The Jews of Posen Province in the Nineteenth Century by Edward David Luft

The Jews of Posen Province in the Nineteenth Century by Edward David Luft

The Jews of Posen Province in the Nineteenth Century

A Selective Source Book, Research Guide, and Supplement to The Naturlized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835. By Edward David Luft.

This well-written book published in 2015 is the perfect source for the Jewish genealogical researcher trying to find family roots in the the former Prussian Province of Posen.  The provincial capital, Posen, now Poznań in Polish, is a major city in western Poland, but the Prussian province which once existed is no longer called by the name Posen but rather Wielkopolska.

Some of the information given in this book includes the following topics:

Mormon (LDS) microfilmed records of Posen, website resources and German archival and other unpublished sources.  It discusses materials that are in Polish archives for this former Prussian territory.  It shares Israeli archive sources, Posen city directories, as well as lists of Posen Jewish high school graduates.

The book contains an immense bibliography, which shares amazing sources that are bound to be highly useful for the genealogical researcher. This book, including the bibliography, includes 1,990 pages of useful information, giving the researcher many avenues in which to continue searching for ancestors.

The book shares the interesting and difficult history of this area including the pre-partition history of the Jews. (Pre-1772).  In 1834 the Jewish population was given as being between 5.5%-6.5%, as indicated in different sources.  The author goes into great detail in the breakdown of the number of inhabitants, occupations, school children and teachers, as well as vacant teaching positions.

In his select  bibliography, you will find lists of names and birth dates of Jews from Posen, and known information regarding their fates during the Holocaust.  The author also includes Jews born in Posen Province who died in locations outside Posen Province, such as in Breslau.

For those interested in the Jews of Poland, whether for genealogical research or otherwise, this is a great go-to resource to help you break down those brick walls.  I highly recommend this book, which can be found online with free access at http://tiny.cc/80bmay in item 1.

About the Author:
The author’s short biography and full bibliography appear at this link.

The author has presented a talk in the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room of the Library of Congress as indicated by the above image.

The photos below were taken at the time of his presentation by Levon Avdoyan, Armenian and Georgian Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room.

Photo courtesy of Levon Avdoyan©

Photo courtesy of Levon Avdoyan©

Photo courtesy of Levon Avdoyan©

 Photo courtesy of Levon Avdoyan©

About the Author

The author’s short biography and full bibliography

appear at https://sites.google.com/site/edwarddavid

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