In 1772, Krosno fell under the Austrian rule. During this period, the prohibition on settling was no longer enforced, and one of the tenement houses belonged to a Jew.

In the second half of the 19th century, when the bans were finally lifted, there was a significant influx of Jewish people to Krosno, especially from nearby towns and villages, in pursuit of work and better living conditions. The development of the city in this period was associated with the discovery and exploitation of oil deposits, as well as the opening of a railway connection in 1884.

An independent Jewish community in Krosno was established only in 1900. Previously, the local Jews were subordinated to the commune in Korczyn, and the dead were buried at, among others, the cemetery in Rymanów. In a short time, a synagogue was built, which also housed a ritual bath, the manager's apartment, a beth midrash and office rooms for the commune management.

The interwar period saw further development of Krosno. Many new enterprises were established, and natural gas extraction was launched. At that time, Jews owned 55 industrial and craft plants. There were charitable associations, a Bet Jaakow school for girls called, the Guild of Jewish Craftsmen and the Association of Jewish Handicraftsmen 'Yad Charuzim.' Traders were associated in the Merchants' Association, there was also a Merchants and Industrialists' Bank and a People's Bank.

In 1938, there were 2729 Jews living in Krosno. This year, an anti-Jewish incident took place in the city, when a group of Christian youth destroyed the premises of the 'Makabi' Sports Club and broke the windows of one of the Jewish houses.

After the outbreak of World War II, Krosno was incorporated into the General Government by the Germans. Approximately 500 Jews, displaced from the Reich and refugees from the west, came to the town. At first, the Germans devastated the synagogue, expelled some of the Jews to Sanok, and relocated others to the ghettos in Brzozów, Jasienica Rosielna, Jasło, Korczyn, Rymanów and Nowy Żmigród. In Krosno itself, they set up a Judenrat.

In 1942, the first displacement operation took place, during which the Germans deported the Jewish population to the German Nazi extermination camp in Bełżec; they shot the elderly and sick in the nearby forest. It was then that a ghetto fenced with barbed wire was established, which included Franciszkańska street, and was bordered by streets Sienkiewicza and Spółdzielcza. The liquidation of the ghetto took place in the same year. The prisoners were then sent to the ghetto in Rzeszów, and the others were sent to the German Nazi extermination camp in Bełżec. The few who remained in the city were rounded up and shot in several spots, including the local Jewish cemetery.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Krosno was established in approx. 1870 on the hillside; it is now the corner of Władysława Sarny and Seweryna Goszczyńskiego streets. The necropolis was vandalised by the Germans during the occupation; matzevas were removed for construction purposes. In 1946, some of the tombstones used for construction of the nearby houses were recovered. In 1988, thanks to the Nissenbaum Foundation, the fence was repaired and initial cleaning works were carried out. Further cleaning works took place in 2002 thanks to the efforts of the 'Olszówka' Association.

In 2009, in the north-eastern part of the cemetery, a mass grave was identified, in which Jews murdered during the war were buried, including the last rabbi of the town, Samuel Ozon Führer. A matzeva with an epitaph in Hebrew was installed on the grave.

In the Jewish cemetery in Krosno, there is a row arrangement of burials with a division into men's and women's sections. Today, over 200 matzevas have been preserved. Most of them were made of sandstone, with symbols characteristic of Jewish tradition and inscriptions in Hebrew. Among the more interesting monuments is the one resembling a broken tree, belonging to Bernard Münz.

Author of the note: Magda Lucima

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