Tag: Jewish cemeteries

Untangling the three Waldheim Cemeteries

The dead buried in Forest Park, Illinois (population 14,300) have been estimated at over 600,000  souls , possibly as much as one million, most of which are in one of three Waldheim cemeteries. Also in Forest Park is Concordia Lutheran Cemetery, Altenheim, and Woodlawn Cemetery.

There are thousands of Cook County deaths certificates simply marked “Waldheim” (German for forest home). If you are doing your family genealogy and run into one of these death certificates, you may be unsure as to which Waldheim is your correct one. It is a question I get often.

The answer is even more complex than the title of this story. There are basically three cemeteries BUT actually over 270 separate burial grounds, that can be considered Waldheim., all in Forest Park, Let me explain.

Continue reading “Untangling the three Waldheim Cemeteries”

Over 260 Cemeteries Within ONE Cemetery

jewish waldheimfixed

Of all the Chicago area cemeteries that I have researched in the last twenty-five years, Jewish Waldheim in Forest Park, a suburb west of Chicago,  has proven to be the most fascinating and complex. Whether or not you  are Jewish,   I promise that this will be a fascinating topic.

The people buried here, for the most part, represent the amazing and touching stories of Jewish emigrants who discovered the old Maxwell Street neighborhood as a gateway to a new world of freedom and unlimited opportunity. Chicago once had the third largest Jewish population of any city in the world. By 1930 there were 300,000 Jews representing 9% of the  population. They came primarily from Germany, Poland, Russia and Eastern Europe to seek a better life.

Jewish Waldheim  became one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the world,  a patchwork of over 260 separate cemeteries within one large complex with different owners, rules, regulations, prices and appearance. There are now over 175,000 burials, possibly approaching 200,000. Continue reading “Over 260 Cemeteries Within ONE Cemetery”