The driving force behind the development of the Jewish community was the “Civic Relations Edict” issued by King Frederick William on 11 March 1812. That document, commonly known as the "Emancipation Edict", introduced a fundamental change in the position of Jews in the Kingdom of Prussia, making them partially equal to Christian citizens in legal terms. At the time the edict was issued, six Jewish families lived in Byczyna.

In 1845, 105 Jews lived in the town (5.5% of the total population).

On 23 July 1847, the Prussian authorities passed the "Jewish Relations Edict".

Already in the 1850s, the Jews of Byczyna had their own house of prayer located in a rented room at Schuhmachergasse 2. In April 1875, the venue was abandoned as the building had a new owner. A new synagogue was built near the town wall at what was then Stockgasse 24, the ceremonial opening of which took place on 30 May 1882.

The turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was characterised by an increased emigration of Upper Silesian Jews to larger urban centres within Germany. This was also noticeable in Byczyna.

In 1932, there were 31 Jews living in Byczyna.

Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 significantly changed the situation of the Jewish population in Germany.

In 1936, 18 Jews still lived in Byczyna. On 18 September 1938, a farewell service was held in the local synagogue, which had been sold to a private person two months earlier. Thus, the building was not damaged during the so-called Kristallnacht of 9–10 November 1938. In May 1939, there were three Jews and three people of partly Jewish origin living in the town.

The Description

In 1865, the cemetery of the Jewish Synagogue Community of Byczyna was established in the village of Biskupice. It was located on a vast hill, south of the town, north of the village buildings and east of the railway road and the road to Kluczbork (present Kluczborska Street, ul. Kluczborska). Until its establishment, local Jews buried their dead in Krasków.

The cemetery was built on a plot of 25.50 ares, the purchase of which was subsidised by the city authorities with 90 marks. A rectangular area of approximately 12 ares was designated for the burial space, which was surrounded by a brick wall with two gates. A small funeral home, which was also used as a garage for a hearse, was built on the north side, where a field path led from the main road.

Due to the fact that the death certificates of Jews from the area of Byczyna have not survived until today, e.g. from the first decade of the operation of the cemetery (until 1874), it is not possible to establish the details of the first person buried there. At the moment, the oldest identified tombstone can be found on the grave of Wolf Knoch, who died on 21 January 1875. It is also known that eighty-four-year-old Moses Friedländer, who died on 8 January in Byczyna, was buried there a dozen or so days earlier.

A total of approximately 60 people were buried in the Byczyna cemetery, the last of whom was merchant Max Skop, who died in July 1936.

The most difficult period for the cemetery was the end of the 1930s. In 1937, several tombstones were knocked over and the windows in the funeral home got broken, while in November 1938, most of the stelae still standing were knocked down.

On 4 July 1939, the necropolis became the property of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany, which was represented in that area by its office in Gliwice. At that time, the condition of the cemetery of the former - formally in the process of liquidation and still listed in the land register as the property of the office – municipality of Byczyna was confirmed by the quote of its refurbishment prepared by master mason Alfred Runkel of Kluczbork on 19 July, which was 435 marks. He proposed, among other things, placing the tombstones on concrete mortar, demolishing the damaged funeral home, rebuilding and incorporating its front wall into the fence wall, renovating the funeral home and installing two new metal gates. Although the proposed works were initially commissioned, they were not performed, which, in May 1940, was justified by the Jewish side by the inability to permanently and adequately supervise the necropolis and maintain the potentially achieved effects of the renovation.

Following an agreement of 2 April 1941, the cemetery and its adjoining areas were sold for 100 marks to farmer Robert Peheide from Biskupice. Peheide undertook to keep the graves and tombstones intact – those located only on the western part of the necropolis - for a period of 30 years from the date of his registration as the owner; he offered to clean up the ruins of the building and made it possible for the relatives to visit the graves of their loved ones any time. According to the provisions of the agreement, the buyer did not intend to use the land as an arable land but only to use of the trees growing there and to plant birches on the non-burial part of the cemetery. The agreement did not raise any objections of the authorities and was probably approved quickly.

On 21 January 1942, the President of Regierungsbezirk Oppeln - at the request of the Kluczbork county administrator, and after receiving a positive opinion from the Jewish side - issued a decision to close the cemetery for burial purposes. Being under the care of a new owner, it survived until 1945, in a condition suitable for renovation.

After the Second World War, the cemetery, left unattended, gradually deteriorated, to which the human factor also contributed. In the 1980s, clean-up works were carried out, a new gate was installed and all remaining tombstones were joined and placed in the upright position. The works significantly, but only temporarily, improved the condition of the cemetery. In the period of 2003 to 2009, cleaning works were carried out by young people from local schools.

Approximately 10 tombstones and numerous grave walls in different states of preservation remain in the cemetery. The area is overgrown with lush, feral vegetation and the surrounding wall is partially collapsed.

Author of the note: Sławomir Pastuszka

Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.