The inscriptions found on funerary monuments are an important source of
information.
However, one should be careful not to draw erroneous conclusions, as it sometimes
happen when reading them.
Thus, e.g., if Samuel Levy was buried in the Durmenach cemetery, this information
does not automatically mean he died in this town. This for a number of possible
reasons. Here are a few, very common:
- Durmenach, like many other Jewish cemeteries, "welcomed" the deceased of several
surrounding municipalities.
- Our Samuel Levy might have express in his lifetime, one way or another,
his will to be buried in the cemetery of his parents or ancestors, although
he had left the area for many years. Here’s an example from our website:
on a list of people entitled to be buried in the Durmenach cemetery (Haut-Rhin)
are found families who had booked their resting place but lived in municipalities
sometimes very distant, sometimes in other french departments, or even in
Switzerland. The most recent example is George Meyer, CEO of Galeries Lafayette,
buried in Durmenach although residing in Paris.
When there is a cemetery register, the location of death is often filled in;
sometimes it is even engraved on the tombstone itself. If not and the death
certificate is not in the records of the municipality where the cemetery is
located, one must conduct further research.
Our association can help you more accurately, based on the evidence gathered,
the cemetery in question and the family concerned.