German Provinces in 1915
http://www.maps-of-germany.co.uk/


An excellent site to find information about most European countries
http://searcheurope.com  

and type in the name of the country you wish to research in the search field.  This site is a great source to find information for almost every European country.  Another valuable site to help find a person, maps, etc. - type in the name of any country you wish to research. This service is free.
http://www.webhelp.com/home  

Global Gazetteer
A great web site. It is a directory of  2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town.  A tab separated list is available for each country. 
www.calle.com/world/
 

Moving from one town to another
In the past, as it is now, one is required to register with the authorities when moving into town and to inform the authorities that one is moving when leaving for another place.  Records of moving are normally stored in the local Stadtarchives.  Unfortunately, many documents were lost during the war.


Archives

List of archives in former German or German occupied territories. The list includes:

Danzig-Westpreussen;
Elsaas
(Strassberg, Hagenau, Kolmar, Muehlhause);
Eupen-Malmeny
; Lothringen;
Luxemburg
; Memel (Klaipeda, Lithuania);
Niederschlesien
(Breslau, Liegnitz);
Oberschlesien
(Kattowitz, Oppeln);
Ostpreussen
(Koenigsberg, Allenstein);
Pommern
(Stettin, Koeslin, Schneidemuhl);
Sudetenland
;
Wartheland
(Posen, Hohensalza, Litzmannstadt [Lodz]);
Aussig
; Boehmisch Leipa; Bruex (Most);
Brunntal
; Falkenau (Sokolov);
Freiwaldau
(Jesenik);
Gablonz an der Neisse
(Jablonec nad Nisou);
Karlsbad
(Karlovy Vary);
Karwin
;
Komotau
;
Leitmeritz;
Maehrisch
Ostrau (Ostrava);
Pilsen
;
Reichenberg
(Liberec);
Teplitz-Schoenau
;
Tetschen
(Decin);
Troppau
(Opava)
Troppau
(Opava)

General request or uncertain cases can be directed to:
Central State Archives in Prague:
Ministerstvo vnitra Ceske republiky
Statni ustredni archiv v Praze
11801 Praha 1 - Mala Strana
Karmelitska 2

Phone (0042-2) 57 32 03 38
Fax: (0042-2) 57 32 02 75
E-mail: sua@mvcr.cz

http://home.t-online.de/home/RIJONUE/occupati.htm

Bundesarchiv
http://www.bundesarchiv.de/
 

Note: one of the problems is the frequent name changes, not just of families, but of towns in which they lived.  Check out this site that Miriam Margolyes wrote about  which contains a list showing most of the hundreds of town name changes from German to Polish in 19th Century Posen Province
http://www.posen-l.com/TownSearch.php  

http://www.posen-l.com/


Aufbau Newspaper Database

This German-language newspaper that was published in New York from September, 1944 through September 27, 1946, printed numerous lists of Jewish Holocaust survivors located in Europe.  There are 33,357 names that have been computerized
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/aufbau.htm 

Aufbau Searchable Database
http://deposit.ddb.de/online/exil/exil.htm


"Austrian, Czech and German Jews in Riga"

http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html


Bavaria

This is Germany's largest and oldest state and have more than 900 museums.

There is a series of books on the Jewish communities between the rivers Aisch, Aurach, Ebrach and Seebach in Franconia.  The series is called "Mesusa: Traces of Jewish Past on the Aisch, Aurach, Ebrach and Seebach".  The 2002 publication covers the Jewish cemeteries from Zeckern, Walsdorf, Aschbach, Uehlfeld, Mu'hlhausen, Lisberg, Burghaslach and Reichmannsdorf.

"Kindergarten Mu'hlhausen," "Traces of Jewish Past in
 Adelsdorf
,"and three volumes of "Mesusa", covering different aspects of the areas studies, all undertaken by a team headed by Johann Fleischmann. 

Another book in the series is a "Memorbuch" undertaken by Dr. Christine Kolbet on the Jews from Adelsdorf and Weisendorf.  All of these books are written in German. "Mesusa 3" includes photographs of the tombstones along with their printed text in Hebrew and the German translations. From a posting by Martha Levinson Lev-Zion.


"Bibliography on German-Jewish Family Research and on Recent Regional and Local History of the Jews

This is a CD available from Avotaynu at a recently quoted cost of $65.  Produced by Angelika Ellmann-Kruger and her husband, Dieter Ellman.  The sources include not only books, but also articles from old and current journals, newspapers and collective works - more than 32,000 published sources, mostly in German or English.  The CD has a full-word search engine. Ordering information for the CD can be found at
http://www.avotaynu.com/books/kruegercd.htm.


Cemeteries

Nearly 2,000 Jewish cemeteries exist today in the Federal Republic of Germany.  The total number of Jewish gravestones have been estimated at 600,000.  Photographs of about 54,000 Jewish tombstones in Baden-Wurttemberg are now in possession of the Central Archives.


The Central Archives

Stores photographs of more than 5,000 Jewish gravestones of Lower Saxony.

The oldest Jewish cemetery in Hamburg area is located in Konigstrabe in Altona and dates back to 1611.  There are approximately 2,500 Sephardic and 6,000 Ashkenazi graves. The Sephardic Jews preferred gravestones lying flat on the ground with rich ornamentation whereas Ashkenazi Jews usually placed them standing upright.

Hamburg Jewish cemeteries
Date back to 1663.  Although no gravestone information is offered on-line, the write-up on each cemetery details the number of graves, whether any graves have been relocated, whether the cemetery is still open and the district it is located in. 
http://www.studyweb.com/links/2081.html

Records
Ask for data from the "Zivilstandsregister" Hamburg Buergerbuero
http://www.hamburg.de/StadtPol/buergerbuero/welcome.htm


Central Archives for Research on the History of the Jews in Germany

A very interesting site.  Gayle Riley put on Viewmate, an example of a most interesting list of householders from Gemeinde Dzikow (Tarnobrzeg)"When Gayle asked me about this last week, I suggested that she post it on Viewmate so that others more expert in German than I have a crack at interpreting the material. But, in short, it is a list of householders." This was a typical list constructed for the purposes of taxation. The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People has such lists for many districts but most of them are much, much later than the 1853 list given to Gayle. Indeed, the ones I've seen are from the 1920-1935 period when the territory was Polish."

"The left side of the page simply lists the householder and house number. The word "Gattung" means kind in English but all of the places in the column in Gayle's example appear to be of the same kind. What the word is, I have no idea."

"The heading over the first columns on the right side of the page refers to the building where the householder lives, with one side saying something about the contents and the other seemingly referring to the annual tax in florins and kroner. I can't see the words in the next narrow column under that heading."

"The next bifurcated column is for the recording of the householder's worth in terms of assets, investments, etc. The final column, is, as always, for Anmerkung or comments."

"These lists are extremely valuable because, although they don't list wives and children like censuses, they provide a window into every male adult living in the Gemeinde in that year and the approximate and relative worth of the family."  From a posting by Suzan Wynne

http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/sonst/aj/
 
 

Click on "For English Summary" if you cannot read German. There is a list of records available from 1945 to 1995 and papers of the Cantor Edmund Capell from 1905 - 1937, plus various family papers.


Central Council of Jews

Salomon Korn replaced Michel Friedman as a vice president. The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany is Paul Spiegel.


Denk.Mal Project

On 5 May 2008, Austria’s National Commemoration Day Against Violence and Racism in Remembrance of Victims of National Socialism, students from all over Austria constructed an elaborate and moving Holocaust memorial on Vienna’s Heldenplatz - The Denk.Mal.

This memorial was dedicated to the more than 80,000 Austrians – Jews, political and religious dissidents, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Roma (gypsies), and other groups and individuals singled out by the Nazis for persecution and extermination – who were murdered in the Holocaust.
http://www.lettertothestars.at/en/page_id_108.html


Disease

Old disease terminology and symbols, professions terminology and genealogical symbols (much in German, but the same site offers a translation service) plus more at 
http://www.genealogienetz.de/genealogy.html
 


Europages

Business 2 business company directory and business in Europe, yellow pages access, international and European business directory (professional services, addresses and business classifieds
http://www.europages.net


Germany (The Country)

The Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Confederation of Jews in Germany) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html


German Documents - Captured in WW II

In the final days of WW II, an elite unit of the British marines and navy was charged with a particularly dangerous task on the front lines.  The Thirtieth Assault or Advanced Unit (30AU), otherwise known as the "Document Commandos," was allegedly the brainchild of Ian Fleming; its mission was to seize German archives before they were destroyed.  The reason why this was so important was that he realized that the horrors of the Holocaust were so incredible that they would have to be meticulously documented to be believe.

The entire naval archives had been moved from Berlin to Tambach Castle, not far from Nuremburg.  They had been slated for destruction; gasoline and wood had been obtained to burn them, but in the harsh winter of 1944-45, the fuel had been put to more constructive use.

Three hundred tons of German documents were eventually seized, crated and shipped to London. By prior agreement, all seized documents were owned jointly by the British and the Americans. The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence immediately began to microfilm the Tambach archives.  The project ended up with 4,061 rolls of microfilm.  The National Archives' collection of German documents captured includes far more than WW II material as they include 1,624 reels of naval documents (800-900 frames per reel) from before 1920.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/special_forces_in_world_war_two.htm


German and European Passenger Departure Records Links

http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/emi_ref.htm 


German Genealogy Group

Genealogy/german-faq offers lots and lots of links and answers to questions about German genealogy.  An excellent place to start. 
http://www.genealogienetz.de/faqs/sgg.html
 

Resources for German Genealogy on the Internet
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/


German Migration Information

This site encourages a worldwide exchange of genealogy information about German emigrants and immigrants from 1600 to 1950. 

Searchable Emigration Records
http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_emigration_records
.htm

German Migration Resource Center
Research tools at this site include a selected list of books about German
Genealogy and German migration and links to other sites 
http://www.germanmigration.com/

France, Ireland, England, Italy and Spain links
http://frenchmigration.com/ 

German Roots
An especially helpful web site for the beginning or intermediate genealogist is this site which offers links to the 'best of' on-line resources for census records, emigration, databases, history and maps
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/ 


German Jewish Records

On-line information about microfilmed reels and what they contain including lists of Jews deported from Germany and extensive material from concentration camp records, primarily from camps located in the US occupied zone of Germany, though there are records from other camps, as well.  

The microfilmed copies are now housed at the US National Archives (NARA) and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM, Washington, DC) has a catalog of the 189 reels (about 189,000 frames or pages).  Deportation lists from various cities are included, varying by city.  

Until Arolsen International Red Cross Records are made public, or until Israel permits the filmed collection of these records (prepared in the 1950s and held in Yad Vashem) to be copied and made available outside of Yad Vashem, this is the largest available collection.  It can be seen at NARA in College Park, Maryland, or at the USHMM. The bulk, however, are concentration camp records, including arrival and 'departure' (releases, transfers and death) lists.  

Given the enormity of the collection, it would be impossible for NARA staff to search for family names or even individuals unless very specific information on the person being sought is provided.  If you have such information available, you can send an inquiry via e-mail to james.kelling@nara.gov or you may request searches at the Holocaust Museum at registry@ushmm.org  Remember to make any requests as specific as possible and the USHMM staff will search this and other collections.

More information is available at my ' 'Holocaust Page' and at  www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/CapturedGermanRecords.html 

The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation has an office in Wurzburg, Germany which offers to assist those who are searching for their Jewish Roots in Germany.  It is The "Ephraim Gustav-Hoenlein Genealogy Project".  Rabbi Binjamin Krauss is the director of the foundation's Frankfurt Center and archivist Michael Schneeberger oversees the work at the Wurzburg office.  Queries are processed through the Lauder office in Frankfurt at bbkrauss@hotmail.com 
Phone: 011 494 69 7137, or Fax 011 49 69 7137 4629
www.rslfoundation.org


German Jewish Newspapers

Der Israelit
Published from 1860 to 1938 in Frankfurt and was a major newspaper for observant Jews. the Leo Baeck Institute may have copies lbil@interport.net and their address was 123 East 73rd St., New York 10021. 
It is now part of the Center for Jewish History in New York.


German Jewish Refugees, 1933-1939 to Shanghai

www.ushmm.org/wlc/article. php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005468 


German Night Club Movie in Berlin 1930

http://www.movietone-portraits.com/


German Professions

Names including Kaufmann, Handelsmann, and Handler. Because of the 'skewed' societies, from a modern view, in which the Jews lived in Central Europe, these commercial terms are almost meaningless, for the following reasons.

The area at the time was divided into social classes which were: Nobility, Clergy, Peasants, and Commoners. The Jews certainly didn't fit into the first 3, while the Christian population of the 4th were mainly concerned with keeping Jews out (hence, the 'shtetls', guilds, etc.). Notice, no merchants, craftsmen, etc., except for Group 4. The Jews partly filled the gap, such as it was, becoming an 'alternate commercial class'. So, it was very common for a Jew to be a "Trader" (Handler), whether this meant retailing goods from a wagon or a backpack to remote farms and villages, or being  a cattle dealer, a pushcart vendor, or door-to-door peddling (Hausierer) or whatever. Some of this was done part-time, in addition to farming or whatever.

There are stories, no doubt true, of how much ingenious frantic activity was carried out for ridiculously small profits. Still, it was common for them to know nothing else.

National governments, especially in German lands, considered this anti-social behavior, and basically opened trades to Jews, and made the old occupations more and more unpleasant for them, to force them into them, besides other restrictions. Some of them learned a trade, but quickly emigrated after doing so. This turned out to be a wise (and/or lucky) move. The above information was posted by Edward Konig konige@worldnet.att.net


German, Swiss and Austrians Deported From France

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/frdeport.htm


Holzminden

A web site, in French, offers information about this German WW I POW camp Holzminden
http://www2.ac-lille.fr/patrimoine-caac/lenordenguerre/ot.htm


How did the Nazis know who was Jewish? 

"Thus, the German government today still determines the structure and nature of local Jewish communal authorities (known as Israelitische Kultusgemeinde), the qualifications of rabbis, teachers and other officials--and pays their salary."

"In about 1830/1840, in Wurttemberg (Germany) the State passed a law that only university graduates or similar could be a rabbi. They also had to be able to deliver a sermon in German. This I found in this following very interesting book:

"Portraits of Our Past: Jews of the German Countryside"
Author:  Emily C. Rose - Publication Date:  2001- No. of Pages:  372 Publisher: 
The Jewish Publication Society
2100 Arch St., 2nd Fl.
Philadelphia, PA  19103
Tel: 800-234-3151; fax: 215-568-2017

http://www.jewishpub.org

Comments:  over 75 illustrations, maps, tables, family trees; bibliography
Available at: Leo Baeck Institute. It is based on the lives of the antecedents of Emily Rose who came from Wurttemberg. She links their lives to the political and economic developments of the times. My own family has similar origins in Southern Germany." From a posting by Nick Landau London, UK.
Landau@btopenworld.com


International Tracing Service of the Red Cross

Located in Arolsen
http://www.its-arolsen.org


Jewish Community of Germany

Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland e.V.
D-6000-1 Frankfurt, Germany

Judische Gemeinde Dusseldorf
D-40476 Dusseldorf, Germany

Judische Gemeinde Munchen
D-80469 Munich, Germany


Jewish Festival in Germany - (in German)

Homepage der Tage dere judischen Kultur Chemnitz Seit 1992, Theater, Literatur, Ausstellungen, Kinderprogramme
http://www.tdjk.de/ 


Jewish Life in Germany

A site about Jewish life in Germany, with resources, addresses and many other things.  Site is in German
http://www.judaism.de/

Books
          

"Judische Geschichte in Berlin"
In German, about German life in Berlin from 1300 to 1994. Published in 1995
ISBN 3-89468-181-0


Jewish Museum of Berlin

Houses the largest Jewish Museum/Holocaust memorial in Europe.  Exhibitions are planned that will shed light on the lives and fates of German speaking Jews.  There is a virtual tour of the building at
http://www.jmberlin.de


Jewish Records in Germany

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Rg/guide/Germany21.asp#jewish_records


Jewish Soldiers

Find a grave of a German soldier
http://www.jewishsoldier.org/

http://www.germanjewishsoldiers.com/

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/RosenbergerEastAndWest/
GermanyGoesToTheGhetto.html


Juedisches Museum Franken, Fuerth und Schnaittach

Director: Daniela F. Eisenstein
info@juedisches-museum.org


Leo Baeck Institute

The institute is a research, study and lecture center whose library and archives offer the most comprehensive documentation for the study of German Jewish history. Located at The Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th St.
New York, NY 10011
lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org 
Telephone: 212 744 6400 Fax 212 988 1305. 
There is also two branches:
LBI
4 Devonshire Street
London 

LBI
J33 Bustanai Street
91082 Jerusalem. 
http://www.lbi.org/


Library of the Central Archives

A reference library.  The Director is Dr. Peter Honigmann
Zentralarchiv Bienenstr.5,
69117 Heidelberg, Germany 
Telephone: +49 0 6221/164141 Fax: +49 0 6221/181049 
E-mail: Zentralarchiv@urz.uni-heidelberg.de


    Maps

Former German area maps now in Poland, Russia, Czech Republic - a commercial site offering maps of Western Pomerania, East Brandenburg - Lower Silesia, Trans Pomerania, Southern Pomerania Middle Silesia, Upper Silesia, Southern East Prussia, West and East Prussia, Northern East Prussia including the Memel (Klapedia) area, Eger and Northern Bohemia, Eastern Bohemia and more 
http://www.genealogyunlimited.com/hofer.html

Alsace-Lorraine-German Empire West 1882
http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html

German Map
http://www.europeetravel.com/maps/

Posen-Prussia-German Empire East 1882
http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html

Silesia-Prussia-German Empire East 1882
http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html


Military

  

http://www.germanjewishsoldiers.com/

WW I and WW II
A site that has some of the names of men who served and were either wounded or died during the two World Wars. 
http://www.volksbund.de/VuTDB/vut_suche.asp
   


Moving Here

Trace your roots from Germany to Britain and help in finding the relevant records in your search
http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/jewish/country/germany.htm        


Names

Family Names From West Prussia
www.jgsgb.org.uk/

Surnames in Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames
http://www.avotaynu.com/books/MenkNames.htm


Old German Script Lettering

At the web site, you can download Gothic 1 Regular for Macintosh and Gothic Zip for Windows and there is additional links to more information about German fonts that maybe of help in your translation of old German scripts 
http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/germanic.html

According to an e-mail I received from Michael Bernet, "The 'gothic' alphabet won't be of much use to any researcher into Jewish genealogy -- it's a face created by Bishop Ulfilas (A.D.c311-c382), Christian bishop to the Goths who translated the Christian Bible into the Gothic language."  "I doubt that a dozen Jews at that time even understood Gothic, and I'm pretty sure none left any records written in Gothic."


Saxony Memorial Foundation

Chief Historian is Dr. Norbert Haase haase@stsg.de  Dresden, Germany is interested in a research project about military personnel who helped Jews to survive the holocaust.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6522/is_200105/ai_n25877083


Stammbaum

The Journal of German-Jewish Genealogical Research - Werner L. Frank, Editor. The scope focuses on Germany and includes Austria, Switzerland, Alsace, Bohemia and other areas with linguistic and historic relevance. The Stammbaum website
http://www.lbi.org/Stammbaum.html


Synagogues

The Architecture Department of the technical University at Darmstadt has opened a digital 3-D architectural museum
http://www.cad.architektur.th-darmstadt.de/architectura_virtualis/projekte.html  

This site includes a walk-through several pre-Holocaust German synagogues.  One is the synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse in Berlin and another is one in Frankfurt/Main.


Telephone Directories on the Web

http://www.teldir.com 

http://www.teleauskunft.de/ 
(In German)


Translating

Click here to search my German Language page

langtolang.com
to
Translation Service
A commercial site offering many language translating programs 
http://www.worldlanguage.com

TravLang
Another commercial site that offers a number of translating services - some for free 
http://www.dictionaries.travlang.com/
 


Yizkor Books
 
  • Pinkas Hakehillot, Germanyah: Bayern


  • Zip Codes

    http://www.mapsofworld.com/germany/germany-useful-informations/germany-codes/germany-zip-code.html



    Cities and Towns in Germany

     

      Porta Nigra - The Black Door - Trier - Germany
                  City gate of Treier

    To find where your ancestors came from, try this site
    http://www.sakura.pl/gene/index.php3

    Many towns have websites.  It would be  something like  
    www.dortmund.de


    Affaltrach

    Cemetery
    Has a well kept Jewish cemetery


    Augsburg

    One of Germany's oldest cities, it was founded by Augustus Caesar's stepsons in 15 B.C.E.  Between the 15th and 17th centuries, it was one of Europe's highest finance centers, attracting medieval Jews from all over Central Europe.  The first known mention of Jews was Joseph von Augsburg in 1212.  By 1259, a teaching academy existed, and in 1298 and in 1336, city authorities stopped potential massacres.

    Vintners, cattle dealers and moneylenders lived below Judenberg and near Karlstrasse. By the 20th century, there were 1,156 Jews who were also involved in textiles and commerce, and a book business - The Shocken Press.  More information about this area can be found in an article "The Romantic Road" - authored by Phyllis Ellen Funke, and published in the June/July 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine.  See the archives at 
    http://hadassah.org
     


    Bad Hornburg

    A suburb only a few miles north of Frankfurt


    Baden Baden


    Map of City of Baden-Baden

    Near the Black Forest, the town is famous for their spa's waters
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica
    /ejud_0002_0003_0_01848.html


    Baden/Wurttemberg

    Had a Jewish community with a synagogue.  It is also a State within Germany and there are some Jews now living in the area

    Baden Emigration Index
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/baden.html

    Jewish Community
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/bestehende_juedische_gemeinden.htm

    Wurttemberg Emigration Index
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/wuerttemberg.html


    Bamberg       

    This city's architecture dates from the 15th through the 17th centuries and is a city of 70,700.  The city's industries include beer as well as textiles and leather goods.  It was ruled by prince-bishops from the 13th century until 1801 and annexed by Bavaria in 1802.

    The town dates to the year 902, and began to prosper in the twelfth century. Bamberg was the second city (after Mainz) to introduce book printing. It has a beautiful medieval inner city that was renovated and restructured in baroque times.

    Cemetery
    There is a Jewish cemetery visited by Michael Bernet in 2000.


    Barnstorf

    A village near Cornau
    http://rebheidi.vox.com/library/posts/tags/bridge+of+
    understanding/ 


    Battenberg

    http://nextweb.lib.ohio-state.edu/sites/jdc/070096.html


    Bennisch

    Formerly in Austria, now known as Horni Benesov in the Czech Republic


    Bergen-Belsen - (See also my Holocaust page)

    "Various Lists of Czechoslovak Inmates at Bergen-Belsen"
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html


    Berlin

    There was a large Jewish presence here before WW II 
    "Jews Who Died in Berlin 1943-45"  
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html

    On May 28, 1942, approximately 200 Berlin Jews are executed in retaliation for the burning of the anti-Soviet exhibition on May 18th.

    The elected president of Berlin's Jewish community is Alexander Brenner, replacing Andreas Nachama on May 2, 2001.  The Berlin Jewish community, Germany's largest, has increased from about 6,000 to about 12,000 during the last 10 years with the arrival of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Joel Levy is the founding Chair of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Berlin.

    Berlin
    Stiftung "Neue Synagogue Centrum Judaicum",  apparently holds civil records . For your information, they state that they hold includes files from almost 400 German Jewish Communities, including more than 1000 files from Berlin (1827-1945), and inventories of Jewish organizations, smaller estates, and collections. This inventory has been microfilmed and digitized, and can thus be viewed on reader-printer or computer.

    http://www.cjudaicum.de/

    Berlin Address Book
    Offering both addresses and streets from 1799 until 1943. It is *not* the Jewish address book discussed in 2000 on GERSIG. It is a general one and it is online! However it is slightly tricky since the addresses and names are in Gothic alphabet and though there are instructions in English the text is in German. It has some drawbacks especially with umlauts and the combination of the letters c+h.  It also gives the profession but no telephone number.  From a posting by Jacob Rosen on JewishGen
    http://adressbuch.zlb.de/index.htm

    Cemeteries

    Weissensee
    Cemetery
    The Centrum Judaicum does have records from the Weissensee Cemetery on microfilm, you can get a copy of burial cards, burial permits, and other information by writing to the cemetery in German, preferably, directly.  There are 115,000 graves. The Centrum Judaicum does not have copies of death certificates or any other information that is not at the cemetery.

    Judischer Friedhof Weissensee
    Herbert-Baum_Strasse 45
    D-13088 Berlin, Germany

    For copies of death certificates, you need to know the neighborhood in Berlin where the death occurred and was registered.  That information should be on the burial permit you get from the cemetery

    A documentary, "In Heaven, Underground" directed by Britta Wauer, has its somber moments, but its tone is mostly cheerful as it explores the history behind the gravestones.
    www.7thart.com

    Berlin Death Records
    You should be able to obtain the death certificate for the person through the office covering the area in which the person died. The Berlin registration office (Standesamt) addresses are obtained
    http://www.berlin.de/standesamt1/standesaemter_in_berlin.html

    The Berlin's New Synagogue
    Used for worship until 1940 when the building was sequestered, and its vast cellar was then used as an air-raid shelter before being destroyed by an air-raid.  It was rebuilt in the late 1980s and is now the Jewish Center.

    Obituaries
    The Jews of Berlin, from about 1900 until 1933, published their death notices in a daily paper, Berliner Tageblatt, and that is the best place to search for deaths.  The paper was a liberal daily, read by all of the Jews of Berlin and it was considered to be "the Jewish paper".

    The death notices are often large, black framed ads, full of information about the deceased, a list of surviving family members, etc.  The entire run of the paper is available on microfilm at major libraries. From a posting by Jim Bennett
    http://www.berlinertageszeitung.de/

    http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/908140

    http://www.preussen-chronik.de/begriff_jsp/key=begriff_berliner+tageblatt.html

    Reinickendorf
    A district in northern Berlin and includes: Tegel, Wittenau, Dalldorf, Hermsdorf, Frohnau, Waidmannslust, Luebars, Borsigwalde, Tegelort, Konradshoehe, Joersfeld, Heiligensee, Freie Scholle and Schulzendorf. Few, if any Jews lived in this area.

    Walking Tour of Berlin - in English
    http://www.insidertour.com/


    Beuthen

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II
    http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/beuthen/beuthen.html

    http://www.freebase.com/view/en/bytom_synagogue


    Biebesheim

    http://www.avotaynu.com/books/encytowns.htm

    http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/EURO-JEWISH/2000-01/0948493152

    http://www.goethe.de/ins/za/prj/jue/bfx/bxw/en1658125.htm


    Bielefeld

    A former West German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, opened a synagogue and community center in Krefeld on 9-14-08 for the growing Jewish community. In 2008, there were about 300 Jews living in and around the area.  The original synagogue was destroyed by fire in 1938.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0003_0_02951.html

    http://www.blankgenealogy.com/histories/Location%20histories/Germany/Bielefeld%20Jewish%20Community.pdf


    Boden

    Located about 3 km north of Montabaur, which in turn is less than 20 km east of Coblenz on the Rhine River
    http://www.jewishgen.org/listserv/sigs.htm

    http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/dvg34-23.htm


    Bonn

    Birthplace of Ludwig Beethoven, Bonn was once a Roman colony with a population of 300,000.  It survived WW II bombings that leveled one third of the city's inner core and served as West Germany's capital from 1949 until after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_
    0004_0_03309.html


    Boppard

    A resort town on the Rhine River, about 2 hours north of Frankfurt

    Synagogue
    There is an old Jewish cemetery in the woods behind the sports complex that is in good condition.

    There was a Jewish presence and a Jewish cemetery here.  For further information, please scroll down to Buchenau.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0004_0_03327.html

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/boppard_synagoge.htm


    Borken

    "Es is Nicht Leicht, Daruber Zu Sprechen: Der November Pogrom 1938 in Kreis Borken"
    (It is not easy to talk about it: the November 1938 pogrom in County Borken)
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html


    Bornkampsweg

    Located within the district of Bahrenfeld and was founded in 1874.
    http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//bornkamp.html


    Brandenburg

    Brandenburg Prussia Emigration Index
    A commercial site.  These records are also available on microfiche from the Family History Library under the title: Brndenburgishes Landeshauptarchiv Potsdam.  FHL microfiche #6109219, a total of 22 Fiches
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/emigration.html

    http://www.familyhistory.com/category.asp?cat=immigration


    Braunschweig

    "Brunsvicensia Judaica Gedenkbuch fur die Judischen Mitburger der Stadt Braunschweig 1933-1945; Waisenhaus-Buchdruckerei und Veriag Braunschweig Autotypien"
    (The Jews of Braunschweig: Memory Book for the Jewish Citizens of the city of Braunschweig 1933-1945
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html

    Emigrant List from the former Duchy of Braunschweig 1846-1871
    (Except the City of Braunschweig & the County of Holzminden)
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/emigration.html


    Breisach, Baden-Wurttemberg

    A Society for the Promotion of the former Jewish Community Center in Breisach, is headed by Dr. Walesch-Schneller and other residents of the town.  They are researching local Jewish history, organize visits for Jews originally from Breisach and offer other cultural programs.  There are three Jewish families now living in the town.


    Bremen (see also Emigration)

    Bremerhaven
    The port of the city of Breman, both of which together form part of the German state of Bremen.  Today's zip code of the city center which includes the town hall with its archives, would be D-27568.

    Bremen Project
    Transcribed passenger lists of ships departing Bremen and arriving in the USA 
    http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/emi_ref.htm
     


    Breslau - (Wroclaw)

    There appears to be between twenty to thirty microfilms containing records of this Jewish community in the FHL Archives.  Births: 1184384; Marriages 1184389; Families: 1184402 

    Breslau
    Had become an entrance gate to Prussia and other parts of Germany for Jews from Galicia and the Posen province probably because the "Schutzjuden" were only allowed to many one son in Breslau -- so that many stayed only for one generation in Breslau.

    http://www.ashkenazhouse.org/rrbreslaue.htm


    Buchenau

    A suburb next to the town of Boppard

    Cemetery
    There is a Jewish cemetery located behind the sports complex near some woods.  It is surrounded by a chain link fence and is in good condition with about 150 graves, some recent, some 19th century, some overgrown and some well-kept.  All had names, dates and some in Hebrew with some in German or a combination as reported by Sherry Levy-Reiner who visited
    the area Slevyrei@aol.com 


    Buttenhausen

    There was a Jewish presence prior to WW II.
    Ivan Greenhut drgreen@knology.net has an English translation of "Jeden in Buttenhausen".


    Buttenheim

    A market town in northern Bavaria near Bamberg where Levi Strauss (the inventor of 'Jeans') was born.  There is now a museum dedicated to 'Jeans' in the town. Jews settled in this town in the 17th century.  A synagogue was built around 1740 and by 1810, Jews were one-fifth of the town's population. 

    Cemetery
    A Jewish cemetery was established on a low hill just outside of the town in 1819.


    Cannstatt

    Cemetery
    Has a well kept Jewish cemetery and is located in the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm


    Celle

    Located near Bergen-Belsen, it has a synagogue 
    Im Kreise 23-24
    Phone 49-58-1971-2584

    Synagogue
    Synagogue was built around 1740 and has been restored and houses an exhibit about the Jewish Community's history


    Chemnitz

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II.  A new synagogue was inaugurated on May 24, 2002 in this eastern German city which costs $4.1 million to replace the synagogue destroyed by the Nazis.  The building also houses a library and center for the city's 500 member Jewish community.
    http://levi-strauss-museum.com


    Chusum

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II


    Cologne

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II.  It is a significant railroad center and a port of great commercial importance.  Industries include textiles, pharmaceuticals, chocolate and the perfume, eau de cologne.  The old part is characterized by a maze of narrow, crooked streets. On May 31, 1942, the RAF deployed the "Thousand Bomber Raid" for the first time against this city and the raid proved as impressive as it was destructive.  By dawn, Cologne lay in ruins.

    History
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cologne

    Museum in Cologne
    In German, but Google will translate into EnglishYou can search for victims of the Nazi-regime from the Cologne area.
    http://www.museenkoeln.de/homepage/default.asp

    Synagogues in Cologne
    http://www.mavensearch.com/synagogues/C3389Y41693RX

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0005_0_04525.html

    Liberal Jewish Congregation Cologne, Gescher LaMassoret e.V
    This is the website of the Liberal Jewish Congregation Cologne, Gescher LaMassoret e.V. Contact, links, activities. Located on Roonstrasse.  Paul Spiegel is president of the German Jewish Community in 2005.
    http://www.gescherlamassoret.de/en/


    Constance

    Cemetery
    There is an old Jewish cemetery in this town. 

    Sigmund (Zygmunt in Polish) Nissenbaum, built a synagogue in this community after moving here and making his mark in real estate and import-export businesses.  Sigmund, after returning to his native Poland after 40 years, and finding the Jewish cemeteries in Poland in terrible condition, funded the restoration of many cemeteries and synagogues throughout Poland thorough his Nissenbaum Foundation in Warsaw.  He died in August, 2001 and is buried in Constance Jewish cemetery.


    Cornau

    A village in Lower Saxony
    http://www.avotaynu.com/books/encytowns.htm


    Cottbus

    "The Jewish Community of Cottbus  1930s - 1945" 
    A list of about 800 names of Jewish families from this city, located southwest of Berlin
    www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/cottbus/cottbus.html


    Creglingen

    There is a Jewish Museum
    (Juedisches Museum Creglingen)
    Badgasse 3

    The court Jew's residence is now the green baroque Gruener Hof Inn. 

    Cemetery

    There are several Jewish cemeteries and in nearby Archshofen

    Synagogue
    The Wuerzburg synagogue in the community center complex serves a growing Jewish population today.  The original synagogue location is marked by a plaque.  A canal with a waterwheel fed the 1821 mikva'ot'oth.

    Travel
    Creglingen Tourist Office
    Telephone 79-337-010. 


    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt Archive Address
    Karolinenplatz 3, D-64289 Darmstadt

    The city web site (in German): 
    http://www.stad.hessen.de/
     


    Daubringen

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/lollar_synagoge.htm

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/mainzlar_synagoge.htm


    Dettensee

    Regional Special Interest Groups
    The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG, Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG,
    Hungary SIG and Stammbaum German SIG at
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html


    Dietesheim am Main

    A book, authored by Mr. Joeg Neumeister-Jung, discusses the Jewish population of the town.  Further information is available by contacting Steven Warner  SWarner317@aol.com


    Dinkelsbuehl

    Jews that can trace their roots here include the Feuchtwangen family which includes the writer Leon and musician Peter. Nearby Schoplach retains its original timbered Jewish school, and on an opposite pink wall, a synagogue memorial.  Jews once comprised over 300 of the total population.  A patois developed here, a mix of Yiddish, Hebrew, German and the local dialect.  Called Lachoudisch - and supposedly a secret traders-only language - virtually all inhabitants spoke it. More information is available at the Hadassah web site's Archives 
    http://hadassah.org
     


    Doerzbach

    Situated northeast of Heilbronn

    Information about this town may be obtained by writing to
    Rathaus of Kuenzelsau
    German Zip Code: D-74677


    Dobrzyca  (Kordeshagen, (Koszalin, Poland)

    Formerly called Kordeshagen, Pommem (Pomerania), Germany; now Dobrzyca (Koszalin), Poland.  It is located on the coast in northern Poland, near Koszalin.  Part of the former province Pommern, Prussia (Germany) pre-WWI, it is now in the re-designated province of Zachodniopomorskie.

    Dobrzyca (Schneidemuhl)
    Another town by the same name is located northwest of Poznan and just north of Pil~a (Pil~a was known as Schneidemuhl during the Prussian era).  It was part of the former province of Posen, Prussia (Germany) pre-WWI and today it is the province of Wielkopolska.

    Dobrzyca (Dobberschutz, Posen, Germany, now Dobrzyca (Pleszew) Poznan, Poland) Another town by the same name is located southeast of Jarocin and northeast of Krotoszyn, due west of Pleszew.  It was formerly known as Dobberschutz, Posen, Germany, but now Dobrzyca (Pleszew) Poznan, Poland.  It was part of the former province of Posen, Prussia (Germany) during pre-WWI.  Today, it is in the province of Wielkopolska.

    Prussia, or Preussen,
    Was a very large German Kingdom which included parts of both western and eastern Europe in its heyday.  The LDS Family History Library holds microfilms of the Jewish and Civil Records (in varying numbers for each separate place) for all three Dobrzycas.  Just run a place search for Dobrzyca in their on-line catalog at 
    http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhic.asp


    Dresden

    There are slightly more than 30,000 living today in this city that was totally destroyed in WW !!  The city is located on the banks of the Elbe river and not far from the Czech capital of Prague

    Hatikvah Meeting Place
    A source for cultural and historical information about the city's Jewish community Mr. Goldenbogen, is the historian and director.

    Synagogue
    A new synagogue, that has room for 300 worshipers,  has been constructed  in this former East German city.  Rabbi Shneer Havlin runs a Lubavitch congregation.  Roman Koenig is president of the Dresden Jewish community. On November 9-10, 1938 the Dresden synagogue was one of many synagogues burnt in the infamous Kristallnacht, however, a 24 year old fireman saved the Jewish Star of David and returned it to be used in the rebuilding of a new synagogue.  On that same night, nearly 100 Jews were killed and tens of thousands of Jewish men were arrested.


    Eppingen

    Cemetery
    http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/baden-wuerttemberg-baden-wuerttemberg/eppingen.html

    Emigration
    http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_emigration_records.htm


    Erfelden

    Twenty-five Jews were living here in 1828, but the community was not established until 1875, when it numbered around 50.  In 1814, there were three Jewish families, in 1828, 25 and in 1880 there were 50 or 5.8% of the total population of 866. The dead were buried in the Cemetery in Gross-Gerau.
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/erfelden_synagoge.htm

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/frankfurt_offenbach_grossgerau_friedhoefe.htm  


    Essen

    Synagogue
    There is/was a Steelerstrasse Synagogue in Essen which consisted of a 100 foot dome abutted by four stair towers.  A similar design was created for the Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon
    www.bethisrael-pdx.org


    Esslingen

    Had a Jewish community


    Falkenberg (Sachsen)

    Located south of Berlin.  Names from this town from 1812-1874 appear on microfilm available through the LDS Family History Centers and the film number is 1418020: Austerlitz, Berliner, Cohn, Courland, Dienstfertig, Epstein, Forell, Fraenkel, Glaser, Goldstein, Heymann/Heimann, Sax/Sachs, Schindler, Silberberg, Ullmann and Welsch. 


    Feldatal

    This region includes the villages of Kestrich, Windhausen, Ermenrod, Stumpenrod, Stondorff and many other villages and towns in the Vogelsberg area.
    Contact for further information is
    Ed Schechter edtioga@comcast.net

    Synagogue
    A municipality of in Oberhausen, Germany dedicated a Rural Jewish Museum.  The building site was the former synagogue of the town which was looted but not destroyed during Kristallnacht.


    Floss

    Regional Special Interest Groups
    The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG, Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG, Hungary SIG and Stammbaum - German SIG at
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html


    Forsterweg

    Located within the district of Langenfelde and was founded in 1886/87. 

    Cemetery
    It has a small Jewish cemetery that is not in use today.


    Franconia

    There was once a Jewish presence here. 


    Frankfurt

    Germany's financial center and transportation hub as well as the host of some important trade fairs.  Institut fur Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt
    www.stadtgeschichte-ffm.de

    http://goldschmidt.tripod.com/


    Fuerth

    By 1848 Fuerth’s Jews constituted 17.5 percent of the general population. As late as 1935, 50% of the wholesalers, 14.5 % of the retailers. Go to Google and search: Fuerth Jews for a wealth of information.


    Fulda

    Regional Special Interest Groups
    have Germany information and links.  The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG, Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG, Hungary SIG and Stammbaum - German SIG at
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html



    Granow

    The Jewish population, (or Kehila), in this, the Czartoryski Territories in 1776, obtained from Appendix I of the book "The Lords' Jews, Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 18th Century" by M. J. Rosman amounted to 1.024.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/e-europe/Ukra-gr.html


    Grebenstein

    http://www.oocities.org/rcibella/ 


    Greiz, Saxony

    Now in Thuringia.  The boundaries of the contemporary German states have little in common with those of 100 years ago.
    http://www.europeanfocus.com/europe/photos/photos-germany.html

    http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=31025


    Gratz

    The Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer refers to its entry for Grodzisk which is on a railroad line in Poznan Province.  In 1946, it had a population of 6,015. 

    Shtetl Finder Gazetteer 

    authored by  Chester G. Cohen lists a number of names for people from this town.


    Gunzenhausen

     
    1882/1883 wurde die
    Gunzenhäuser Synagogue
    Photo taken from this web site
    http://www.gunnet.de/stephani/step_p09e.htm

    Here you will find much information and other photos, plus family homes.  This web site was created by students in Gunzenhausen, Germany (about 100 km SW of Fuerth and Nuremberg). The teacher had students research the Jewish Households that lived in the town before WWII and made a website out of what they learned--including photos of the homes of the families, family names, some documents, etc. They researched house ownership as far back at the 1600s in some cases. They keep adding information to the website, like advertisements for the family businesses in old newspapers.  Perhaps you can find people related to you at the site. 
    Carol Zsolnay carol@zsolnay.org provided this information and the URL for this site.


    Halle

    Emil Fackenheim, renowned Jewish thinker was born here.  He died in Jerusalem, September 2003.  His works included 'Paths to Jewish Belief, God's Presence in History' and "To Mend the World'.

    Synagogue
    Located in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the synagogue has rededicated its 300 year old Torah Scroll after its restoration in Ukraine.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/antisemitic_legends.html

    http://www.lbi.org/links.html


    Hainchen, Kreis Büdlingen

    http://www.frankfurt.de/ 


    Hamburg

    The first Jews to settle here was in the 1580s and were Portuguese traders - Conversos who "passed" as Christians.  Hamburg is Germany's largest port and is 75 miles inland from the North Sea.  Detailed information about this city can be read in an article authored by Lois Gilman in the November 2008 issue of Hadassah Magazine.

    In 1612, 125 Sefardim were granted official residence permits for five years on the payment of 1,000 marks.  The Jewish population grew to over 600 by 1663 and was relocating to the Neustadt area

    A second Jewish community was established in the nearby fishing village of Altona which was under Danish rule and more liberal. Around 1842, after the great fire, two prominent Jews were Gumprich Marcus Warburg and Salomon Heine.  Warburg's two eldest sons founded M.M. Warburg & Company which grew into an international private banking firm.

    Some 6,400 Jews lived in Hamburg by 1800. Other special events occurring during this era were: the opening of the Talmud Torah School for the Poor by Mendel Frankfurter, grandfather of the famous Orthodox rabbi, Samson Raphael Hirsch. 

    At the turn of the 20th century, many Jews had moved from Neustadt to the Grindel area (known as little Jerusalem).  In 1906, the community built an imposing Romanesque synagogue in Bornplatz; it was set afire on Kristallnacht in 1938 and demolished in 1939. Bornplatz was renamed Joseph-Carlebach Platz to honor Chief Rabbi Joseph Carlebach who served from 1936 until his deportation to Riga.

    BallinStadt Family Research Center
    You can get details about passengers who embarked between 1850 and 1934; birthplace, place of residence, occupation, destination and other family members.  The digitized archive of five million names is free onsite and is also available for a fee at
    www.ancestry.com



    http://geyer-genealogy.blogspot.com/2007/07/ballinstadt-opens-in-hamburg.html

    Hamburg became a "free Imperial city" as far back as 1510.  There was also (pre-Hitler), a small state of Hamburg, including the city, which had a bicameral legislature. Hamburg was one of several Free Hanseatic cities.

    The Jewish population peaked at 20,000 in 1925 from a total of a million overall population. In 2008, the total population of the city is 1.75 million residents in an area of 300 square miles and is Germany's second largest city.  The Jewish community now numbers about 3,500, though the actual true figure is really not known as many Jews still hide their identity as Jews.
    http://english.hamburg.de/

    1890-1894 
    http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/emi_ref.htm
      

    Cemeteries
    Judischer Friedhof Cemetery
    Located on Konigstrasse and has been in use from 1611 to 1869.  Guided tours are available from Der Museumdienst Hamburg (49 40 428 1310)
    http://www.txmx.de/grafix/jufried/index.html

    Judische Gemeinde
    Located at Grindelhof 30
    Phone: 011-49-40-440-0440)
    http://www.jghh.org

    Liberale Judische Gemeinde Hamburg
    Phone 49 40 3208 6677
    www.davistern.de

    Emigration
    During the 19th century, Hamburg was a key city in the European migration to the New World. Five million emigrants, first from Germany and later from Eastern Europe and Russia passed through the port.  The head of the Hamburg-American line (HAPAG) was Albert Ballin, a Jew who used cut-rate fares to lure travelers to Hamburg and then claimed "my field is the world".

    In 1901, the HAPAG company opened an emigration town to house the emigrants-to-be. BallinStadt, south of the Elbe River on Veddel Island. It was a self-contained village of red-brick dormitories, dining halls with a kosher canteen, stores, church, synagogue and hospital that served up to 5,000 emigrants at a time - man of them Jewish.
    www.ballinstadt.de 

    Hospital
    In 1841, the Israelitische Krankenhaus - The Jewish Hospital - opened at 2 Simon-von-Utrecht Strasse in the St. Pauli district.

    Millerntor Gate
    During the 17th and 18th centuries was where Jews, such as those who lived in neighboring Altona, were permitted to enter or leave the city. It is in the St. Pauli district.

    Museum for Hamburg History
    Located at Holstenwall 24
    Phone: 49 40 4281 3223-80
    There is a small permanent exhibit on Jewish life in Hamburg from 1580 to the present.
    www.hamburgmuseum.de

    Rabbi Eduard Dukesz officiated in Hamburg prior to WW II and published several books and articles on the Hamburg Jewish Families.

    Stepping Stones
    Honoring those who were murdered
    www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de

    Synagogues
    Bet Israel synagogue (long gone) was established at what is now Alter Wall 48/49, near the intersection of downtown's Alter Wall and Mönkedamm. 

    Gemeinde's Synagogue
    34 Hohe Weide
    Was built in 1960. To attend a service, you must call ahead.
    http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//1joseph.html

    Founding of a Reform temple happened in 1841 - The New Israelite Temple Society; and the building of its first temple at 43/45 Erste Brunnenstrasse.


    Hanau am Main 

    There is a Jewish cemetery/cemeteries located here
    http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059&MediaId=903

    http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005469&MediaId=903 


    Hannover

       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover

    Heidehaus Sanatorium
    A number of Holocaust survivors recovered here after the Holocaust.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18098068

    Records
    "Synagogengeimiende" in Hannover"
    (Synagogue Register) file is located in the LDS film library.
    http://sites.huji.ac.il/cahjp/GERMANY-LISTS/Hannover%20-1945.pdf

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0008_0_08378.html

    http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/eu/D/EndJud_juden-in-Hannover-ENGL.html


    Hassfurt  

    Located in Bavaria once had a Jewish population as did many surrounding villages.
    http://www.juden-in-bamberg.de/Letter_from_bamberg/Letter_18/lfb18_20.htm

    http://www.juden-in-bamberg.de/Letter_from_bamberg/Letter_17/lfb17_T.htm


    Heidelberg  

    Map of city provided to Ted and Shirley Margulis when they stayed at Zimmerausweis Hotel

    The city dates back to the 12th century and much has been preserved having avoided damage during WW II.  The University Library houses the 14th century Manesse Manuscript of medieval songs.


    Heinsheim

    Cemetery
    Has a Jewish cemetery which is not cared for.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/w-europe/germ-bi.html

    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_cemetery_in_Heinsheim,_Germany 


    Heppenheim an der Bergstrafe, Hesse-Darmstadt

    http://www.hessennet.de/heppenheim/ 


    Herford

    Has a synagogue
    http://www.fpp.co.uk/BoD/origins/Globe280402.html


    Hesse Kassel

    "There is much history to this part of Germany, of course, but the origin of Hessen-Kessel really goes back to Philip, Landgrave of Hessen, one of the greatest of Hessen rulers, who reunited many of the then disparate territories during the Lutheran Schmalkaldic War of the 1540s.  In 1526, Philip had introduced Lutheranism and the following year founded the University of Marburg.  He was also one of the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League in 1531.  When he died in 1567, his Hessen was divided among his four sons into Hessen-Kassel, Hessen-Marburg, Hessen-Rheinfels and Hessen-Darmstadt.

    Hessen-Kassel at this time, was shaped something like a very broad Y lying on its side, and extended from Karlshafen in the north to Ziegenhain in the south, and from Fitzlar in the west to Eschwee in the east.  It had been given to Wilhelm IV (the Wise) (1532-1592), Philip's eldest son; it encompassed about 1/2 of Philip's holdings  The Herrschaft Schmalkalden, in Thüringen, was added in 1583, at the death of his brother Philip, and later Plessa and parts of Hoya and Henneberg.

    By 1650 (after the Peace of Westfalen of 1648 ending the Thirty Years' War), Hessen-Kassel included various territories as far west as Frankenberg, Brendenkopt and Marburg.  In 1736, the Graftschafte (countships) Hanau-Lichtenberg and Hanau-Munzenberg were added to Hessen-Kessel which by this time was a much more powerful Duchy.

    In 1803, Bonaparte raised Hessen-Kassel to the status of an electorate, and it was then known as "Kurhessen", after Jena in 1806, it was occupied by the French.  In 1807, he joined Hessen-Kassel to Westfalen along with Braunschweig and Hannover.  In 1816, the old lands of Fulda were restored, but Katzenelbogn was lost; as compensation, Hessen-Kassel was raised to a Grand duchy.  Various small additions and deletions of territories continued to occur as they had for decades, but by 1866, the Grand duchy of Hessen-Kassel looked like a backwards "C", with the top of the "C" being very thick.  It now extended from Karlshafen in the north to Hanau and Gelnhausen in the south; the top, thick part of the "C" had extended s far west as Frankfurt. The Grand duchy still included the separated territory of Schmalkalden in Thüringen, but also now included Schaumburg in Schaumburg-Lippe.

    Finally, in 1867, Hessen-Kassel ceased to exist as an entity; most of its territory was absorbed into the "new" Hessen-Nassau, a large doughnut-shaped territory that extended as far west as Koblenz and Katzenellenbogen, with and area from Homburg to Frankfurt, and from Schlitz to Wetzlar being the doughnut's "hole". From a posting by P. S. Wyant.

    http://www.oocities.org/rcibella/


    Hohenhausen

    Located SW of Hannover
    http://www.israeli-books.com/PINKAS_HAKEHILLOT_GERMANIA.asp


    Ilandkoppel

    Cemetery
    The Jewish cemetery within the district of Ohlsdorf was established in 1882/83 by the Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities following contracts with the City of Hamburg, which remained owner of the land.  It is the only Jewish cemetery in Hamburg in use today.


    Jebenhausen

    A Jewish community in Wuerttemberg from 1777 to 1900.  This site contains links to information on the Synagogue, Cemetery and Families of this Jewish village 
    http://www.worldzone.net/family/jebenhausen
     


    Jenfelder Strabe

    Located with the district of Wandsbek and was founded in 1886.  It has a small disused Jewish cemetery.


    Juechen

    "Juchen: Ausgegrenzt. Ausgeliefert. Ausgeloscht. Oberlebt?"
    (Juchen: Displaced. Extradited. Obliterated. Survive?
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html


    Karlsruhe

    Cemetery
    Has a Jewish cemetery which still shows signs of war damage


    Klausenburg

    A major city and important Jewish center


    Koblenz

    A 2,000 year old city at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers and the center for the wine trade of the Middle Rhine region.  It was originally a Roman military outpost (about 9 BC) and then in the 13th century the city was a member of the Hanseatic League, a commercial federation of European cities.  Following the French Revolution in 1799, Koblenz came under French rule, and a short time after that, in 1815, it was Prussia's turn.  After WW I (1918), it was occupied for a time by American and French troops.  During WW II it was heavily damaged from bombings.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11315.html

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm

    http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Germany/Land_Rheinland_Pfalz/Koblenz-45795/Things_To_Do-Koblenz-Historic_Buildings-BR-1.html


    Kochendorf (now Bad Friedrichshall, Baden Wuerttemberg)

    Located near Heilbronn. Alice Josephs offers her genealogy website http://members.tripod.co.uk/AliceJosephs/INDEX.HTM  

    and also runs the Herz Family genealogy and Kochendorf genealogy mailing lists.  To subscribe, send an e-mail to
    Herz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

    or visit the website with a searchable archive at
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Herz/   

    A virtual tour is at  
    http://www.friedrichshall.de/
     


    Koln

    The Standesamt, has records from 1800 on.  The building itself was damaged in WW II, but records were not.
    Standesamt
    Bergen Postfach 1199. D-29296
    Bergen
    http://members.cox.net/hessen/archives.htm

    Cemetery
    There are supposedly 8000 Jewish people buried in the cemetery.
    http://www.dpcamps.org/dpcampsGermanyBE.html

    Records
    Birth Certificates, Family History
    http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Deutsche_Zentralstelle_f%C3%BCr_Genealogie


    Kordel

    Located in Rhineland-Pfalz, near Trier

    Cemetery
    http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/rheinland-pfalz-rhineland-palatinate/kordel.html

    History
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/butzweiler_synagoge.htm


    Kreis Heidenheim

    Located about 50 km north of Ulm, in today's Baden-Wurttemberg.
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/emigration.html


    Kuenzelsau

    Situated northeast of Heilbronn.  It is probably the district's main place.  Write to the Rathaus of Kuenzelsau for further information.  German zip Code: D-74653
    http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=394394

    http://www.cwporter.com/gerund1.htm


    Kuppenheim

    Cemetery
    The city has a Jewish cemetery which still shows signs of war damage


    Langenreihe

    Renamed Konigsreihe, is located with the district of Wandsbek and was founded in 1637.  It was closed in 1886.


    Lechenich

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/bergs.html


    Leipzig

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_12095.html


    Liebenwalde

    There was a Jewish presence before WW II.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Germany



    Lollar

    A small town near the University town of Giessen in the German state of Hesse.
    http://www.well.com/~mareev/genealogy/hesse_links.html

    http://www.live-like-a-german.com/destination.php?destination_id=614

    http://www.jewishgen.org/GerSig/communities-l.htm

    Synagogue
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/lollar_synagoge.htm


    Lubeck

    Located in northern Germany and about 40 miles northeast of Hamburg.  The town is famous for its red-brick Gothic architecture. It has a small Jewish population that has been growing with the influx of Russian Jews.

    Synagogue
    There is a synagogue which has had several bomb threats and in March, 1994, was firebombed by neo-Nazis. The synagogue is located at St.-Annen-Strasse 13 in the Old Town.


    Mainz

    The Gutenberg Museum
    Opened in 2000 where the Gutenberg printing press and Bible are housed.  The inventor, Johannes Gutenberg was born here in 1397. He was the first to create moveable type.
    http://www.mainz.de/WGAPublisher/online/html/default/hthn-5vgjlb.en.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainz

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/germany.html

    http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/crusade/text.html


    Mainzlar

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/mainzlar_synagoge.htm

    http://www.jewishgen.org/gersig/communities-m.htm

    http://www.jewishgen.org/gersig/communities-m.htm


    Mannheim

    An industrial city
    http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Mannheim,+Germany

    Research
    Index of Names in Memorbuch of Mannheim
    http://www.genami.org/listes/allemagne/mannheim-memorbook.pdf

    Synagogues
    http://www.german-architecture.info/GERMANY/GER-GAL(3).htm

    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=149&letter=M


    Mecklenburg (Mecklenberg)

    http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/mecklenburg/sources.htm

    http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/mecklenburg/mgjews.htm

    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/

    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=M&artid=319

    http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_2_mecklenburgschwerin.htm


    Michelbach an der Luecke

    Synagogue
    There is a mid-eighteenth century synagogue behind Judengasse 4 that survived Kristallnacht and is currently a museum commemorating the area's Jews.  Among displayed memorabilia are a concentration camp jacket; a tiny Swabian Torah; and bits from the Geniza, accidentally rescued when page fragments from sacred books were noticed in a trash can.  There is a local contact Dieter Kleinhass telephone 795 532-42.  Further information about this area can be found in an article "The Romantic Road" in The Hadassah Magazine of June/July 2002 
    http://www.Hadassah.org


    Miltenberg

    This page contains photos of door frames that show "Mezuzahs" imprints on the wooden frames.
    http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/aliceandmac/1/1245239572/miltenberg-jew-
    identified-door-frame.jpg/tpod.html   

    Jewish Cemetery Photos
    http://picasaweb.google.hr/lwassers/MiltenbergGermany#

    Yizkor Book
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Pinkas_Germany/Pinkas_Germany1.html


    Mogendorf

    A municipality in Westerwaldkreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany

    http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_germany/pinkas_germany3.html


    Mühlhausen (Mulhausen)

    Yizkor Book
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_germany/ger1_00241b.html


    Muhlheim am Main

    A book, authored by Mr. Joeg Neumeister-Jung, discusses the Jewish population of the town.  Further information is available by contacting Steven Warner  SWarner317@aol.com

    http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_germany/pinkas_germany3.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neu-Isenburg


    Munich                              

    There was a large Jewish presence here before WW II, today it is the second largest Jewish community, after Berlin. A new community center is being constructed in the heart of this city on Jakobsplatz  and will feature a glass-topped synagogue, a Jewish school, museum and kosher restaurant.  It is expected to be completed in 2005.  The current community headquarters, in Munich's cultural and political center, is tucked into a small building with an enclosed courtyard.

    Charlotte Knobloch is the president of Munich's 8,000 member Jewish community.
    http://www.rijo.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/EN_MU_JU_mueen.pdf

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_in_Munich


    Munsingen

    "Juden in Buttenhausen"
    Published in German by the city of Munsingen in 1994

    http://www.buttenhausen.de/

    http://www.muensingen.de/servlet/PB/menu/1202350_l1/index.html

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm


    Myslowitz (Kreis Pless)

    Located in the Prussian province of Silesia. Population in 1905, 15,845
    http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Myslowitz


    Nattheim

    http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Heidenheim


    Neustadt, Silesia, Germany

    Now currently Prudnik, Opole, Poland. The archive address is
    Urzad Miasta i Gminy w Prudniku,
    ul. T. Kosciuszki 3, 48-200
    Prudnik, Poland. 
    Database at 
    www.doew.at

    Regional Special Interest Groups
    The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG 
    http://www.jewishgen.org/BohMor/index.html  

    Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG, Hungary SIG and Stammbaum - German SIG at 
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html


    Niederhof

    Synagogue
    Scattered tombstones have been recovered and the Jewish cemetery, Gute Ort, has been restored in this former East German town.
    http://www.obermayer.us/award/awardees/ehmke-eng.htm


    Niedersachsen

    http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=49143


    Nordhorn

    There was a Jewish presence here before WW II. The Yizkor book is available in PDF format
    www.isragen.org.il/


    Nordrhein-Westfalen

    List of emigrants from the village of Hegensdorf in Nordrhein-Westfalen and includes the nearby village of Keddinghausen
    http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_emigration_records.htm


    Nurnberg

     A walled 13th century city of 490,500 people.  In 1806, Bavaria acquired control of Nuremberg, and in 1835 it became the final stop on the first German railroad.  From 1933 to 1938 it was the site of the annual conventions of the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi Party).  It was at a 1935 meeting that the notorious Nuremberg Laws were put into effect, depriving German Jews of many civil rights. During the 14th and 15th centuries, it was a great intellectual center of Europe.

    Nurnberg was devastated by bombs in WW II.  Much of the city was rebuilt and its Old World charm was restored.

    Germanic National Museum
    Contains the largest collection of Germanic art and culture from pre-history to the present.  The museum is a cluster of buildings, from a 13th century monastery to one built in 1993 by Israeli architect Dani Karavan, all celebrating the culture, technology and crafts of Germany from prehistoric times through to the present.

    Gerhard Jochem of the Nuremberg City Archives contributed additions and corrections to the necrology and by following the links from this site you will find additional information
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor 

    "Memorial Book for Nuremberg's Victims of Shoah"
    http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html

    Micheline Gutmann, of the GenAmi French Genealogy Society, has authored an article in the Number 14 GenAmi Newsletter, entitled "A Touristic and Genealogical tree in Germany" which includes Nurnberg, Rothenburg, Fuerth, Bamberg, Weimar and Leipzig
    http://asso.genami.free.fr


    Oberglogau

    Once located in Prussia, but now is known as Giogowek, Poland.


    Obergrombach

    Has a well kept cemetery. Here is a very interesting family site that contains a great deal of information.
    http://www.calzareth.com/tree/s10.htm


    Odenbach

    http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/genealogy/text/jewish/jgish4.asc 


    Oggenhausener Auswanderer

    There were 12,245 Jews living in the area in 1871
    http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_2_wurttemberg.htm


    Ohlsdorf

    The Jewish cemetery is open and the keys may be obtained from the Jewish Community in Hamburg.
    http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//ottenser.html


    Ottensen  (District of )

    Synagogue
    The Jewish cemetery was founded in 1663 with approximately 1,000 graves.  In 1941, it was desecrated by the National Socialist regime and disturbed by the building of bunkers in 1939 and 1942/43.  In 1995, the "Mercado" shopping center was erected on the spot, after consultation with a rabbi from Israel.  A plaque has been erected at the site. 
    http://www.itz.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035/jew_cem.html


    Ottensoos

    Gemeinde Ottensoos
    Dorfplatz 3
    D-91242 Ottensoos
    Tel. 09123 / 9691-0
    Fax 09123 / 9691-20

    email:  info@ottensoos.de

    Web Site  (In German)

    haupt.htm


    Passau          

    One of Germany's oldest and most picturesque medieval cities.  It is located at the eastern edge of Bavaria near the Austrian border.  It is situated at the confluence of the Danube, the Ilz and the Inn Rivers.  Called the Dreifluessestadt (City on Three Rivers) because of its location, Passau is an elegant town. An interesting photo site of Passau and other German and Czech cities are available at Bill Ernst's web site
    http://billernstphotography.com/main.asp

    Select Europe for some fantastic photos - a real treat and definitely of interest.


    Pommern

    Listing of the municipalities in the province Pommern (conditions: May 1939) in both German and in English
    http://members.aol.com/pommern1/


    http://www.gschweng.de/granow.htm


    Posen

    Books  
    "The
    Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835": Revised Edition
    compiled by Edward David Luft. A list of the original 5,173 persons living in the Grand Duchy of Posen with information on names, towns of residence, occupation, and additional commentary. The law that created the census and an English translation is included. Genealogists searching for 19th-century ancestors in Posen (today Poznan) will find this work essential
    http://www.avotaynu.com/books/posen.htm


    http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/PosenResources.html


    Potsdam

    Located outside Berlin, a new synagogue will be built for a community that has grown to 800 from practically nothing before the fall of the Berlin Wall.


    Pressburg

    At one time it was in Hungary


    Regensburg

    This is Germany's largest medieval city.  It is beautifully preserved as it suffered no damage during WW II.
    http://www.regensburg.de/museumsportal/museen/document_neupfarrplatz_engl.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history_of_Regensburg


    Rendsburg

    Schleswig-Holstein Applications of Emigration, 1868-1870
    http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_emigration_records.htm


    Rheinpfalz (Region

    Reminiscences of Jacob Greenbaum, Sr., written for his children in 1859 
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Rheinphalz/Rheinpfalz.html

    http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/RHE-PFA/rhein-p.html


    Rödelheim, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse

    Use the following web site and fill in the requested name information
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/Search.asp


    Rogasen 

    Located near Posen and it had Jewish Community at one time.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/town/rogozno_wielkop.htm


    Rosenheim

    Located in Bavaria
    http://www.stadtarchiv.de/


    Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber

    Jews appeared in 1180 when a rabbi's presence was noted and a community was first recorded in 1241.  Rabbi Meir ben Baruch (the Maharam) arrived and established a leading learning center in 1246.  In 1298 there were more than 500 Jews out of a total population of 3,500, and most were massacred during the Rindfleisch persecutions.  Many, including Jews from surrounding areas, fled to the Rothenburg castle, but were incinerated there.  Nine hundred Jews were killed making this the worst medieval pogrom.  

    In the 1300s, Jews once again established a community and in 1520, they faced 'expulsion' by a so-called 'cleansing' measure'.  Only in 1875 did eight families come to start a new community, but membership didn't exceed one hundred.  The thirteenth and fourteenth century houses along the Judengasse comprise one of German's best preserved Jewish quarters.  Beyond the hill's foot is the Imperial City Museum in whose basement is a Jewish section with medieval tombstones.

    Off Kirchplatz lies the 12th century partially fortified Kapellenplatz, where the first Jewish quarter existed.  The Judentanzhaus (Jewish Dance house) begun in the 14th century and
    rebuilt after WW II, borders the Meir ben Baruch Garden, partially enclosed by a wall embedded with medieval Jewish tombstones.  More information about this city can be found in the June/July 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine.  
    http://hadassah.org

    This is one of the best preserved walled towns in Germany.  There is the Judentanzhaus (Jew's dance hall) which was converted to other uses after the Jews were expelled in the 13th century.  There are a number of Jewish tombstones incorporated into the wall outside the house. The Imperial Museum has a Judaica room which includes some religious articles including a Torah breastplate and the Book of Esther and some Jewish tombstones with the translation of the names on the stones.
    http://www.rothenburg.de/

    http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Rothenburg/Tour/JewishQuarter.html

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0017_0_17075.html


    Rüdesheim

    An ancient little town known for it's Riesling wines. Use the following web site and fill in the requested name information
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/Search.asp

    http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/jewishpersecution.html

    http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/rudesheim.jsp


    Ruttershausen

    http://www.jstor.org/pss/4464398


    Saarland

    Emigrants from Reimsbach (Saarland) to America 1846-1889
    http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/emigration.html


    Schleswig

    An area of Germany i.e. Schleswig Holstein
    http://www.jewishgen.org/scandinavia/schleswig-holstein.htm

    Dithmarschen Emigrants (1868-1920)
    A listing of about 3600 people who emigrated from Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein
    http://www.genealogy-sh.com/dithm/index.htm


    Schneidemuhl

    Now in western Poland had a Jewish community
    http://www.avotaynu.com/books/Cullman.htm


    Schroda - (Sroda in Polish)

    Located 20 miles southeast of Poznan, in Poznan Province.  It had a population of 9,872 in 1946.
    http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/sroda.htm


    Schwarzenbergstrabe

    Located within the district of Harburg and was founded at the end of the 17th century.  It has a small, disused Jewish cemetery today.
    http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//jew_cem.html


    Sepolno Krajenskie (Zempelburg Westpreussen [W. Prussia]

    Before WWI (c. 1900) was Zempelburg Westpreussen [W. Prussia], Germany


    Soest

    Books
            

    "History of the Stern Family of Soest"
    Authored by Greta Stern.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/center_for_jewish_history/4502169335/

    http://leobaeck.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/18/1/241 


    Standesamt

    Direct-line descendants can get a copy of a death certificate from Germany by writing to the town Standesamt for years after 1874.  Copies cost 7 EU each and they take cash.  You can obtain Euros from your local bank. 
    http://www.jewishgen.org/JRI-Pl/psa/psawroclaw.htm


    Staudernheim  

    Emigration
    The town lost part of the original Jews between 1850 and 1915 when they emigrated to the US.  Those Jews who were left behind, in some cases, were able to flee from the Nazis or were killed by them.  John is trying to trace those Jewish families who were in the first wave.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/w-europe/germ-s.html

    Synagogue
    John Floeth john.floeth@student.hu-berlin.de founded "Museumsverein Synagogue Staudernheim" in 1989 to restore the former synagogue. 


    Staufenberg

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staufenberg

    http://www.historynet.com/claus-von-stauffenberg-the-man-who-tried-to-kill-hitler.htm


    Stein am Kocher

    The Jewish Community and Cemetery along with a transcription 'Standesbuch fur die Judische Gemeinde Stein am Kocher'
    http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~herz/links/links_useful.htm 


    Steinberg

    There are at least 26 towns in Germany named Steinberg - from Bavaria to Schleswig Holstein.


    Stettin

    A Pomeranian (German) city for hundreds of years.  At the end of WWII, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt awarded it to Poland in compensation for eastern Polish territories that were given to the Soviet Union.  At that stage Stettin was renamed Szczecin.  The Germans were expelled.  The Jewish community, dating in modern times to 1812, had previously been deported in 1940 and later killed by the Germans in Poland. This was the first German Jewish community to be so treated by the Nazis.

    In the Jewish Encyclopedia (in the 1950's) there were about a 1000 Polish Jews in the city, but that these had mostly left during the Polish anti-Semitic persecutions in the late 1960's.
    http://www.codoh.com/incon/inconkirk.html

    Cemetery
    The old Jewish cemetery is completely decimated, but a dozen or so grave stones were preserved and placed in a small square.  The German cemetery was completely destroyed. 


    Stockstadt

    Stockstadt am Rhein is a village of about 2,000 people with two Jewish families in 1938.

    http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/hessen-hesse/stockstadt.html

    http://shadowsoftheholocaust.com/?cat=18

    http://shadowsoftheholocaust.com/?cat=4

    http://fernschumerchapman.com/blog/


    Strelitz

    Located not far from Liebenwalde

    Mecklenburg-Strelitz is a Kreis (district) in the southern part of
    Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

      


    Stuttgart

    Has several Jewish cemeteries
    http://www.holocaust-history.org/questions/stuttgart.shtml


    Stutthof

    There is information available at:
    Museum Stuffhof
    Zygmunt Proniewicz
    ul. Lipowa 7
    Poland

    Mr. Zygmunt Proniewicz is maintaining the museum privately.

    Tel: (0 1044 55) 247 80 71
    e-mail: ekopro@kki.pl
    ekopro@softel.com.pl
    http://www.kki.pl/ekopro

    http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum


    Trier

    Trier existed 1,300 years before Rome, proclaims the inscription on Trier's Rotes Haus (Red House).  Although Trier is Germany's oldest city, it was actually founded by the Romans around 16 B.C.
    http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/trier-jews-alley-judengasse.htm

    http://www.springerlink.com/content/p19338711l05370u/

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0020_0_20041.html


    Ulm

    Albert Einstein was born here on March 14, 1879 and died on April 18, 1955 at age 76.  His ashes were scattered at an undisclosed place around Princeton, New Jersey.


    Unterbalbach

    Has a well kept cemetery
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm


    Versmold

    The Steinfelds lived for generations in the town of Versmold, country NW in Germany. In the testament of Bernhard Steinfeld, born 1817 and died 1893, something is written about his children. The mother of Bernhard Steinfeld was Esther Abraham and the name of his stepfather was Bendix Heilbrunn. Bernhard s sister was called Malchen, born 1814. This information is written in a book by Volker Beckmann title: Judische B|rger im Amt Versmold.

    Bernhard Steinfeld was married to Vogel Nathanson and they had five children. 1.Mathilde St. was married to Salomon Wolf. They married in S|dlohn in 1865. 

    2.Bertha St. was married to Salli Kaufmann in1874. Salli was a cattle-trader. They had two children, Therese and Fedor. Family Kaufmann emigrated to New York.

    3.Sprinsgen St. was married to the cattle-trader Simon Dejong in 1855. Simon was from Ahaus.

    4.Julie St., was the owner of a linen shop in Dusseldorf.

    5.Abraham St., born 30.04.1852 and died 1920. He was the main-heir and after his father s death the owner of a slaughter firm, a farm with cows and the residence Wiesenstr. 1 in Versmold. Abraham was married with Julie Gumprich, born 06.12.1857 in Borghorst No.15. The parents of Julie were Salomon Gumprich and Sophia Meyberg. Julie Steinfeld died 11.10.1943 in Theresienstadt. Abraham and Julie Steinfeld had five children.
    1. Erna was married to Mr. Meyer. He was from Ostercappeln / Osnabr|ck.
    2. Alfred, died in the First World War.
    3. Selma, born 17.02.1893 and died in Auschwitz.
    4. Bernhard, born 24.08.1894. He died in the Shoa 1945 (in a Jewish hospital).
    5. Alma, born 01.03.1901 and died in Auschwitz.
    The documents of the Steinfeld family are now in a special office for analysis in Versmold.
    From a posting by Renate Vahrenbrink, Borgholzhausen in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
    Vahrenbrink1@freenet.de


    Weikersheim

    Synagogue
    The first Jews arrive here in 1637 and a synagogue was established around 1687.  By 1807, the population of the town was almost 10 percent Jewish.  The synagogue at Wilhelmstrasse 16 still stands, though it is now a furniture factory.
    http://www.hadassah.org/news/content/per_hadassah/archive/2002/JunJul_02/
    traveler.htm


    Weimar

    http://medinatweimar.org/2008/06/15/a-different-jewish-state/


    Weisbaden (Wiesbaden)

    Lothar Bembenek, a school teacher from this city whose initiative led to the creation of the Active Museum Spiegelgasse for German Jewish History.  Dorothee Lottmann-Kaeseler is the curator of the museum since 1998.
    http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/cges/pastevents1999.html


    Wertheim

    Located at the confluence of the Main and Tauber rivers, it is a small, old, Franconian town established as a market town.  Glass making was developed in the area in the 17th century and Bohemian artisans invented crystal.  There is a Glass Museum in Wertheim.
    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/tracking_jewish_history.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wertheim_am_Main

    http://www.liebertwin.com/2007/08/wertheim-glassblowing-horse-racing.html

    There is a plaque memorializing the Jewish settlement that was once here.  There was once a synagogue that was destroyed and a church built on its site.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/Cemetery/w-europe/germ-u.html


    Worfelden

    Today, the town has a few thousand residents

    Cemetery
    http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/hessen-hesse/worfelden.html

    http://cohencentertrip.blogspot.com/

    http://fernschumerchapman.com/blog/?m=200911


    Worms

    This city is the home to a rich Jewish heritage.  The Jewish Quarter features Germany's oldest synagogue and Jewish cemetery, both of which date to the eleventh century.
    http://www.jewishreview.org/node/9020

    http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/worms-synagogue


    Wuerzburg (Wurzburg)                                  

    A Jewish presence had existed prior to WW II. The first Jew may have come in the 11th century, with an established community by 1100. The site of the Gothic Virgin Mary Church is built on the former site of the synagogue that was burned in 1349. A mikva'ot'oth, not normally viewable, lies below the sacristy. It is located in the state of Bavaria on the Main river and is a commercial center of an agricultural region most noted for its vineyards.

    Notable families from this town include the Lehmanns (from Rimpar); the Gimbels; some Morgenthaus; the Sachs (of Goldman Sachs fame) and Levi Strauss.

    Once prosperous and elegant, Wurzburg suffered tremendous damage during WW II.  It has been successfully restored.

    Archive
    Staatsarchiv Wuerzburg
    Residenz-Nordfluegel
    D-97070 - Wuerzburg
    Germany
    Fax: 011 49 931 (from US)
    Director: Dr. Werner Wagenhoefer
    http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/sonstiges/meldungen/archive/zeitraum/2009/sep/

    Jewish Community Center and Synagogue
    Telephone 49-31-511-190
    Over 2,000 Soviet Jews now live in this town having moved here in 1991.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/germany/wurzburg.htm

    Künftig Ahnenforschung für Junden in Würzburg
    www.rslfoundation.org

    Pogroms
    http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Rindfleisch_Pogroms.htm

    Wurzburg
    A new research center, The Ephraim Gustav Hoenlein Genealogy Project, designed to help Jews of Germanic descent trace their origins is opened. Archivist is Michael Schneeberger. Queries will be processed through the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation office in Frankfurt at
    bbkrauss@hotmail.com or at
    011 49 69 7137-460 or 011 49 69 7137-4629. 
    http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/germany/wurzburg.htm


    Zehdenick

    There was a Jewish cemetery that was founded in 1766 and closed in 1898 due to a decreasing number of members in the Jewish community.  The cemetery was destroyed in March 1933.  An organization in Zehdenick was formed to remember the Jewish community and to restore the cemetery.  The Brandenburg Rabbi and the cantor of the Berlin Jewish community took part.  The organization is called "Sachar / Erinnern e.V. From a posting by Eberhard Zastrau  etz.usenet@gmx.de 



    Luxemburg

    Books  
               
    Books on this country are available using my link to Amazon.com by
    clicking here > Jewish Genealogy

    Frequent persecution, such as massacres at the time of the Black Death in 1349 and expulsions in 1391 and again in 1530, prevented communities from developing roots in Luxembourg. In the 1930s, the small Jewish population more than doubled, mostly because of immigration from Germany. Amazingly, most of the Jewish community survived the Holocaust.


    Archive

    Archives Nationales - in Luxemburg 
    http://www.etat.lu/AN/


    GenAmi

    An article about the Luxembourg, history of the Jewish community, is available in the GenAmi number 6 issue of GenAmi, November, 1998 and authored by Laurent Moyse. The genealogy of two important families coming from France and established in Luxembourg. The Godchaux family came from Thionville in 1803 and the family Fix came from Bourbonee-les-Bains. In this family, the general Louis Ferdinand Fix had been the commandant of the "Constitution" and had an important part in the Civil War. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.


    Jewish Community of Luxemburg

    Consistoire Israelite de Luxembourg
    Luxemburg L2018, Luxembourg

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Luxembourg.html


    Hamm Cemetery

    Located just outside Luxembourg City, there are graves of American soldiers here, including those who died fighting in the "Battle of the Bulge"


    Maps

    Map of Luxembourg
    http://www.europeetravel.com/maps/



    Switzerland 

    Jews settled in Zurich at least as early as 1273, 18 years before the establishment of the first Swiss Confederation consisting of three cantons. There is an oral tradition that Jews first came to Switzerland with the Romans in the four century, but there isn't any proof.  In the Middle Ages, 1,200 Jews arrived in Switzerland from Alsace and the Upper Rhine area.  In 1349, there was an official policy of persecuting, burning and murdering Jews, who were accused of bringing the plaque.

    The modern Jewish community was founded in the early 1800s under Napoleonic rule, when France forced the Swiss to liberalize religion.

    There are about 18,000 - 20,000 Jews living in the Jewish Community today and with the exception of those affiliated with the Reform movement, are united under the umbrella organization Schweizerischer Israelitischer Gemeindebung (SIG).

    In the 1930s, there was extensive immigration of Jews fleeing Germany -- 29,000 came between 1939 and 1945 -- even with very restrictive immigration laws. About 24,500 Jewish immigrants were refused entry and sent back to their ultimate death.

    Zurich's approximately 6,500 member community, which speaks Swiss-German, is split along religious lines. The first woman president of Switzerland was Ruth Dreifuss and Vera Rosenberg is a member of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.  In Basel, the governor, Ralph Lewin, is Jewish.
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/swiss.html

    www.myswitzerland.com


      Books   
                

    Books on this country can be found at my link to Amazon.com by
    clicking here
    > Jewish Genealogy


    "Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz,"

    Available in English as
    "Swiss Surnames: A Complete Register"
    Historically there were only a limited number of Swiss "surname clans," each of which is listed in this register along with the surname clan's home community (commune).  A Swiss would be considered a citizen of this home commune by inheritance, even if he/she was born elsewhere, and the home commune would maintain registration records for him/her.  So if you can find one or more communes listed for your surname, you should write to each of them and ask for information about your ancestor.
    http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/famnam-m.htm


    Archives - Federal Archives - in Bern

    http://www.admin.ch/bar/  

    The Swiss National Archive has about 22,000 police files for Jewish refugees who sheltered in Switzerland.  

    Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv
    Archivstrasse 24
    CH-3003 Bern
    Switzerland

    You can expect that the documents you may receive can be written in German, Italian, French or some in all three languages.

    The Swiss National Archive
    Has the police files for Jewish refugees who sheltered in Switzerland - there were
    approximately 22,000.  Should you write and receive a response from the Archive, you may expect to receive information in German, Italian and possibly in French.


    Europages

    Business 2 business company directory and business in Europe, yellow pages access, international and European business directory (professional services, addresses and business classifieds
    http://www.europages.net


    FrenchSIG

    This is a discussion group and there is a lot of information about Jewish genealogical research in France, French Colonies and French-speaking areas including Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/french/


    German, Swiss and Austrians Deported From France

    http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/frdeport.htm


    Jewish Community

    Verband Schweizerischer Judischer Fursorgen
    CH-8027 Zurich, Switzerland

    Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zurich ICZ
    CH-8027 Zurich, Switzerland

    Communaute Israelite de Geneve
    1205 Geneva, Switzerland

    http://switzerland.isyours.com/E/guide/religion/judaism.contacts.html

    http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/bestehende_juedische_gemeinden.htm#Schweiz  


    "Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II"

    History, names and burial places of the Jewish soldiers in the Polish armies, including those who fought in France, Norway, North Africa and Switzerland.  Authored by Benjamin Mertchak - a 5 volume set.


    Jewish Newspaper

    The Zurich-based German-language weekly Tachles serves Jews throughout Switzerland.
    http://www.economy-point.org/t/tachles.html


    "The Jewish Cemetery of La Tour-de-Peilz"

    An article authored by Anne-Marie Faraggi Rychner and published in the Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Society and Review Issue 4, Vol. 2, Spring 1999 issue - is a survey of the cemetery that was established in 1908 near Lausanne.  The inscriptions of eighty tombstones (out of 400) with Sephardi surnames are listed.

    From the beginning of the seventeenth century until 1862, Jews could not be buried on Swiss soil, instead they were interred on a small island in the Rhine known as the Judeninsel.  Only in 1750 were Jews permitted to acquire another cemetery, between the two villages of Edingen and Lengnau.


       Maps

    Map of Switzerland
    http://www.europeetravel.com/maps/


     

    City and Towns of Switzerland


    http://travel.milkandhoneytours.com/discover-jewish-europe/destination/jewish-zurich


    Basel

    It was in this city that Theodor Herzl drew up the blueprint of Zionism. By 1910, more than 2,000 Jews had come from Russia and the cultural identity began to change as Rhineland and Alsatian culture mixed with Eastern European customs. Today, it is estimated that there are 2,000 Jews in the city.

    The Jewish Museum
    Located at Kornhausgasse 8
    http://juedisches-museum.ch/

    www.jewishstudies.unibas.ch

    www.baseltourismus.ch


    Canton Vaud

    One of the finest wine growing areas in Switzerland

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11944.html


    Endingen

    Located in the Canton of Aargau, about 15 miles northwest of Zurich, it has a synagogue with bells and a clock on its facade.  Jews lived here from at least 1678 and built their first synagogue in 1755.  In 1850 there were 990 Jews, today only one family.

    "In the way of background, I am a descendent of the Guggenheim family of Endingen. The village of Endingen today has two Jewish families. Endingen had a celebration June 18, 1998, of the 1,200-year anniversary of Ober-Endingen and Unter-Endingen. Endingen’s municipal government actually invited participation in the celebration by Jewish families that had departed shortly after the Swiss emancipated them in 1866 (but in fact, in about 1883)

    In the way of background, my connection to Endingen is through my grandfather, Gustav Guggenheim. Gustav was born, out of wedlock, June 10, 1892, in Ober Endingen, to Henriette Guggenheim." From an email from Alan Guggenheim alang@bendcable.com 


    Le Locle

    Located in the Canton of Neuchatel.  It has and was a strong Jewish community
    http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/w-europe/switzerland.html


    Lengnau

    A neighboring town to Edingen there has been a Jewish presence since 1622.  They spoke a Western Yiddish dialect known as Surbtal Yiddish.  The first synagogue was built in 1755.  The one visible today was built in 1847.  There are some 30 Jewish inhabitants housed in Altersheim, a century-old Jewish old-age home with about 50 residents, Jews and non-Jews.  Simon Guggenheim, the grandfather of Guggenheim lived here.  In 1848 they emigrated to the United States, where Meyer and his seven sons amassed a huge fortune in mining.  Another personality from this town was William Wyler who won an Oscar for Ben Hur in 1959.
    http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/w-europe/switzerland.html


    Lausanne

    There is a Jewish presence in this city and a synagogue.


     Lucerne         

    The city is surrounded by the Swiss Alps and is located on a lake.  This cosmopolitan city features medieval bridges and ancient spires.
    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=611&letter=L 

    http://www.mavensearch.com/synagogues/C3438Y41789RX


    Muret (Morat)

    Charming, three street affair walled city
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Switzerland


    Neuchatel

    Built from Sandstone on the shore of a lake. See also "Watch Valley"
    http://www.neuchateltourisme.ch/e/home/


    Watch Valley

    Along the Arc of the Jura Mountains from Geneva to Basel, lakes, mountains and valleys lead one into another in a preserved natural environment, where Swiss watchmakers create the precision movements that tell the time the world over. Site includes a map of the area and information about the region.
    http://www.watchvalley.ch:80/e/home/

    http://www.watchvalley.ch/e/links/


    Zurich


                Zurich Jewish Quarter

    This busy city has just 360,000 inhabitants and is known as Switzerland's banking and commercial center. Jews helped shape the city.  They provided loans in the Middle Ages.  Jews were allowed to live on and around the Judengasse (Jews' Street) and were distinguished by the Judenhut, the conical hat they were forced to wear.  The medieval Judengasse, (today Froschaugasse aka Froschauer or Frog Lane), is a narrow street just a few minutes' walk northeast from the Fraumuenster Church.

    In 1349, many of the city's Jews were disposed, tortured and burned at the stake as rumors spread, ad they did in most parts of Europe, that Jews had cause the Black Plaque.  By 1400 there were no more than 150 Jews out of a city population of 6,000 and those who stayed, had to leave the city at night.

    A plaque on the wall of a building, written in German, translated to English explains that the Jews who lived in these streets had been the victims of waves of persecution, violence, murder and forced expulsion from Zurich.  By the 17th century, a few of the traumatized Jewish families were allowed to live in two villages where their basic rights were protected: Lengpau and Endinge (today these towns are in the canton of Aargau).  They were safe, but there weren't any great prospects for the future, and some -- including the Guggenheim family -- left to make their fortunes in America and elsewhere.

    In 1862, Zurich changed its constitution and allowed Jews to return.  Today there are
    numerous synagogues and about 7,000 Jews living in greater Zurich.

    Lowenstrasse Synagogue
    The oldest synagogue in the city was dedicated in 1884.

    More information about Zurich, including what to see,  can be found in an article in the August/September 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine and authored by Esther Hecht.
    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/


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