Over the centuries Jewish people have lived and worked in Alsace. We find synagogues in cities like Strasbourg and for example Selestat and Scherwiller. Today not all the synagogues are still in function anymore. The one in Scherwiller for example is used as a place for the local fire brigade.
Over time the Jews were chased, also in Alsace, like in many places in Europe. In times that there was the black plague for example, the Jewish population was blamed and they were expelled from the towns.
Recently the second World War left deep scars.
In the early 1900's and after the great wars, many Jewish families moved to the United States.
Their offspring is often interested in where there forefathers came from.
A couple of years ago a big Jewish family originating from Alsace, organized a huge family reunion near Selestat.
I was contacted in 2014 by a member of this family that sadly could not make it to this reunion event back then.
She wanted to see Alsace for herself though and decided to visit this year with her husband and daughter.
We prepared the tour over here. We looked up addresses and found out about locations. We contacted the rabbi working in
Selestat. We managed to organize a meeting with a local person via him who had the keys of the synagogue and could show us around at the premises.
On D-Day we drove through the Scherwiller area and in the afternoon went to the Selestat synagogue. Our contact who opened the gate told us he belonged to a family that had had a big reunion a couple of years ago..... He had been present with his little boy. Wow ... this meant that the lady just had met a distant family member of hers!
He had been part of the reunion were she couldn't be present.
We were shown around and saw everything. Afterwards the family was presented a book about the history of the Jews and the synagogue of Selestat. Needless to say that everybody was very happy and impressed.
Later in the afternoon we went to the Jewish cemetery outside Selestat. At the reunion a couple of years ago, the family had placed a memory plate there. Finally "my" family could see it too and touch the plate themselves.
Early in 2014, we were contacted by an American family from Dallas, Texas USA investigating the history of their Catholic forefathers originating from Alsace, France. Interestingly enough, a couple who are in their eighties who had met in America had both ancestors from little villages in Alsace.
After meeting at the train station of Strasbourg we drove to our first stop; the mayors building in Reinhardsmunster.
We were very warmly greeted by Mister Daniel Brandstetter. Mr. Brandstetter knows a lot about the history of the area and had prepared our visit there. Via him, we met the current mayor of Reinhardsmunster and Mrs. Carline Buchel who let us in their office to look and copy some old documents and maps.
When I tell you that this all took place on a cold Sunday morning, we can not be else than very thankful for this kind cooperation in their spare time.
Among many handwritten documents in French and Latin, we found some birth- and baptize certificates.
There had been a church next to the cemetery of Reinhardsmunster. It has been destroyed. Today there is just a small chapel. A little further in town a new church was built.
Parts, artifacts and building blocks from the old church were used in this church. An example is this baptismal font.
Knowing this came from the old church, we understood that this was the font used to baptize some of their family members. People we just found some old baptize documents from. Amazing!
On the cemetery, we found a lot of ancestors resting there. The family must have been numerous and important in the old days.
After lunch, we drove to a village called Epfig. Now we focussed on the forefathers of Madame. Epfig has a very interesting and beautiful little church called the Chapelle Sainte-Marguerite, a Roman church dating back to the 11-th century.
To me, it was a mystical place. Outside in the cemetery on one side, you will find a herbal garden.
In one wall of the Chapel sits a stack of bones and skulls of "unknown people" killed in a war near the village of Epfig. They are finding the last resting place in the church wall of the chapel, Sainte-Marguerite.
On the cemetery, we found lots of ancestors of the family. In the streets today there were still wineries that carried the name.
Interesting detail on the cemetery was a statue referring to people that got decapitated by a guillotine.
All and all we found lots of traces of the forefathers of both families.
For me as a guide, it was an impressive experience and lovely day.
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