Sources

As difficult as genealogical research on the Jews of Mecklenburg may initially seem, it is not hopeless thanks to still-existing sources. The difficulty lies above all in knowing the sources and gaining access to them. Some have already been digitized and are freely or for a fee viewable online, while for others a visit to an archive is unavoidable. In Jewish family research, besides the destruction of numerous family records by the Holocaust, there are two additional fundamental barriers that in many cases represent a limit of what is achievable in researching the family tree back to the ancestors: the expulsion of Jews from Mecklenburg at the end of the phase of first Jewish settlement in 1492 and the period during the phase of Jewish resettlement, when the local Jews as a rule until 1813/14 did not yet possess hereditary family names, but instead used only additional patronymics alongside their first names, usually the first name of their father or grandfather, for identification.

Period of First Settlement until 1492

If one seriously wants to establish a family connection to persons who lived during the period of first Jewish settlement, the odds are exceedingly poor. Establishing a connection to the phase of resettlement that followed only about 200-300 years later in genealogical terms is virtually impossible. This is not only due to the lack of sources, but is primarily because the newly settling Jewish population in almost all cases was likely not related to the original one.

Some surviving legends from the period of first settlement, including the Sternberg Host Desecration of 1492, do mention Jews then residing in Mecklenburg, but their names were recorded without patronymics, so that these accounts are fundamentally excluded as sources for family history research. Particularly in the case of the alleged Sternberg Host Desecration, it is furthermore unclear where the survivors fled after the expulsion from Mecklenburg. At best, hereditary family names adopted much later could still point to a family's origin in Mecklenburg, but even here there is a high risk of confusion. For example, the family name Sternberg is indeed found later among German Jews. However, it is doubtful whether this really referred to Sternberg in Mecklenburg, as there were substantially larger and more significant towns of the same name in the former Neumark and in present-day Slovakia.

The not yet existing hereditary family names are also the main problem with older documents that actually still exist in which Jewish names appear, making them virtually useless for any family researcher.

Period since the Resettlement in the 17th Century until the Adoption of Hereditary Family Names 1813/14

The period after the Jewish resettlement of Mecklenburg does offer opportunities to complete one's family tree at least back to the 18th century.

Jewish Registers and Soul Books

The first and most important starting point for genealogical research in this period are the so-called Jewish registers or soul books (Matrikel/Seelenbucher). While all family events such as births, marriages, and deaths of the Christian population were recorded in the respective church books, this was done there for Jews only when they converted to Christianity. Since various authorities wanted to be informed about the stock of Jewish residents for police and tax purposes at all times, their family events were recorded in special registers or soul books, which were initially maintained by the town magistrates and in the 19th century were then usually transferred to the responsibility of the leaders of the Israelite communities. These registers reach back in some cases to the beginning of the Jewish resettlement around the middle of the 18th century, but have survived only fragmentarily and are no longer preserved for every town.

The registers are held at the Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin (signature LHAS Rep. 10.72-3/3, Seelenbucher der juedischen Gemeinden) and are partially viewable online at ancestry.de. These books were also filmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, also known as Mormons) and can be ordered and viewed at any Mormon Family History Center:

Community/Town	Description	LDS Film No.
Juedische Gemeinde Strelitz (Mecklenburg-Strelitz)	Matrikel 1760-1923: Deaths & Index 1760-1923, Grave Inscriptions ca. 1820-1888	1185018 Items 1-2
Juedische Gemeinde Bruel (AG. Bruel, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1787-1903: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1787-1903	68935 Item 2
Juedische Gemeinde Gadebusch	Matrikel 1793-1922: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1793-1922	68935 Item 5
Juedische Gemeinde Stavenhagen	Matrikel 1794-1902: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1848-1867 Matrikel 1794-1902: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1794-1902, Marriages 1813-1884, Deaths 1813-1896	68936 Item 11 1185017 Items 5-6
Juedische Gemeinde Sternberg (AG. Sternberg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1806-1937: Births 1806-1890, Marriages 1838-1870, Deaths 1824-1937	1185017 Item 8
Juedische Gemeinde Kroepelin	Matrikel 1810-1898: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1810-1840 Matrikel 1810-1898: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1817-1898	1185004 Item 8 68935 Item 9
Juedische Gemeinde Neustadt (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1811-1876: Family Register 1811-1869, Births 1870-1876, Marriages 1870-1871, Deaths 1874-1875	1185010 Item 3
Juedische Gemeinde Ribnitz (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1812-1875: Births 1812-1875	1185012 Item 4
Juedische Gemeinde Malchow (AG. Malchow, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1812-1895: Births 1813-1895, Marriages 1814-1877, Deaths 1812-1891	1185006 Items 2-3
Juedische Gemeinde Doemitz	Matrikel 1812-1933: Deaths 1812-1848, 1867-1869, 1835-1895, 1897-1944, 1871-1884, 1849-1864, Births 1812-1899, Marriages 1842-1871, 1813-1839, 1894, 1897	1184481 Items 3-4
Juedische Gemeinde Dargun	Matrikel 1813-1874: Births 1821-1874, Marriages 1813-1874, Deaths 1820-1873	1184468 Items 4-5
Juedische Gemeinde Neukalen	Matrikel 1813-1875: Births 1824-1875, Marriages 1814-1875, Deaths 1813-1875 Matrikel 1813-1875: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1875	1185010 Item 2 68936 Item 3
Juedische Gemeinde Neubukow (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1876: Births 1813-1876, Marriages 1815-1875	1185010 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Crivitz	Matrikel 1813-1877: Births 1813-1874, Marriages 1814-1871, Deaths 1813-1877 Matrikel 1813-1877: Other filming. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951, on 1 microfilm roll, 35 mm.	1184468 Item 3 68935 Item 4
Juedische Gemeinde Wittenburg (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1877: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1877	68936 Item 12
Juedische Gemeinde Teterow	Matrikel 1813-1880: Births 1813-1880, Marriages 1814-1864	1185018 Item 7
Juedische Gemeinde Krakow (Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1813-1883: Births 1813-1874, Marriages 1845-1873, Deaths 1813-1872, Family Book 1819, Deaths 1876-1883 Matrikel 1813-1883: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1874	1185004 Items 5-6 68935 Item 8
Juedische Gemeinde Schwaan (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1883: Births 1813-1883, Marriages 1816-1858, Deaths 1814-1883 Matrikel 1813-1883: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1883	1185013 Item 5 68936 Item 10
Juedische Gemeinde Malchin	Matrikel 1813-1884: Births 1813-1879, Marriages 1814-1876, Deaths 1813-1884, Family Register 1819 Matrikel 1813-1884: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1884	1185006 Item 1 68936 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Tessin (AG. Tessin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1885: Births 1813-1885, Marriages 1816-1883, Deaths 1816-1885	1185018 Items 5-6
Juedische Gemeinde Waren	Matrikel 1813-1889: Marriages 1814-1881, Births 1813-1886, Confirmations 1843-1871, Deaths 1814-1889	1185023 Items 1-2
Juedische Gemeinde Buetzow (AG. Buetzow, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1813-1898: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1898	68935 Item 3
Juedische Gemeinde Luebz	Matrikel 1813-1907: Births 1815-1907, Deaths 1816-1872 Matrikel 1813-1907: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1895	1185004 Item 12 68935 Item 12
Juedische Gemeinde Laage (Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1813-1907: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1907	68935 Item 10
Juedische Gemeinde Gnoien	Matrikel 1813-1911: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1833-1911, Deaths 1813-1815, Births 1813	1184496 Items 1-3
Juedische Gemeinde Roebel (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1915: Births 1814-1915, Marriages 1813-1873, Deaths 1813-1874	1185012 Items 5-6
Juedische Gemeinde Plau (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1813-1917: Births 1813-1897, Marriages 1815-1889, Deaths 1814-1913, Family Register 1819 Matrikel 1813-1917: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1917	1185011 Item 1 68936 Item 5
Juedische Gemeinde Boizenburg (Elbe)	Matrikel 1813-1920: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1920	68935 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Guestrow	Matrikel 1813-1935: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1813-1935	68935 Item 7
Juedische Gemeinde Parchim	Matrikel 1813-1936: Civil Status Register 1936, Births 1813-1928, Marriages 1814-1929, Deaths 1814-1934, Index 1813-1934?	1185010 Items 9-10
Juedische Gemeinde Hagenow (AG. Hagenow, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1813-1937: Births 1813-1883, Marriages 1819-1859, Marriages 1871-1935, Deaths 1872-1937, Births ca. 1900?, Deaths 1813-1872	1184498 Items 1-3
Juedische Gemeinde Rossow Dosse (AG. Roebel)	Matrikel 1814-1845: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1814-1845	68936 Item 8
Juedische Gemeinde Marlow (AG. Suelze-Marlow)	Matrikel 1814-1873: Births 1814-1868, Marriages 1815-1873, Deaths 1814-1866 Matrikel 1814-1873: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1814-1866	1185007 Item 4 68936 Item 2
Juedische Gemeinde Penzlin (AG. Penzlin)	Matrikel 1814-1915: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1814-1915	68936 Item 4
Juedische Gemeinde Goldberg (AG. Goldberg, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1814-1916: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1814-1916 (Goldberg)	68935 Item 6
Juedische Gemeinde Warin (Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1815-1876: Births 1815-1873, Marriages 1815-1876, Deaths 1825-1875	1185023 Items 3-4
Juedische Gemeinde Suelze (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1815-1904: Births 1815-1902, Deaths 1817-1904 Matrikel 1815-1904: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1815-1904	1185018 Item 3 68936 Item 9
Juedische Gemeinde Ludwigslust (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1817-1920: Births 1817-1910, Marriages 1827-1895, Deaths 1827-1913 Matrikel 1817-1920: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1827-1920	1185004 Item 11 68935 Item 11
Juedische Gemeinde Luebtheen	Matrikel 1826-1900: Family Book ca. 1850, Births 1826-1877, Deaths 1883-1900	1185004 Items 13-14
Juedische Gemeinde Grabow (AG. Grabow, Mecklenburg)	Matrikel 1835-1925: Poor Fund, Births, Deaths ca. 1835-1925 Individual Documents 1868-1873	1184496 Item 6 1184497 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Rostock (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1839-1874: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1839-1874	1185014 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Demmin (KrSt. Demmin, Pommern)	Matrikel 1847-1874: Births, Marriages, Deaths 1847-1874 (l. p.), Births, Marriages, Deaths 1847-1874 (r. p.)	1334559 Item 1
Juedische Gemeinde Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)	Matrikel 1849-1875: Births 1852-1875, Marriages 1856-1874, Deaths 1849-1869	68936 Item 7

Matching Schutzjuden Names to Family Names

The most important task in family research in this period is a reliable matching of the old Schutzjuden names consisting of first name and patronymic with the family names later adopted in the years 1813 and 1814 in both Mecklenburgs. The lists of adopted family names required by the Emancipation Edict of February 22, 1813 had to be reported to Schwerin at the time, but were destroyed in the fire at the Schwerin Kollegiengebaeude in 1865. State Rabbi Dr. Siegfried Silberstein had therefore already undertaken attempts in the 19th and 20th centuries to reconstruct the reports from copies or publications. Unfortunately, he did not succeed for every town. The still-preserved report lists have been published in the publication "Die Familiennamen der Juden in Mecklenburg" (The Family Names of the Jews in Mecklenburg) by Norbert Francke and Baerbel Krieger. Partly helpful, as it contains older Schutzjuden names and occasionally also references to their kinship, is a second publication by these authors titled "Schutzjuden in Mecklenburg".

Period 1813 to 1945

If one is searching for persons from the period after the adoption of hereditary family names, one almost always has chances of finding something, depending on the respective place of search.

Jewish Registers and Soul Books

The already mentioned Jewish registers or soul books continued to be maintained after the adoption of hereditary family names, now however with the chosen family names, which thereafter almost always enables a kinship assignment to persons.

Civil Registry Records from 1874

From the year 1874 onward, an additional source in the form of civil registry records is available for the Mecklenburg region, which were to replace the church books or Jewish soul books and in which births, marriages, deaths, and kinship relationships were likewise recorded. It must be noted, however, that particularly the Jewish residents did not always have themselves registered there in the early phase. In that case, only a search in the Jewish registers remains. The civil registry records are either still in the local registry offices or have already been transferred to the municipal archives.

Archives and Offices of the Towns

A true treasure trove and probably the most direct way to research ancestors is a visit to the municipal archives and registry offices of Mecklenburg towns. The problem is that these have often never been systematically evaluated with regard to Jewish matters, even where publications about the towns already exist. When inquiring about the Jewish files, it can occasionally happen that access is denied. We do not wish to speculate further about the reasons. Due to the financial situation of smaller towns, research can also fail simply because there are no staff responsible for the municipal archive holdings. In many cases, only volunteer helpers keep an emergency operation running, who are already overwhelmed by the sheer number of genealogical inquiries by email or letter. An on-site visit is unavoidable there.

One should obtain an overview of the archival materials to be searched beforehand. Extraordinarily helpful in this regard is the "Findbuch fuer Judaika in den Kreis- und Stadtarchiven Westmecklenburgs" (Finding Aid for Judaica in the District and Municipal Archives of Western Mecklenburg) by Norbert Francke, Katrin Hansow, and Baerbel Krieger. As the title already attests, however, this does not cover both Mecklenburgs.

Jewish soul books are hardly to be found in the municipal archives. In contrast, one should find success in the civil registry records that have been maintained since 1874. These are either still on-site at the respective registry offices or have already been transferred to the local municipal archive. An inquiry at the local registry office should clarify the whereabouts of older holdings.

In addition, further sources promise finds in which persons were in part recorded with biographical data, but hardly with kinship relationships to other persons. These include:

• Citizen books (Buergerbuecher), in which admission as a citizen of the town and citizen oaths were recorded
• Town books (Stadtbuecher), in which debts were recorded
• Town land and house books (Eigentumer/Besitzer von Haeusern und Grundstuecken)
• Trade registers (business registrations and deregistrations)
• Shooting club lists (entries and exits of members)
• Works/publications by local historians or occasionally even manuscripts of surviving Jews (a rarity in municipal archives, see Bibliography)
• Military conscription lists (so-called Aushebungslisten)
• Records from the Nazi era

Of far lesser value from a genealogical perspective are cadastral or land registry offices. These are at best useful insofar as one wants to research the location and addressing of properties or their ownership relationships.

Local History Museums

Where possible, a visit to a local history museum is also worthwhile. Occasionally there are works on local Jewish history, manuscripts, or publications (see Bibliography), and in any case very knowledgeable staff who are not infrequently also regional historians and can offer further help or tell one story or another.

Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin (State Main Archive)

Besides researching the local municipal archives and local history museums, a search of sources at the Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin is a must, as enormous holdings on the Mecklenburg Jews are stored there. To obtain an overview of the sources beforehand, one should consult Volume 4 of the finding aid "Quellen zur Geschichte der Juden in den Archiven der neuen Bundeslaender" (Sources on the History of Jews in the Archives of the New Federal States) (Jersch-Wenzel, Steffi; Ruerup, Reinhard (eds.)). Among the sources are:

• Schutzjuden registers and tax lists for the early period of Jewish resettlement
• Genealogical family trees
• Census lists (Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin: Rep. 5.12-3/20, Statistisches Landesamt (1851-1945)), among them especially the censuses:
  • Mecklenburg-Schwerin of September 10, 1819
  • Mecklenburg-Schwerin of November 12, 1866
  • Mecklenburg-Schwerin of December 3, 1867
  • Mecklenburg-Schwerin of December 1, 1890
  • Mecklenburg-Schwerin of December 1, 1900
  These are partially viewable online, e.g. at ancestry.de or akvz.de
• Personal files
• Community files
• Estates of rabbis
• Records from the Nazi era (expropriations and "Aryanizations")

Emigration

Particularly around the middle of the 19th century, Mecklenburg saw strong migration and especially emigration overseas. This affected Jewish residents to a heightened degree, as they had built hopes for legal equality with the German Revolution, but these hopes were abruptly dashed with the revolution's failure. To find lost lines, research in various emigration and immigration lists is recommended:

• Bremen Passenger Lists
• German Emigrant Database
• Cemla.org
• CastleGarden.org
• Ellis Island
• Dausa.de
• Germany Roots

National Socialism & Holocaust

During the Nazi era, a further census was conducted in 1939, in which all those recorded had to disclose their Jewish ancestors on a supplementary card, going back to all grandparents. An online search in this census is possible at tracingthepast.org.

As far as victims of the Shoah are concerned, enormous preparatory work has already been done in recent years, enabling the search for murdered ancestors also online. First and foremost, Yad Vashem must be mentioned, where through reports by relatives or former friends, the Testimonies, further data and in some cases kinship relationships can also be restored. In this context, the online-viewable Memorial Book (Gedenkbuch) of the Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv) must also be mentioned. Specifically for Theresienstadt, the website Holocaust.cz offers invaluable help with research. As far as the Mecklenburg victims are concerned, we list them on our website under Holocaust Victims. This list is permanently being revised. We are striving to re-examine all entries in detail in the coming years.

The Leo Baeck Institute in New York collects, among other things, bequeathed estates of Jewish families, not infrequently Holocaust survivors. Among these are also collections concerning Mecklenburg Jews, which in some cases contain photographs, entire family trees, or documents reaching back to the Schutzjuden era. At http://www.lib.org the digitized versions are partially already available online and free of charge:

Signature	Description
AR 1627	Meta Gutmann collection, 1903-1948 - The story of the Jewish farm family Meinungen
AR 2394	Jacob Plaut Family Collection (1920)
AR 2907	Arnold Herzfeld Family Collection
AR 3248	Aron Family, Frankfurt an der Oder Collection
AR 3453	Mecklenburg Jewish Community Collection 1945-1998 - Folder 1-3
AR 5020	Salomon George 1920-1981, Salomon Family of Friesack Collection 1765-1990
AR 5446	Bonheim-Jacob Family Collection - Folder 1, 2
AR 6613	Nord Family Collection
AR 6672	Henriques-Hinrichsen-Josephy Families Collection
AR 7019	Rudolf Jakob Simonis Collection 1749-1965
AR 10075	Schwerin Jewish Community Collection (1933)
AR 10847	Ivar Segalovitz Collection - Folder 1-3
AR 2054	Heinrich Rosenbaum Collection, 1914-1915
AR 25165	Eva Abraham-Podietz Family Collection, 1767-2004 - Box 1, Folder 5, 10
AR 3793	Max Jacobson Family Collection, 1864-1946
AR 379	Friederich Franz, von Gottes Gnaden Grossherzog von Mecklenburg etc
AR 3282	Schutz- und Handlungs-Brief fuer Michael Weil zu Parchim
AR 6661	Mecklenburg Archives Collection, 1800s-1947, 1993
AR 5633	Pedigree of the Jacob family of Stavenhagen, Mecklenburg, Germany
AR 10404	Weil Family; Neustadt Collection
AR 379 ADDENDUM 1728	Liste der Kirchen-Raeuber und Diebe, welche von denen zu Strelitz den 17. August 1728 gehangen 4 Erz-Dieben
AR 1960	Elkan Family Collection, 1794-1934
F 7a	Coins by Abraham Aaron, court medalists in Schwerin, 1776-1825
F 3155	Interior of the Parchim Synagogue
F 19360	Interior of the Parchim Synagogue
F 19361	Laver or ritual washing unit (urn with spigot and basin on wall-mounted wood shelf); Parchim Synagogue
AR 1584	Kurt Elkan Collection, 1914-1916
AR 6473	Max Nord Collection, 1878-circa 1950, bulk 1878-1932
Schutzbriefe (Letters of Protection) Collection. 06 13	Schutzbrief for "Handlungsgehilfen" Heymann Moses Joachim
AR 7104	[From the history of our family in the diaspora] / Ernst Livneh
DM 237	Loewenthal Family History : (The Chronicles of our Family in the Diaspora) Translated from the Hebrew by Jeremy Barcan, edited and footnoted...
ME 330	Mein Leben und Erinnerungen, 1850-1947 (Max Jacobson)
DM 248	The Nickelsburg family : (A historical sketch.)
AR 1072	[Mein lieber Bruder Moses...]
AR 10696	Siegfried Marcus Collection, circa 1928-1930
AR 11369	[Ahnenliste Weil]
ME 685	In memoriam Helene Weyl
ME 1398	Memoirs, 1921-1940 (Marianne Daniel)
AR 375	Wiesenthal Family Collection, 1847-1924
AR 10129	Stephen Nicholls Collection, 1975-2001
AR 2564	Hans J. Sachs Collection, 1844-1974
MS 933	Ida Mitau's postcard album, 1898-1938
AR 2454	Paula Valk Family Collection, 1854-1874
AR 285	Schutzbriefe (Letters of Protection) Collection, 1770-1813
ME 1170	1933-1945 (Augusta Amram)
AR 10847	Anna Herzfeld Woog Family Collection, 1794-1952
AR 5482	Bernhard Wolff Family Collection, 1881-1991, Bulk dates: 1938-1988
AR 10019	Anneliese Riess Collection, 1882 - 2001, Bulk dates: 1933 - 1948
AR 5790	Aaron-Aarons-Marcus-Philipp Families Collection, 1680-2000
AR 1249	Edmund Hadra Collection, 1877-1971, Bulk: 1939-1966
AR 7002	Jacob Jacobson Collection, 1660-1958
AR 6682	Guide to the Records of the Leo Baeck Institute London undated, 1907-2008 (bulk 1956-2000)
AR 10664	Meyersohn Family
MS 334	Jews in Schwerin 1933-1945
Schutzbriefe (Letters of Protection) Collection. 06 13	Schutzbrief und Privilegium auf den Handel mit rohen auslaendischen Producten for Moses Rosenbaum zu Sternberg
AR 4515	Der Schweriner Oberrabbiner Mordechai Jaffe : (seine Ahnen und seine Nachkommen /) ein Stammbaum bearbeitet von Moritz Stern
AR 10037	Our family (Thea and Heinz Scheidt/Skyte)
ME 596	[Samotschin memoirs] (Seligsohn), 1700-1915
AR 2597	Richard Ehrenberg Collection, 1917
AR 1245	Hugo Loewenstein Collection, 1813-1881
ME 989	Without Bitterness, 1930s-1945 (Marianne Elsley)
AR 4420	Guide to the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe Collection, 1942-2005 (bulk 1944-1947), Box 1, Folder 23 (Mecklenburg)

Public Family Trees and Genealogy Portals

In addition to digitized documents, lists, and directories from other sources, family research portals such as ancestry.de, geni.com & Co. offer more or less publicly viewable family trees of their members. As tempting as these genealogical data collections may be, we at least warn against adopting this data unchecked for one's own family tree. As we know from our own experience in the Mecklenburg area, kinship relationships were not infrequently constructed there, simply guessed, or contain otherwise contradictory data. These portals thereby promote the spread of such data zombies. This can only be prevented by verifying the data in the aforementioned sources such as civil registry documents or registers.

A far better data basis, by contrast, is contained in the person search at familysearch.org, the family research portal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormons).

Publications

In addition to all the sources already mentioned, numerous publications, particularly books about the former Jewish communities of Mecklenburg, can also provide information about persons and families. A fairly complete overview of the holdings on the Mecklenburg Jews can be found with us under Bibliography.