Follow
This project is designed to identify and collect the Jewish individuals who have a connection to the town of Adelnau aka Odolanow in Wielkopolski, Poland.This town was part of the Grand Duchy of Posen in the 1800's. It was in the Posen Administrative District of Adelnau along with the towns of Ostrow and Raszkow. (Adelnau=Odolanow depending on the language and usage) and others nearby.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/1H5ey5eMYMZXyHvs5
From Jewish Gen we find very little material here: http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org
Jewish Gen Familiy Finder JGFF has a few researchers interested in this town.
Rabbi's connected to Adelnau=Odolanow are found using the Steinheim Institute search list: Biographical Handbook of the Rabbi's (BHR), in Germany, at the same site. Here: http://www.steinheim-institut.de:50580/cgi-bin/bhr This search returned four people: Mathias Weissblum, Mordechai Kempner aka Marcus Elsner, Rabbi Gutwirth and Jochanan Fig.
Edward David Luft's book The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835, Revised Edition, 2004, published by Avotanyu lists only 14 people who were made citizens in Adelnau, Posen. This paperback book is available for ~$50 US from Avotaynu. Family names include Auerbach, Brandt, Bromberg, Hoff, Jacubowicz, Lasker, Silber, Weiss and Unger. The authorities met with prospective citizens on July 26, 1834, under laws set up by the Prussian Administrative officer Eduard Heinrich Flottwell. Note that the family names cited here are in English, translated from the German as used in the 1830's, as heard and then written down by a clerk. Some accuracy may have been obtained from the requirement that naturalization came about from a German language businessperson, living in Poland at the time.
From the International Jewish Cemetery Project IAJGS: ODOLANOW: Wielkopolskie Coat of arms of OdolanówAlternate names: Odolanów [Pol], Adelnau [Ger], Odalanów. 51°34' N, 17°42' E, 21 miles SW of Kalisz, 8 miles SW of Ostrów Wielkopolski. Jewish population: 203 (in 1883). This town in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, 10 km SW of Ostrów Wielkopolski with over 5000 inhabitants. Apart from the town of Odolanów, Gmina Odolanów contains the villages and settlements of Baby, Biadaszki, Boników, Garki, Gliśnica, Gorzyce Małe, Grochowiska, Huta, Kaczory, Kuroch, Lipiny, Nabyszyce, Nadstawki, Papiernia, Raczyce, Świeca, Tarchały Małe, Tarchały Wielkie, Trzcieliny, Uciechów, Wierzbno and Wisławka. [June 2009] US Commission No. POCE000481
Alternate name: Adelnau in German. It is located in the region Kaliskie at 51º34, is 17º42', 75 km NNE of Wrockaw. The cemetery location is off a dirt road, NW ward of the crossing of Przemysiewa and Kootoszyriska St. Present population is 1000-5000 with no Jews.
Village: Urzad Miasta i Gminy, Rynek, 63-430 Odolanow. Regional: Psoz-wkz ul. Franci Szkauska 3/5, 62-800 Kalisz. The earliest Jewish community dates back to before 1771; 1921 population was 27. The Progressive/Reform Jewish cemetery was established about 19th century. The isolated rural wooded flat has no sign or marker. Access is turning directly off a public road. The cemetery is open to all with no walls, fences or gates. The size of the cemetery is approximately 0.5ha. No stones are visible. Municipality owns site, primarily a forest. Properties adjacent are agricultural. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, for construction of the nearby Hitler Jugend camp barracks. Vegetation is a serious threat.
Michal Witwickie, Dernboeosluiego 12/53, tel. 6418345 02-784 Warszawa completed survey. Elenora Bergman and Michal Witwickie visited the site October 18, 1992. Local residents were interviewed. Parent Category: EASTERN EUROPE
Yad Vashem archives list people from Adelnau=Odolanow who perished in the Holocaust. The latest count is 111 people's files. Some maybe duplicates. The Brandt family has some individuals, as does the Jacubowitz family name (various spellings).