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Jewish cemetery - Zabytek.pl

Jewish cemetery


Jewish cemetery Biała Rawska

Address
Biała Rawska, Polna

Location
woj. łódzkie, pow. rawski, gm. Biała Rawska - miasto

The locality was founded in 1544 by the noble Firlej family on the basis of the privilege granted by King Sigismund I the Old.

Located on the premises of the village of Laskowice, it remained the centre of the noble domain until the 19th century. The first mention of the presence of Jews in Baranów dates back to 1621, although it is possible that they had appeared there earlier. In the 1620s, 30 Jewish craftsmen were already present in the town, including two tailors, four shoemakers, three butchers, four bakers, and four petty traders. The mid-century warfare wreaked havoc in the town, leaving only a dozen or so Jews in Baranów; they made up 5% of the total population (1676). At the beginning of the reign of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, the entire Baranów Municipality had a population of 170 people. 

The rule of the last Polish monarch marked a growth in the number of Jews living in Baranów. In 1777, the town was inhabited by 77 Jews among 380 residents – over 20% of the entire population. The Jewish community included 20 landowners who dealt with tailoring, hat-making, and leasing (there was also one farmer). In 1790, there were 99 Jews living in Baranów itself and 146 in the entire municipality. At the end of the 18th century, the followers of Judaism working the land in the area were freed from the obligation to perform labour as serfs and instead had to pay a rent. At that time, Jews became the second most numerous national group in the town. This state of affairs is reflected in the municipal records, which started to include ever more frequent references to Jewish-owned properties. The Jews of Baranów made a living from trade, crafts, and renting inns in the town and neighbouring villages. They were actively involved in the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. They lived mainly near the Market Square and to its west and south (erstwhile Bóżniczna and Rybna Streets). 

The first, wooden synagogue in the town was built in the 17th century; it is mentioned in documents dating back to 1861. The community erected a new synagogue at the end of the 19th century. The new temple, also made of wood, was located to the south of the Market Square. With the opening of the new synagogue, the old one probably began to serve as a beth midrash. 

In the 19th century, the Jewish population of the town was quickly growing in size. In 1819, there were 370 Jews among the 1,020 inhabitants of Baranów (36%), in 1827 – 640 among 1,450 (44%), in 1856 – 950 among 1,800 (53%). At the end of the century, they already constituted more than a half of the population of the town (59% in 1897). According to preserved documents, in the 1880s Jews acquired a portion of the land forming part of the Baranów domain, which had been parcelled out and sold by its erstwhile owner. 

World War I brought significant damage to the area, which resulted in a decrease in the size of Baranów’s population. According to the 1921 census, the first carried out in reborn Poland, the town was inhabited by 1,900 people, including over 1,000 Jews (54%). The Jewish community fell into decline in the 1920s, primarily due to the fires ravaging the town and the ongoing economic crisis. It was only able to slowly get back on its feet with the support from charitable institutions, including the Joint (American-Jewish Joint Distribution Committee). The economic situation of the community began to deteriorate again in the subsequent decade, partially due to the growing competition from Polish merchants and craftsmen. 

Baranów boasted local divisions of numerous Jewish political parties, with greatest popularity enjoyed by Zionist organisations. On the eve of World War II, it was estimated that the Jewish community of Baranów comprised ca. 1,200 people. 

After the outbreak of World War II and the German invasion of the town, the occupiers initially did not establish a ghetto in Baranów. However, Jews were forbidden to live in the centre of the town. In 1940, several hundred Jews from Warsaw and Puławy were resettled to Baranów; as a result, the Jewish population increased to ca. 1,900 people. A ghetto was probably only established in the second half of 1941 and remained an open district. It was liquidated by the Germans in May 1942. A group of 500 young, physically fit Jews was sent to labour camps, while the rest of the Jewish community was rushed on foot to Dęblin, from where they were transported by rail to the Nazi German extermination camp in Sobibór. A small group of Jews took refuge in the ghettos of Adamów, Kamionka, and Końskowola, but they eventually shared the tragic fate of their inhabitants. It is estimated that ca. 25 Jews from Baranów survived the Holocaust. 

The area of the Jewish cemetery is situated ca. 300 metres south-east of the Market Square, at the junction of Czołnowska and Słoneczna streets, at the border between developed urban area and fields. Today, the necropolis covers an area of ca. 0.9 hectare (before the war it was 3 hectares). It has an irregular shape, adjusted to the low slope on the western side of the road to Czołna. 

The cemetery was probably founded in the first half of the 17th century, but the oldest documented information about it comes from 1724, when its area was expanded. The existence of the necropolis is confirmed by a Russian military map issued in 1839–1840. Before World War II, the area of the cemetery was enlarged again and surrounded with a board fence. A building housing the pre-burial house was located by the gate in the north-eastern corner of the necropolis. In the 1930s, the cemetery was desecrated by anti-Semites. It suffered further destruction during the German occupation. After the war, the remaining tombstones were plundered by the inhabitants of the town and used as building material. The area was eventually ploughed and turned into farmland. In the 1970s, a local teacher and his pupils planted trees and grass in the cemetery area. The boundaries of the cemetery remain visible from the north, east, and west. The southern border, however, extended much farther than suggested by the current shape of the plot. Only four gravestones has survived.

Description copyright owner: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews

Category: Jewish cemetery

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_10_CM.13847, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_10_CM.34911