MIRIAM WEINER ARCHIVAL COLLECTION FORDON, POLAND – Collection Description According to Wikipedia: "At some point Fordon was located in the Grand Duchy of Posen and later under direct Prussian control. It was returned to Poland at the end of the First World War. In 1939 it was incorporated by the Third Reich. It is estimated that during World War II German soldiers killed from 1200 to 3000 people, mainly Poles and Jews, in the Death Valley of Fordon (Valley of Death (Bydgoszcz)). The exact number stays unknown as historians have not found appropriate documents that would state the final number of deaths. Finally, in 1945 Fordon was liberated from Nazi occupation. In 1950 Fordon was still a separate town from Bydgoszcz. At that time it was described as "seven miles east" of the latter city. It had a population of 3,514 people and manufactured such things as cement and paper.[1] In 1973 Fordon became a part of the city of Bydgoszcz." Valley of Death (Polish: Dolina Zmierci) in Fordon, Bydgoszcz, northern Poland, is a site of Nazi German mass murder committed at the beginning of World War II and a mass grave of 1,200 – 1,400 Poles and Jews murdered in October and November 1939 by the local German Selbstschutz and the Gestapo.[1][2] The murders were a part of Intelligenzaktion in Pomerania, a Nazi action aimed at the elimination of the Polish intelligentsia in Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, which included the former Pomeranian Voivodeship ("Polish Corridor"). It was part of a larger genocidal action that took place in all German occupied Poland, code-named Operation Tannenberg.[3] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_Death_(Bydgoszcz) Fordon, Poland - Page 2 Included in the Surname Database are the following documents for this town: Birth records 1823 / 1866 Marriage records 1824 / 1860 Death records 1842 / 1859 The foregoing documents trace the Rosenbaum family (and related families including Barnass and Oser) through one family member who came to the U.S. in c. 1850. This early Jewish immigrant was Morris David Rosenbaum and although his ship brought him into New York Harbor, Morris soon traveled to San Francisco where he stayed for awhile. At some point, Morris became friends with some Mormons in the Bay area and when they decided to migrate to Utah, they invited Morris to join them and he did. In Salt Lake City, Morris married and raised a large family, until his death in 1885. Morris David Rosenbaum, c. 1880 One of Morris David's granddaughters was Pearl Delores Duke, who decided to introduce her grandson to his "Jewish Ancestors" previously unknown to him. That grandson was W. Todd Knowles (Todd Knowles) whose life was forever changed from that conversation (c. 1973) with his grandmother. Since then, Todd has continued to explore his Jewish roots and has become well versed in Jewish genealogy to the point that he lectures worldwide at various Jewish genealogy conferences as well as other genealogy conferences on the subject of Jewish roots. Todd has a day job as well and serves as Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch International in Salt Lake City, UT. Fordon, Poland - Page 3 Pearl Delores Duke, c. 1922 Pearl Delores Duke, c. 1990 granddaughter of Morris David Rosenbaum "Keeper" of the Family History and grandmother of Todd Knowles & now Todd Knowles, age 8 in 1970 Todd Knowles, c. 2013 grandson of Pearl Delores Duke Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer FamilySearch International Salt Lake City, UT Fordon, Poland - Page 4 According to Todd: "In my own situation, I was just 11 years old when I first learned that I had Jewish ancestry. It was the discovery of my Great - Great Grandfather, Morris David Rosenbaum, a Polish Jew, that started my own personal journey to find my Jewish heritage. In the last 40 or so years, I have experienced the excitement of the search, and the joy of new discoveries. Over the years, I have been very blessed, I have found the names of family members who passed long before my birth. With the help of people all over the world, I have met living relatives, and have shared with them the memories of our family. I have stood on the land where my ancestors lived and I have placed stones upon their headstones. The writings they left behind have, at times, helped guide my own life and they have touched my heart. Morris David Rosenbaum came to the United States very early, in the 1850's. After being a successful merchant in San Francisco, he finally made his way to Salt Lake City. With that early arrival, I felt relief in knowing that he and his children were save from the death camps. However, early on in my journey I started to find the records of his 6 sisters and their families, who never left Fordon, Poland and whose own children and grandchildren were murdered. It was very emotional for me and after sometime I took a pause from those families because I didn't know how to move forward. This all changed in the summer of 2015, when I visited Israel for the first time. One afternoon I was able to visit Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. From the moment I entered the grounds, I was overcome with feelings I didn't expect to have, feelings of emptiness for the members of the family I either had not documented completely or hadn't yet discovered. At the conclusion of my visit, I was able to visit The Hall of Names, an area where the records of those who were murdered, are collected and preserved. While standing there and looking up at the photos, I soon found myself thinking of each and every member of my family who I knew had died. I also at that moment rededicated myself to find the names and records of the other family members to make sure they were never forgotten." Upon returning home I returned again to the records of my family, making sure I had not missed anyone. I wasn't sure I would find anyone, but I was going to try. Up until this point every record I had involved my Polish families and I kept telling myself that Salt Lake City was a long way from Europe and that somehow helped families deal with the pain. I soon made a discovery that made me realize that it was impossible not to be personally touched by the Holocaust no matter where you lived. The Rosenbaum sisters all married and a few had husbands who were part of the extended Auerbach family, another Fordon family. Members of the Auerbach family had also settled in Salt Lake City in the 1800's and had become very successful merchants. One, Rosa, had married Gustave Meyer and had raised 7 children in Utah. Many never left and are buried in the B'nai Israel Cemetery, in Salt Lake City. One son however, Phillip, who was a very successful architect, left Salt Lake and moved back to Berlin, where he married an Australian girl and made it their home. The search for their records forever changed me. I knew they had been murdered about 15 Oct 1943 in the Theresienstadt Camp, but the finding of the marriage record from 1899 truly showed me that everyone was affected by the Holocaust. On the marriage record, part of which is shown below, there are a few different pieces of information that are very noticeable. First, the marriage takes place on 7 Dec 1899 in Berlin, yet on 12 Jun 1939, the Nazi's stamped the document with their emblems, the Iron Eagle and Swastika. Second, this document which had been tarnished in 1939, included the information on the parents of the bride and groom. It was there, just a few inches from a Nazi symbol that the mother of the groom was listed as Rosa, maiden name Auerbach, of Salt Lake City. To me the Holocaust had come home. Every feeling imaginable hit me at once. I was sick, mad and determined to make sure that all family members would be found, I was not going to let these murderers get away with it. I was going to make sure that my family was never forgotten. I have continued my search for family members who perished and have found a few. I truly feel we need to do everything possible to keep their memories alive. At my desk in the Family History Library, I have always kept a quote that reminded me what was truly important, and now it is even more so. The quote by Arthur Kurweil says; "When the Nazis rounded us up, they took away our names and gave us numbers. We genealogists are involved in taking away the numbers and giving back the names." I would hope, that we all can rededicate ourselves to remembering those who lost their lives, and help the stories be told. I am very thankful to all of you who have helped me and continue to do so, for without each other we have nothing. LET THEM NEVER BE FORGOTTEN" Fordon, Poland - Page 5 Marriage of Phillip Meyer and Mabel Wittowski Berlin, Germany / 7 Dec 1899 The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem Museum Jerusalem, Israel / 2015 Fordon, Poland - Page 6 Former Synagogue in Fordon, Poland, 2018 Photo Credit: W. Todd Knowles Worth 10 thousand thalers, the still existing synagogue (located today in Przy Bóżnicy Street nearby the main road to Old Fordon) was completed in 1832. Source: www.sztetl.org Fordon, Poland - Page 7 Plaque from synagogue building, 2018 Polish Jews Doing Forced Labor at Fordon near Bydgosz (Bromberg), Poland, 1939 (Jewish men were rounded up and forced to sweep the streets) See also: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/f/324-fordon-dzielnica-bydgoszczy/99-history/137282-history-of-community https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/f/324-fordon-dzielnica-bydgoszczy/112-synagogues-prayer-houses-and-others/84310-synagogue .