Family History Research
April 27, 2026Family History Research
April 27, 2026Cemetery project
The Claassenstrasse is now
ul. Gwarna in Wrocław, Poland.
As a result of decades of research on my own family history and on the 18th and 19th century Jewish communities of Breslau and numerous cities, towns and villages in Silesia, Posen Province, and West- and East Prussia, Family Memory Trust is in a position to offer assistance to people researching their own families from Jewish communities in these former German areas which have been part of Poland since 1945.
When I became interested in genealogy in the 1970s, I naturally assumed that there could not be any records available on Jewish families from Germany. That just seemed impossible. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.
As it turns out, there are a wide variety of records available to help research our families. There are gaps, sometimes at inconvenient points, but there are often Jewish community birth, marriage and death records, cemetery lists, and family registers. Starting in the 1870s, there can be civil birth, marriage and death records.
Gravestones in the Breslau Jewish Cemetery on Claassenstrasse (early 20th century).
Photo courtesy Marcin Wodziński
This is one of very fews photographs of the Claassenstrasse Jewish cemetery from before the destruction of the cemetery. Family Memory Trust was able to determine that it shows the graves of:
No. 3424 — Jacob (ben Jehuda Leib) FRAENKEL (d.1762) (possibly the brother of the first person buried in the cemetery R. Menachem Mendel FRAENKEL (d.1761)
No. 3425 -- Schlomo ben Jehuda Leib, ABD in Lissa (d.1764)
gap
No. 3246 -- Muscat bat Israel WIENER Segal, wife of Meir WIENER (d.1763)
No. 3427 -- Rachel, wife of Baruch Kohen Zadik from Glogau (d.1763)
No. 3428 -- Minka bat Lippmann [BEDCHAN (?)], Gabbai in Breslau (d.1764)
No. 3429 -- Eljakim Götzel ben Josef Jitzhak (broken stone in photo) (d.1764)
In the back row, the gravestone behind No. 3424 is that of Jacob ben Mosche KREDELS (d.1762) at No. 3479
In conjunction with information gleaned from other Breslau Jewish community records, we have been attempting to place as many of the people buried in the Claassenstrasse cemetery into the context of their families of the Breslau Jewish community. The work is ongoing, but, to date, we have been successful with over 80% of the people buried in this cemetery. When possible, we also try to find living descendants of the people buried in the Claassenstrasse cemetery.
The form and format is uncertain, but a goal of Family Memory Trust is to create a memorial to the Claassenstrasse (ul. Gwarna) Jewish cemetery and the people buried there.
Bergmann Johanna Danziger
— The gravestone of Johanna BERGMANN geb. DANZIGER (1819-1853) was found in the Lohestrasse Jewish cemetery (Museum of Cemetery Arts). He was buried at Grave No. 223 in the Claassenstrasse cemetery. Johanna was the first wife of Samuel BERGMANN. They had at least 2 children.
Machschefes Simon
— The gravestone of Simon MACHSCHEFES (ca.1796-1854) was found in the Lohestrasse Jewish cemetery (Museum of Cemetery Arts). He was buried at Grave No. 222 in the Claassenstrasse cemetery. Simon was Tuchkaufmann in Breslau. He was married first married to Selma JAHR and later to Fanny WEITZMANN. He had at least 8 children.
Gwarna street
Breslau Map with Claassenstrasse Cemetery (1913)
This is a “snippet” from a 1913 maps of Breslau. It shows the triangularly shaped Claassenstrasse cemetery, starting at the Claassenstrasse (ul. Gwarna) on the western side and extending to a point at the east just below the former Fränkel Platz. As can be seen, the cemetery is just north of the Main Train Station which was built just around the time that the cemetery was closing to new burials (1856).
Urban Memory Foundation
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