The early appearance of Jews in Kazimierz should be associated with the favorable location of the city. It developed mainly thanks to the Vistula, used as a grain transport route to Gdańsk. The location on the trade route leading from the eastern territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as well as Lithuania and Ukraine towards the west was also very important.

The Jewish quarter in Kazimierz was called 'Na Tyłach' (lit. 'at the back'). It developed around a separate market square (Small Market Square) and along Lubelska street. It was probably there that the first wooden synagogue was built around the middle of the 16th century. Currently, in its place there is, a stone building from the second half of the 18th century, the fourth of its kind built there.

In 1655, Kazimierz Dolny was destroyed by the Swedish army, which murdered almost all members of the community. The later revival of the Jewish community was facilitated by a document of King Jan III Sobieski from 1676, which granted Jews privileges and relief for running a business. The ruler also forbade the city authorities from persecuting them, under a penalty of heavy fines. The Jewish community, which was rapidly becoming richer, gradually began to push Christians out of the tenement houses around the market square. Serious conflicts have occurred between these groups on more than one occasion, most of which have played out on economic grounds.

The rights and privileges of the Kazimierz Jews were reconfirmed in 1717. Thanks to this, the commune quickly recovered from the destruction brought by the Third Northern War (1700–1721).

In 1771, King Stanisław August Poniatowski made local Jews equal with other citizens from legal perspective. He allowed them to buy land and build houses throughout the city, as well as to trade freely. This contributed to the economic revival of the city.

As a result of the third partition of the Republic of Poland in 1795, Kazimierz Dolny found itself in the Austrian partition, in 1809 within the Duchy of Warsaw, and from 1815 in the Kingdom of Poland.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Hasidic movement appeared in the city, and the tzadik Ezekiel ben Tzvi-Hirsh Taub, a disciple of the Seer from Lublin, established his court here. In 1869, Kazimierz lost its city rights, which were only restored in 1927. This was related to tsarist repressions after the January Uprising in 1863. By contrast, between 1880s and 1905, Mordechaj Twerski, son of Abraham Magid from Murzysko, a representative of the Hasidic dynasty from Chernobyl, lived in the town. In 1907, out of approximately 3,000 inhabitants of Kazimierz, Jews made up 89% of the population.

The outbreak of World War I caused the destruction of urban buildings and a decline in population. However, in the interwar period, there was a rapid expansion of the tourist network in Kazimierz Dolny and dynamic socio-cultural development of the Jews. At that time, numerous villas, guesthouses and a hotel were built here. The Jewish community operated, among others, a bathhouse and ritual slaughterhouse. A Jewish library, Makabi and Sztern sports clubs, and private schools were established, and Zionists created a strong organisation. In 1927, in the entire local commune, i.e. in Kazimierz and the surrounding villages, there were approximately 2,300 Jews. In this picturesque scenery, two leading films of Polish Yiddish cinema were shot in the 1930s: Der Dibuk (Yiddish: Dybuk) and Yidl mitn fidl (Yiddish: Yudel plays the violin).

After the outbreak of World War II, Kazimierz Dolny became a part of the General Government. Already in 1939, the Jewish police and the Judenrat were established, and all Jews aged 14-60 were subject to forced labor. The occupation authorities also forced them to wear armbands with the Star of David and mark their businesses with this symbol.

In 1940, the German occupier created a ghetto at Lubelska and Mały Rynek streets, to which - apart from the inhabitants of Kazimierz - Jews from nearby villages and Puławy were also relocated. The high mortality rate was caused by the crowded conditions, hunger, and typhus epidemic. Many Jews died in executions as well. In 1942, during the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans took approximately 3,000 prisoners from here to the transit camp in Opole Lubelskie, and then to the German Nazi extermination camp in Bełżec. Few survived the war, including Berek Cytryn.

The Description

The first Jewish cemetery in Kazimierz Dolny was established at the end of Lubelska street below the Sitarz Hill, probably at the turn of the 15th century. It operated until the mid-19th century, although in 1792 the Police Commission of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth issued a regulation on closing necropolises located in built-up areas. The tomb of the tzadik Ezekiel ben Tzvi-Hirsch Taub, buried here, was revered by pilgrims.

The cemetery was destroyed by the Germans during the occupation of World War II. The tombstones were used to pave the streets and harden the area near the Reformanti Monastery. The final closure took place in the 1950s.

Only fragments of the upper part of the former cemetery have survived to this day, with fragments of tombstones. Bones and even entire skeletons appear from time to time in the surface of a steep slope created by excavation of the earth due to erosion. The largest part of the former cemetery is occupied by the school playground, and the main trace of its existence is a monument in the form of a tombstone, located adjacent to the  Lubelska street.

Author of the note: Magda Lucima

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