Birthplaces Archive - Page 6 of 9

Bohemia and Moravia, Czechoslovakia

Background

From 1939 to 1945 Bohemia (without the Sudetenland), together with Moravia, formed the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

The capital city of Bohemia was Prague, where 92,000 Jews lived at the outbreak of World War II, making up almost 20% of the city’s population. Prague had one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.

World War II

Of the vast majority of Czech Jews that were imprisoned in the Theresienstadt Ghetto; 80% of those imprisoned there were deported to the concentration camps and extermination camps of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Majdanek, Treblinka and Sobibór. Other Czech Jews were sent directly to death camps.

Aftermath

The Jewish population of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (92,199 Jews in 1939) was virtually annihilated in the Holocaust, with over 78,000 murdered. At least two-thirds of the Jewish population in Prague perished in the Holocaust.

Visiting Bohemia & Moravia

Getting there The regions airport is Prague but its major cities are accessible by international train connections.

Getting around Train connections are good but a car helps to explore the rural areas.

Brno

Synagogue (Agudas Achim; Skořepka Street) The only functioning synagogue in Brno reopened in 1968 and was restored in 2016.

Jewish Cemetery (Židenice): Founded in 1852, it is the largest cemetery in Moravia, containing roughly 9,000 tombstones, a Neo-Romanesque ceremonial hall, and a small group of 17th-century Baroque, tombstones.

Brno was the hometown of Peter Herz, one of the Boys.

Brod

New Jewish Cemetery (Neredice 698) Founded in 1870, it contains over 1,085 tombstones and a 1906 ceremonial hall with a Holocaust memorial.

Brod was the hometown of David Roth, one of the Boys.

Novy Jicin

Jewish Cemetery (Suvorovova Street) Established 1875.

Synagogue (12 Havlíčkova St) During Kristallnacht in 1938, the synagogue was plundered but survived destruction because it was dangerously close to a gas container. Since the late 1960s, it has served as a depository for the State District Archive.

Hakhsharah Farm In 1921, Nový Jičín became the site of the first hakhsharah farm (Zionist agricultural training centre) in Czechoslovakia.

Novy Jicin was the hometown of Michael Honey, one of the Boys.

Ostrava

Jewish Cemetery (Michalské nám. 470,) Established in 1872, this is one of the few remaining Jewish sites.

Memorial There is a Holocaust memorial on the site of the former synagogue (Zeyerova 347).

Ostrava was the home of Lydia Tischler and Jiri Neuman, both members of the Boys.

Pilsen/Plzen

The main Jewish sites are centrally located, within a 5–10 minute walk from the main Republic Square (Náměstí Republiky).

Photograph of Bernard Reil in Old Moat School, 1946. — Bernard Reil in 1946.

Great Synagogue (Sady Pětatřicátníků 35/11) Built in 1893 in a Moorish-Romanesque style, it features twin 45m towers. After a major three-year renovation, it fully reopened in April 2022. The main hall is primarily used for concerts and exhibition. Religious services are held in its Winter Prayer Room or the Old Synagogue.

Old Synagogue (Stará synagoga; Smetanovy sady 80/5) Tucked away in a courtyard near Smetana Park, this is the oldest surviving synagogue in the city (built 1859). It was restored in 2014 and now houses a permanent exhibition on Jewish customs and regional history. There is a Holocaust memorial in the garden inscribed with the names and dates of 2,605 local Holocaust victims.

Old Jewish Cemetery (Lidická St.)

New Jewish Cemetery (Rokycanská St.)

Pilzen was the home of Bernard Reil, one of the Boys.

Bodrogkeresztúr, Hungary

Members of the Boys were born in Bodrogkeresztúr, Hungary.

The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after the war for rest and rehabilitation.

Members of the Boys were held in Nazi labour and concentration camps and used as slave labourers. They had also survived World War II in hiding or as lone children.

Photograph of Bodrogkeresztúr — ^{View of Bodrogkeresztúr.}

Bodrogkeresztúr is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. For more about the region click here. The village is in the Tokaj District, in the northeast of the country. Nestled among vineyards, Bodrogkeresztur was once home to a large orthodox Jewish community.

Photograph of Erno Klein in Kloster Indersdorf, Germany in 1945. — ^{Erno Klein was born in Bodrogkeresztúr.}

The Jewish population of Bodrogkeresztúr was 20% of the town’s total in 1930, with 535 members of the community.

After the German occupation of Hungary on 19 March 1944, the Jews were rounded up on 16-17 April. They were first concentrated in a local ghetto, and then transferred to the ghetto of Satoraljauhely, from where they were deported to Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. To find out more about Auschwitz click here.

Thirty-seven members of the village’s original Jewish community survived the Holocaust, none remain in Bodrogkeresztúr.

Visiting Bodrogkeresztúr

Getting there Bodrogkeresztúr is located about 8km from the town of Tokaj. There is a direct train from Budapest.

What to see

Bodrogkeresztúr (or Kerestir in Yiddish), Hungary, is a significant Hasidic pilgrimage site, drawing tens of thousands annually to the grave of Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner (1851–1925), known for miracles. The town of just 1,000 people has seen up to 55,000 visitors a year, mostly on the anniversary of his death in April. Visitors have caused reported tensions in the village.

In recent decades, family members have worked to build up a Jewish infrastructure in Kerestir. They purchased the family’s home (65 Kossuth Lajos Street) which is a reception centre. They have erected a permanent tent over Reb Shayele’s grave, then bought the building next door to serve as a guesthouse (Sipos köz 3).

Synagogue

The former synagogue is now the tourist information centre.

Cemetery (Bodrogkeresztúr, Kossuth u.) Rabbi Shayeleh Kerestirer is buried in the cemetery.

Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland

Białystok, 198km northeast of Warsaw, is the largest city in north-eastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It had a significant pre-war Jewish population of 43,000 in 1936.

Background

History of the Jewish community of Białystok dates back to the mid-17th century. The local Jewish community grew rapidly. Until World War I, Jews made up 66%-75% of the city’s population, but between the two world wars the proportion of Jews dropped to 50%-60% as the city boundaries were widened to include local villages.

The development the Jewish community was linked to the development of the textile industry in Białystok. In 1850, the first Jewish factory was established, and as early as 1867, about half of the 89 weaving factories were Jewish-owned. The community had a system of Hebrew, elementary and high schools, numerous youth movements and a Yiddish press.

Interwar Years

Jews were active in the political, social and cultural life in Białystok during the Second Polish Republic. Throughout the interwar period, Jews dominated the liberal professions.

The Story of the Boys’ Families: The Hebel Family

(more…)

Białobrzegi, Poland

Białobrzegi is in Poland in the Masovian Voivodship, about 60km south of Warsaw.

Background

Before World War II, Jewish trade in Białobrzegi flourished. In 1937, there were 1,677 Jewish residents, half of whom were Orthodox.

World War II

In the first months of 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in Białobrzegi. The ghetto eventually had a total of 2,865 Jewish residents. The final liquidation of the ghetto was carried out in late 1942, the Jews were taken on a death march to Dobieszyn. Those who reached the town were loaded onto freight wagons, which transported them to the Treblinka extermination camp, where they were immediately murdered in gas chambers.

Present-day

Visiting Białobrzegi

Getting there

Białobrzegi is an hour’s drive from Warsaw. There are also direct trains from Warsaw.

What to see

There is little trace of Jewish life in Białobrzegi. Jewish monuments were destroyed in World War II and not rebuilt.

New Jewish Cemetery (Rzemieślnicza 51) The site is surrounded by a concrete wall and marked with a plaque. The Holocaust memorial is also located here.

Ghetto Location The ghetto covered the entire western part of the town.

Visiting Treblinka

Treblinka

Treblinka was the site of one the Germans’ deadliest extermination camps, and some 800,000-920,000 Jews from ten different countries were murdered here between 1942 and 1943.

Close to the Bug River in remote countryside, Treblinka was chosen for the site of the camp as it was close to the main Warsaw–Białystok railway line. Today, it is a quiet, lonely place which gets few visitors.

Getting there It is much cheaper to visit Treblinka on your own steam. If you do not have a car take a taxi from the station in Małkinia Górna (7km away) and ask the driver to wait. Be sure to arrange the price first. It takes under an hour to see the site. Be aware that the route follows that taken by the trains to Treblinka.

What to see

The site at Treblinka is over 2km long. The main area which was once the extermination camp, Treblinka II, is a short walk from the car park. The labour camp, Treblinka I, is at the other end of the forest complex from the museum and main memorial. It is possible to drive there, where there is a second car park.

There is no need to book in advance to visit Treblinka, access is 24 hours and free.

The Treblinka Museum (open daily; free) is next to the main car park.
Nothing remains of the camp, which is now covered by 17,000 stones, 216 of which are marked with the names of communities destroyed by the mass murder in Treblinka. They stand on the site of the mass graves and buried ashes.

The path from the car park takes you past the memorial. The railway line is marked by stone slabs that lead to the ramp. The path continues behind the main monuments and curves back to the car park and visitors’ centre.

Photograph of the Treblinka Memorial, Poland.

Bełchatów, Poland

Background

Bełchatów is 50km south of Łódź. Jews had lived in the town since the 18th century. On the eve of World War II, the town was home to a Jewish community of around 6,000, who made up nearly half the local population.

World War II

In 1939, Bełchatów was occupied by the Germans during the first week of the war during the Jewish High Holy Days. Antisemitic persecution began immediately, with the destruction of synagogues, looting, and forced labour. Although a formal ghetto was never established, Jews were confined to designated streets and subjected to increasing restrictions. In August 1942, the community was liquidated: approximately 1,000 Jews were deported to the Łódź Ghetto, while around 5,000 were sent directly to the Chełmno extermination camp, where they were murdered on arrival.

Aftermath

No Jewish community was re-established in Bełchatów after the war.

Visiting Bełchatów

Getting there Bełchatów is located in Łódź Voivodeship, 160 kilometres southwest of Warsaw. The nearest station is in Piotrków.

There is little to see of the town’s Jewish heritage.

Synagogue

The Bełchatów synagogue stood at the intersection of Fabryczna and 19 Stycznia (formerly Ewangelicka) St.

Cemeteries

The first Jewish cemetery in Bełchatów was established near the today’s Kempfinowska Street. Thereafter, the necropolis was moved to Lipowa Street, not far away from the Catholic cemetery. Little pieces of the tombstones were used to set up a lapidarium here containing a commemorative plaque. This is the only remaining trace of the large Bełchatów Jewish community.

A huge accumulation of tombstone fragments, used during the Nazi occupation to build a road and bridge on Cegielniana Street in the northern suburb of Bełchatów, was discovered by workers during the bridge’s renovation in 2019. They are currently being catalogued.

Békéscsaba, Hungary

Békéscsaba is in southeastern Hungary.

Background

Jews settled in the city in the 18th century. Before World War II, Békéscsaba had a significant Jewish population, estimated at around 3,000 or 6% of the total population. The town was a major agricultural centre, and Jewish residents were active in economic and cultural life.

After the 1920 Treaty of Trianon imposed territorial changes on Hungary, it lost its largest cities on the Tisza River, among them Arad, Timisoara and Oradea. Békéscsaba became one of the cities that had to take over their role. In the aftermath of World War I, levels of antisemitism increased. Laws dispossessed the Jewish community of their homes and property. Violence against Jewish people and property rose significantly.

From 1941, forced labour was imposed on the Jews.

1944

After the Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944, the Jews of Békéscsaba and the surrounding area were forced into a ghetto. They were then deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in occupied Poland in June 1944.

Aftermath

After the war, 60 survivors from Auschwitz and some 240 from forced labour camps returned to the town.

Present-day

The Jewish community in Békéscsaba is small but still active.

Visiting Békéscsaba

Getting there

Békéscsaba is 208km southeast of Budapest. It takes just over two hours to drive from Budapest. There are also direct trains from Budapest.

What to see

The Neolog Jewish Cemetery The cemetery has graves dating from 1821 and has a memorial to the 5,000 Jews murdered in the Holocaust erected in 2016. The cemetery is near the Békéscsabai New Synagogue.

Former Orthodox Synagogue (Kinizsi utca) The building is marked with a plaque.

Former Neologue Synagogue (Lazar utca) The site is also marked with a plaque.

Starachowice-Wierzbnik, Poland

Jews settled in Starachowice and Wierzbnik in the 18th century. The two towns merged in 1939. The population of 24,500 residents consisted of 13,880 Jews. Polish-Jewish relations were good-neighbourly and local Poles did not take part in the boycott of Jewish businesses in the late 1930s.

The Jewish community was active in civic and commercial life. Surrounded by forests Starachowice was a major timber centre. Plywood factories and saw mills were owned by Jewish families. The Starachowice iron ore works was founded by a Jewish family in the early 20th century but was nationalised when the town became part of the newly created state of Poland after World War I. The factory was an important part of the local armaments industry.

After the arrival of a number of Jews from Russia after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 interest in Zionism began to grow in Starachowice. The town was also a Hassidic centre and there was support for Agudas Israel. Jewish children attended a Hebrew school

Photograph of Howard Chandler — Howard Chandler

Photograph of Harry Wajchandler, 1947 — Howard Chandler

^{Three of the Boys for whom Starachowice-Wierzbnik was home. These pictures were all taken after World War II.}

World War II

The German army occupied Starachowice on 5 September 1939 and persecution of the Jews began immediately.

Many refugees from Łódź arrived in Starachowice swelling the Jewish population, as Łódź was part of Polish territory incorporated into the Third Reich.

A ghetto was set up in Starachowice in 1940. Those fit to work were taken as forced labour to the iron ore works, which was now a key part of the Nazi war effort and later became the Herman Goering Werke. Among them were those who later became members of the Boys. To find out more about the ghetto click here.

The camp had an unusually high survival rate because the SS used a Jewish council to run the camp.

A number of other members of the Boys were also in the camp, including Simon Kalmowitz from nearby Kielce, Salek Benedict from Łódź and Schmul Laskier from Warsaw.

The Starachowice Ghetto was liquidated on 27 October 1942. Those who were not taken into slave labour were taken to the Treblinka extermination camp. About 1500 became slave labourers and 5000 were murdered.

The labour camp was closed in July 1944 and the workforce, which included a number of the Boys, was deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

Aftermath

Some survivors who returned to Starachowice were murdered after the liberation and the vast majority of the survivors left Poland.

Visiting Starachowice-Wierzbnik

Getting there Starachowice is easily accessible from both Warsaw and Kraków via direct train services.

Before World War II, the Jewish population lived mainly in the town of Wierzbnik.

Jewish Cemetery ( 21, Bieszczadzka ul.) Established in 1891,On a hillside off a public road, it contains between 100 and 500 gravestones (matzevot), many with finely smoothed sandstone and Hebrew or Yiddish inscriptions. It is considered one of the best-preserved Jewish cemeteries in the region.

Sosnowiec, Poland

Sosnowiec is an industrial city in southern Poland, not far from the mining town of Katowice. The first Jews settled in the city in the 19th century.

Background

In 1939, about 30,000 Jews lived in Sosnowiec, 20% of the town’s population. Jews were represented in all social classes and active in civic and commercial life as well as in the professions. There was a lively cultural and religious life in Sosnowiec, as well as a strong Zionist movement. In 1926, Jewish merchants created the Merchant Bank, which supported Zionist organisations.

The Story of the Boys’ Families: The Grzrmot Family

Photograph of the Grzmot Family 1939. — Grzmot Family 1939.

Photograph of Motek Grzmot and cousins. — Grzmot Family 1939.

Kalma and Zlata Grzmot were shoemakers who lived in the industrial city of Sosnowiec. They had three sons Motek, Zelek and Benek.

The day before Motek was due to attend his Bar Mitzvah, the family were rounded up and forced to move to a nearby ghetto. Motek, later Monty Graham, was the sole survivor of his family. He came to the UK in the first group of the Boys in August 1945. He had endured slave labour in the Nazi concentration camp system and both a death march and death train. To find out more about his life click here.

World War II

Sosnowiec which was close to the Polish-German border was occupied within days of the German invasion in September 1939. The Great Synagogue was burned down a week later.

Harry Olmer recalls the first year of World War II:

A ghetto was established in March 1943. Many Jews from the surrounding area were brought into the ghetto which was linked to the ghetto in neighbouring Będzin. As an industrial city Sosnowiec played an important part in the German war effort and the Jews in the ghetto were used as forced labourers.

The vast majority of the Jews held in the ghetto, approximately 35,000 people were deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in the summer of 1943.

Although there had been considerable antisemitism before the war and a bomb at been placed in the Jewish owned Hotel Bristol, some local Poles notably offered assistance to Jewish families and among those hidden was Rosa Turek, who came to the UK as part of the first group of the Boys.

As the ghetto was being liquidated the Jewish underground staged an uprising. Most of the 400 Jewish fighters perished.

Present-day

After the war about 700 of the city’s Jews returned but were met with considerable antisemitism. Many survivors from further east settled after the war in the parts of Silesia that had been incorporated into the new Polish state, as there were empty properties that had belonged to the expelled German community.

As Zionist youth movements had played a major role in pre-war Jewish politics and as most survivors were young people, it is not surprising that Sosnowiec became a centre where young survivors gathered before leaving Poland to travel illegally to the British controlled Palestine Mandate.

Visiting Sosnowiec

Getting there Katowice is the closest airport. There are direct trains.

What to See

Great Synagogue (Dekerta Street) The sysnagogue was blown up by the Nazis in September 1939. Today, a covered marketplace stands in its place, with no physical ruins remaining.
Jewish Cemetery (Gospodarcza St) Established in 1893 during a cholera epidemic, it remains an active burial ground managed by the Jewish Community in Katowice. It contains roughly 350–500 tombstones, including a monument to Holocaust victims.
Jewish School A former Jewish school building is located on Wawel Street.

Radom, Poland

Photograph of Jeff Frydman in Windermere in 1945. — Jeff Frydman

Photograph of Bluma Wurzel Urbas in Manchester in 1945. — Jeff Frydman

^{Gershon Frydman and Bluma Urbas were two of the Boys born in Radom. These photographs were taken after World War II.}

In 1938, the Jewish population of 29,745 was 29% of the total residents living in Radom.

The community was involved in local politics and embraced a wide variety of different allegiances from the religious Agudat Israel, Zionist organisations and the secular socialist Bund.

There was a lively Jewish cultural environment in the city with a theatre, literary society and over twenty educational institutions.

Ethnic relations were largely nonviolent prior to the German invasion of Poland but right wing Polish organisations organised boycotts of Jewish business.

Wartime

The German army arrived in Radom on 8 September 1939. With forced resettlements, the city’s Jewish population increased dramatically, reaching about 33,000 by 1942.

In April 1941, the Germans established two ghettos in Radom. Despite the extreme hardship and persecution, the Jews organised a network of self-help organisations and a civilian resistance movement that included clandestine schools and a theatre.

The Germans quickly rebuilt the armaments factories that had been damaged in the invasion and Jews were conscripted as forced labourers.

In the summer of 1942, the Germans liquidated the ghetto. Most of Radom’s Jews, approximately 32,000 people, were murdered at the Treblinka extermination camp. To find out more about the ghetto click here.

About 3,000 remained in Radom as slave labourers. In the summer of 1944, the surviving Jews were deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

Liberation

After the war those Jews who returned to Radom met at the Europejski Hotel. In the summer they numbered 1,198 and had formed a Jewish committee, set up a shelter and a prayer house.

Those survivors who returned to Radom, however, found themselves unwelcome and Polish historians have recorded the murder of at least one of those who returned from camps.

Radom is not far from Kielce, a city that witnessed a pogrom in July 1946 in which 42 Jewish survivors were brutally murdered and 80 seriously wounded. It prompted a mass exodus of Jews from Poland.

By 1947 only 99 Jews remained in Radom. By 1948 that number had shrunk to 30. Nearly all of them left but only after they had erected a monument to the ghetto on the site of the former synagogue.

Present-day

Until the 1960s, a few Jews remained in the city, hiding their Jewish identity, but there are no Jews known to live in Radom today.

Visiting Radom

Getting there Fly to Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport and then take a train or bus.

Radom has a pretty pedestrianised main street but is well off the tourist trail.

Jewish Cemetery (ul. Towarowa) The cemetery contains roughly 300 surviving matzevot (gravestones). It features a lapidarium built in 2010 using recovered gravestone fragments and an ohel (brick tomb) commemorating destroyed Jewish settlements in the region.

Memorial Plaques In 2017, for the 75th anniversary of the ghetto liquidation, plaques were installed across the city to mark former sites of Jewish schools, bakeries, and hospitals.

Ghetto Memorial (Bóżniczna 3) A monument stands where the Great Synagogue (destroyed by the Nazis) once stood, serving as the site for annual commemorative ceremonies.

In 2017, the local council funded the publication in Polish of a Jewish memorial book, The Book of Radom. A small exhibition about the city’s Jewish past accompanied the book launch and a concert was held to commemorate the destruction of the ghetto.

Photograph of Ul. Lubelska, Radom, Poland 1917.

Gorlice, Poland

Gorlice is in southern Poland, close to the Slovak border.

Gorlice Key Facts

Population 1939: 10,000 to 11,000

Jewish population 1939: 4,500 to 5,000

Population 2026: 24,255 to 24,825

Jewish Population 2026: 0

Jews first settled in Gorlice in the 18th century and made a living trading timber, corn and wine. The community grew substantially in the late 19th century after oil was found in the area and Jews owned the local oil refinery.

Pre-war

Jews played a major role in the commercial and civic life of Gorlice. They owned 90% of shops and 30% of craft workshops. There was a rich cultural and religious Jewish life and Gorlice had two synagogues.

In 1939, the Jewish population of Gorlice was 5,000, about half of the total.

Before the war some local Poles organised a boycott of Jewish shops.

Many Jews fled eastwards after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. After the German occupation Jews were immediately excluded from school, using public transport and their businesses were confiscated. The synagogues were closed.

The Story of the Boys’ Families: The Balsam Family

Photograph of Harry Balsam — Harry Balsam

Mozez and Adela Balsam had five children: Danny (b. 1923), Gitel (b. 1925), Sanek (b. 1927) Hersch (later Harry b. 1929) and Joseph (b. 1930). Mozez Balsam was a miller. The family was Orthodox and Moses was the warden of the synagogue.

“In the morning we used to go to elementary school and in the afternoon to cheder. We were brought up speaking two languages, Polish and Yiddish. We were quite well off by local standards. My father was a miller, and we had plenty of flour to bake our own bread. For the Sabbath we used to bake challahs, and if I remember correctly we used to take challahs and give them to our relations living in the same town. I thought we were quite comfortable, but thinking about it today I don’t suppose we were quite as comfortable as I really thought” – Harry Balsam testament. To read the full testament click here.

When the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939, the Balsam family tried to flee. They loaded as many belongings as they could onto their horse and cart and went to the station. Mozez and Danny Balsam boarded a train as the rest of the family threw up their belongings up to them. Then without warning the train started moving away. Moses and Danny were unable to jump off. Adela and her children tried to catch the train at the next station but failed.

Mozez and Danny went to the part of Poland occupied by the Soviet Union. They were deported from wow (now Lviv, in Ukraine) from where they were deported to Siberia where they worked in a mine.

Adela and her children were forced to move from their home into the ghetto that was established in Gorlice in 1940. They had to share two rooms, with five other families.

Sanek Balsam was murdered in front of his brother Hersch.

Adela, Gittel, and Joseph were taken to Bełżec extermination camp, where they were gassed.

Hersh Balsam survived slave labour and came to the UK as part of the First Group of the Boys. To find out more about his life click here.

Wartime

A ghetto was established in Gorlice in 1940. It was liquidated in September 1942, and the vast majority of the Jews in the ghetto were taken to the Bełżec extermination camp.

When the ghetto was liquidated in 1942, some Jews were selected for slave labour. Some including Hersch Balsam, David Hirschfeld, his brother Moniek Hirschfeld and Szjaya Popiel were sent to the Kraków-Płaszów labour camp. To find out more about the camp click here.

Aftermath

After the liberation about 30 Jewish families returned. They found their property had been looted and the cemetery destroyed. Antisemitism made them seek a new future elsewhere.

Pre-war Gorlice

Photograph of the Gorlice memorial at Belzec Memorial and Museum.

Gorlice Memorials

Modern Gorlice

Visiting Gorlice

Getting there

Gorlice is located in southern Poland in the Malopolska region. If using public transport take a train or bus from Kraków.

What to See

Ghetto Location

The ghetto consisted of two separate parts – Dworzysko and Garbarnia – located south of the town square. The former was located within the modern streets: Mickiewicza, Nadbrzeżna, Stroma and Strażacka. It was separated from the part called Garbarnia, located between Nadbrzeżna, Legionów, Rzeźnicza and Ogrodowa streets by Mickiewicza Street, which remained open to non-Jewish passers-by.

Synagogue

Former Great Synagogue (Mickiewicza ul.) The building is a bakery. It bears a commemorative plaque.

Ruined Hasid Synagogue (Strażackiej ul.)

Memorials

A monument on the River Ropa (Rezeźnicaa ul.) commemorates 12 Poles and 20 Jews executed by firing squad by the Gestapo.

The mass grave in the Garbacz forest is marked by a memorial off the 977 road north of the village of Stróżówka.

Cemetery

Jewish Cemetery (Stróżowska ul.) The cemetery contains around 500 headstones and a newer ohel (tomb) for the rabbis of the Halberstam dynasty. There is a Holocaust Memorial shaped like a Star of David, inaugurated in 2021 near the cemetery entrance.