A Visit to Metzervisse

Metzervisse, France, is north of the city of Metz and in the departement of Moselle and region of Lorraine, about 80 miles northwest of Phalsbourg.  It is the birthplace of Phoebe Levy Cerf, Aaron Cerf's wife.  When my family visited the area in 1999, we stumbled upon the Jewish cemetery as we approached the town.

New granite graves were lined up near old, crumbling headstones, some unreadable and fallen over.  As we strolled through the cemetery, both in the well-cared-for section and the section with high weeds, we read the names of Cerf, Levy, Israel, Picard, and Jacob.  We also saw two Cerf Cerfs and a recent Arthur Cerf. The Cerf name also appears in the Levy ancestral  branch, as you will learn below.  This cemetery appeared to be a regional cemetery as nearby towns, including Buding, were represented.

Metzervisse Jewish Cemetery

In the business section of the town, the local notary public was the only person we could find who spoke some English.  He was delighted to speak with us, saying the last American he met there was fifteen years ago, and he was from Texas.  In answer to our question, the notary public didn't know of anyone named Levy or Cerf living in the area.  Then he took us to the pharmacy where he said we would find something interesting.

The small town square with the pharmacy opposite the church

We thanked the notary public inside the pharmacy after he directed one of the clerks to take us through the back door and into a private courtyard area.  There we saw an old building that was missing one wall, like an open garage.  It was filled with storage items, but looking past them, we discovered an old Hebrew arch built on the inner wall.  We remarked about all the life events that had probably taken place inside the small room once used as a synagogue.

Old Metzervisse synagogue

On our way back through the pharmacy, the clerk took us across the street to view the war memorial next to the church.  One side had names from World War I and on the other side were names from World War II.

Metzervisse WWI memorial

Metzervisse WWII memorial

While exploring the town of Metzervisse, we took a few photos of the old train station and some houses that caught our eyes.

Metzervisse train station

Metzervisse house

Metzervisse house

A few miles from Metzervisse is the very small town of Buding, where Phoebe Levy Cerf's maternal grandmother, Rachel Moyse Cerf Boeles, was born about 1773, though she died in Metzervisse in 1849, and where Phoebe's maternal great-grandparents, Moyse Cerf and Caroline Levy, parents of Rachel, died.

The church at Buding

We stopped at the church in Buding to look at the the town's war memorial, noting there was one person with the first name of Cerf listed on the World War II side.  The names of those who died in deportation are difficult to read, but include the last names of Jacob, Lambert, Picard, Rixem, and Zacharius.

Names of Buding residents who died in deportation during WWII

Buding WWI memorial

If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting an ancestral town in the "old country," we are here to tell of the timelessness we experienced while feeling a strange sort of connection to a place never visited before.