Birnbaum

Long before the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery existed, the earliest Jewish settlers in Quebec bought land in Trois-Rivières and what is now Old Montreal to bury their dead.
Jews are obliged by their faith to absorb the costs of burying their indigent dead, and this became a major problem at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Jewish community, overwhelmed by rapid growth and immigration, appealed to Baron Maurice de Hirsch for aid. Hirsch was a European philanthropist whose donation became the basis of the Baron de Hirsch Institute and the starting point for community support for the quick and the dead.

In 1892, the Baron De Hirsch Affiliated Cemeteries (formerly United Hebrew Cemeteries) were established.
The 1900 charter of the Baron de Hirsch Institute empowered the cemetery to ‘provide a burial ground for the interment of the dead poor.’
The cemetery was founded in 1905, when room began to run out to bury the poor at the previous burial space – the Back River Cemetery, which is near the Sauvé Metro station.
After several years of efforts, the current site was found in what was then known as Cote des Neiges West, located near a stop for the old Park and Island Railway.

Baron de Hirsch Cemetery records are available online on the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR).