Alan, The entire west side of the Rhein River was controlled by France during the years of the Napoleonic Wars, around 1802 to 1814. I don't know the exact dates. Maybe someone else does. Marybeth ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan J. Kleipass" <aj@rockycrater.org> > So, was there a specific time period in the 1800s where French Jews -- > or the French in general -- were moving to Germany? Or was the area > around Bendorf ever occupied or controlled by the French? > > ~Alan J. Kleipass~

Perhaps the story that the family moved was merely a misunderstanding in a later generation - the political boundaries DID move; Possibly the family did not. It would be similar to tracing records of US pioneers, who often lived (and are recorded) in many different counties without moving from their original homesteads as new counties were cut off from older ones when populations expanded. Incidentally the first family record I received from the archives in Speyer for my Feigel family in Bellheim was written in French. The later ones (after Napoleon) were in German. But the same burgomeister (German name) had signed all of them. Barbara Rice FEIGEL DIETRICH BOLZ DESHLER ELZER ROTH VOLAND DIPPEL ?"Pardusin"

Dear Barbara, I read your post/reply to the mail list with a great deal of interest. Two Rhein-Pfalz towns of my interest, Bad Durkheim & Ungstein, are about as far from Speyer to the North-East as Bellheim is in the other direction, to the South-West; perhaps just a little bit farther, in my case. My question is this.... What specific information did you request of the Archives in Speyer? Were you able to obtain emigration information (permission to emigrate papers), vital records or perhaps something else entirely? I keep thinking there must be some records for my family, who are in various towns & villages in this area ca. 1700s- 1800s, but I am at a loss to know what to ask for and how to go about the search. In the past I have found my documentation using LDS/FHL films. Are the Speyer Archives concerned strictly with the civil documentation? Any advice or direction would be a great assist. Bette ----- Original Message ----- From: "mmongoose" <mmongoose@tds.net> To: <pfalz@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 7:42 PM Subject: Re: [Pfalz] Intro & Q: French Jews in Germany > Incidentally the first family record I received from the archives in > Speyer for my Feigel family in Bellheim was written in French. The > later ones (after Napoleon) were in German. But the same burgomeister > (German name) had signed all of them. > > Barbara Rice > > FEIGEL DIETRICH BOLZ DESHLER ELZER ROTH VOLAND DIPPEL ?"Pardusin"