Census records in France

Census records are kept either in the communal archives or departmental archives (I'm not sure if there are any particular criteria that determine whether a particular record is kept in one or the other). The communal archives will be in Gagny, the departmental ones will be in Bobigny. However I don't know if it is possible to search by address.

There is another option, this time searching by address, and that would be to trace documents pertaining to the sale of the property. These would also be found in either of the two sets of archives. You will be able to find the name of everybody who has owned the property since it was built. Naturally for this to work your family members would have to have owned it and not just been tenants.

If they died in the Holocaust, and were Jewish, there is the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine (CDJC) which attempts to collect as much information possible about French Jews of that period.

Anyway good luck on your search. By the way does the address still exist?

Thanks so much for the information and advice, Ian. I'm not sure if the address still exists. In 1938 it was 2 Avenue des Muguets. The street is still there but its name changes to Avenue du Muguets after 5 blocks. According to Google Maps, the addresses on that street are now in the hundreds (200 - 100s). The building may still be there but there don't seem to be any low-numbered addresses anymore.

We know from the letter that they owned a business but we don't know if they rented or owned the building, or if the address was their business, home, or both.

They were Jewish and thank you for reminding me of the Centre. The biggest problem here is that we don't know their last name(s), so I don't know how far I can get.

Even if the address no longer exists, the documentation concerning it will (barring unfortunate circumstances to the archives during war time). I was once interested in finding out the exact date of construction of the building that I am currently living in, and a friend of mine (a notaire) explained the process. It is relatively simple, but slightly time consuming (in that it can't be done in a single afternoon) and there are expenses (not much, maybe about 100 euro if I recall, although that put me off doing it for something that was quite trivial to me).

On the plus side, I think the research can be conducted from a distance (the cost if for administrative fees for the people sending you the info).

Having said that, he told me this some time ago so it's all quite vague in my head.

I am sure that there is information out there concerning your family members, the trouble of course is finding it without that vital piece of information: their surnames.

Again, best of luck in your search.

Thank you again, Ian, for the additional information. I'll continue my search with your suggestions and see where it takes me.

If you can find a larger sized newsstand or bookstore, there are several magazines devoted to genealogy. They will have ads for local folks all over the world, might be worth a few euros to have someone do the legwork beforehand for you.

Thank you, phred, that's a great suggestion. I'll look into that.