Cerf Ancestry: The Jewish Community of Phalsbourg

One of the oldest Jewish communities in Alsace-Lorraine existed in Phalsbourg, a military town located in the Lorraine region and Moselle departement of France approximately fifty miles northwest of Strasbourg. Louis XIV's minister, Louvois, authorized two Jewish families to settle there between 1680 and 1691. The number increased to four in 1702, eight in 1747, and twelve in 1770. Although authorized to live there, these families were threatened with expulsion on several occasions. Early Jews provided Phalsbourg with military supplies, surety to peasants, and credit sales of livestock, seeds and used clothing.

The earliest date that places the Cerf family in Phalsbourg is in the marriage contract of Moise Salomon dated January 28, 1779. In this contract, the groom's father is identified as Salomon Cerf, a "Jew merchant in Phalsbourg."

A synagogue was constructed in Phalsbourg in 1772, later outgrown and rebuilt in 1857. It was classified as a Historical Monument in 1996. A Jewish cemetery opened on January 26, 1796, that includes many Cerf monuments. Phalsbourg was the seat of a rabbinate for several nearby communities.

In 1808, at the time when Jews were required to make a hereditary name declaration, the Jewish population had increased to 168. By 1848, the Jewish population increased to 200 (11% of the town's population). After the German annexation of 1871, many German Jews moved into the Moselle departement. After 1918, when the region reverted to France, there was a large influx of Eastern European Jews. After the emigration to the Americas had begun, Phalsbourg's Jewish population began decreasing, from 159 in 1880 to 89 in 1931. During World War II, nine Jews of Phalsbourg died while being deported and two were shot. In 1970, 48 Jews lived in Phalsbourg, with only nine elderly Jews remaining in 1998.

My family and I visited the city of Phalsbourg in 1999, taking the following photographs.