The Independent Mezricher Association (f.l907), is a landsmanshaft of Cleveland, Ohio-area Jews whose origins are in the community of Miedzyrzec, Poland. Jews lived in this town as early as the 16th century. (The anglicized versions of the name that the Jewish residents gave to this community include: Mezrich, Mezritch, Mezeritz, Meseritz, Messirch, Mizarch and Mezrich.) In l939, before the Germans took over, the community was, for a short time, controlled by Russians. After the war approximately 100 former residents of Mezrich who had managed to survive the Holocaust returned to their community but soon left again due to the hostility of the local population and their own memories of the past. Today there are no Jews in this community but there are Mezrichers (or descendants of Mezrichers) who left before World War II or who survived the Holocaust, in many parts of the world. The Independent Mezricher Association is a voluntary organization that maintains cemetery plots for members' families, sponsors social events, maintains contact with other Mezricher groups and contributes to the Israeli Mezrich Center, as well as other projects, in Israel.
The Independent Mezricher Association Records, (l917-l986), consist of minutes (l964-l986), correspondence, financial statements, a cemetery account book, membership lists, newspaper clippings, commemorative booklets, as well as a constitution and one map.
This collection pertains primarily to the history of the voluntary associations of the members of the Jewish community of Cleveland, Ohio. It will be of particular value in the study of Jewish landsmanshaften. In addition, names and addresses of members included in the collection may be helpful in studies relating to immigrant-generation origins and/or residential location of Cleveland Jews.
The collection is arranged by document type and then chronologically. It is maintained in four folders.
Processed by Nancy F. Becker in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4234 Independent Mezricher Association Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Jack Rosenberg, l987.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.