It is possible that they came to the town after the great fire of 1350, contributing their capital to its reconstruction. During this period, the first Jewish quarter may have been established. It covered the southwestern part of the city. Its boundaries were approximately the present-day streets: Sikorskiego, Spichrzowa, Młyńska and Wodna. A cemetery, synagogue and mikveh, which the community needed, were probably also built. How the district was organised is not known. It is mentioned as late as 1557, when there were no more Jews in the town. Their expulsion from the March, and thus from Gorzów, took place in 1510. They were accused of profaning the host. The Jewish quarter was settled by Christians, who adapted it to their needs. For example, they changed the ritual bath located at the city wall into a public bath.

The official return of the Jews to Brandenburg took place on 21 May 1671. Elector Frederick William then issued an edict lifting the banishment. However, older documents indicate they had temporarily appeared in Gorzów in 1649.

The 17th-18th centuries were a reasonable period for the Jewish community in the town. Gorzow became the third-largest concentration of Jews in Brandenburg - after Frankfurt (Oder) and Berlin. Their organisational skills and entrepreneurship were valued, and they were employed as so-called Hofjuden (court Jews). The court factor was Israeli Aaron, who settled in Gorzów. In 1667, he bought a large house at 12 Luisenstraβe (today’s Łużycka Street (Polish: ul. Łużycka)), which became the main centre of the Jewish community until the synagogue was built.

The synagogue was built in 1752, in the centre of the medieval quarter, possibly on the site of a previous synagogue. We do not know how it looked like. In 1851, it was demolished, and on 13 November 1854, the newly built one was solemnly consecrated. It had 150 places for men and 135 for women. An inscription in Hebrew and German was placed above the entrance: “My house is to be a house of prayer for all nations”. Since 1866, there has been a religious school there. After gaining full rights in the 19th century, the social importance of Gorzów Jews increased. Many contributed to the city’s economic and cultural elite.

Germany’s loss in World War I spoiled good German-Jewish relations, and the world crisis of 1929 brought significant unemployment to Gorzów. In an atmosphere of growing hostility, anti-Semitic propaganda and physical attacks by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party members forced Jews to withdraw from public life. A boycott of Jewish shops and offices began, and a seizure process of Jewish property. During the Kristallnacht (9 November - 10 November 1938), the SA units set fire to the synagogue. The burnt-out building was sold to the Moritz company in December 1938. The remains of the walls were demolished in the 1950s. Today, a multi-family building stands at 4 Łazienki Street (Polish: ul. Łazienki); a commemorative stone with the inscription “Synagogue 1854-1938” has been unveiled nearby. The act of destruction of the synagogue in 1938 was described by the German writer Christa Wolf in her book Patterns of Childhood. Her book is a treasure trove of knowledge about pre-war Landsberg, where she lived until 1945. According to a census conducted by the Germans in May 1939, 97 Jews lived in Gorzów. It is assumed that the last Jews of Gorzow were deported from the city in 1942. Gorzów became a Judenrein (“area cleansed of Jews”) for the second time.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Gorzów Wielkopolski is the oldest preserved necropolis in the city. It is located on Gwiaździsta Street (Polish: ul. Gwiaździsta), although the entrance leads through the workshop area from Słoneczna Street (Polish: ul. Słoneczna). In 2006, it was entered in the register of historical monuments under No. L-194A. In 2008, it was taken over by the Union of Jewish Religious Communities of Poland (Polish: Związek Gmin Wyznaniowych Żydowskich RP). The cemetery is 0.72 ha.

The earliest mention of the existence of a cemetery dates from 1723, but it was probably already functioning in the second half of the 17th century. It may have been founded on the site of a medieval cemetery, of which we know nothing. The sandy soil made it possible to dig graves at any time of the year, the mountainous terrain protected against flooding. The topography of the cemetery was, and still is, characterised by a rugged ravine planted with a line of chestnut trees, compared to the biblical valley of Jehoshaphat. The oldest preserved tombstone dates back to 1759. (Mordechaj Nojen, the oldest known rabbi of Landsberg). The last (?) burial took place in 1936; in 1942, the cemetery was closed.

The layout of the individual quarters and alleys remains legible. Between 1815-1835, the northern part of the cemetery (the oldest) was fenced with a preserved fieldstone wall. The southern part, fenced with a grid, was acquired later. A preserved pre-burial house was also built in the middle of the 19th century. Despite the changes to the façade, the frieze of Stars of David running under the roofline has been preserved. The corners of the building are topped with turrets ending in a spire. The form of these ornaments is reminiscent of similar decorations on the Gorzów synagogue, which no longer exists. In 1927, a house for the cemetery administrator was built in the immediate vicinity, which was also used as a pre-burial house when necessary.

The cemetery survived the war in good condition; only since 1945 has been systematically devastated. In the 1980s, the pre-burial house was converted into a workshop. In the 1990s, the first rescue attempts were made. The cemetery area was cleaned up thanks to funds from former Gorzów inhabitants and PHARE. A lapidarium was created, and the cemetery gate was reconstructed, into which a commemorative plaque with an inscription was embedded: “Let this stone be a witness” (in Hebrew, German and Polish). Today, 10 magnificent tombs of wealthy Jewish families have survived in the cemetery (near the wall, on the western side), about 50 matzevot are whole, 23 broken and 92 grave borders.

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