In 1865, there were five Jewish residents in Sopot, in 1895 – 38, in 1902 – 99, in 1910 – 86, in 1923 – 3,786, in 1929 – 4,311, in 1939 – 140. They settled in the vicinity of the trade route running along the seashore all the way to Puck. In Sopot itself, the route was located at today's Grunwaldzka Street. Initially, the local Jews worked as innkeepers, but with time they started to build guesthouses, which in turn attracted medical professionals and merchants.

The Jews from Sopot initially belonged to the Jewish community in Wejherowo and used its infrastructure. Ca. 1900, they started to take steps to become an independent kehilla, achieving this goal in the years 1912–1913. In 1913, the statute of the Sopot community was approved, finally confirming its administrative independence from Wejherowo. A house of prayer and a cemetery were opened in the town.

In 1914, a synagogue designed by Adolf Bielefeldt was erected at Roonstraße (currently 1 Dąbrowskiego Street). Its opening ceremony took place on 26 May 1914 with the participation of Doctor Robert Kälter, rabbi from Gdańsk. The side extensions of the synagogue held rooms for storing prayer books, a cloakroom, a circumcision room, and a boiler room. In the years 1925–1928, another outbuilding was constructed. It was used as a ritual bath and an apartment for the caretaker. Two side women’s galleries were also added to the synagogue. The building existed until the "Kristallnacht" – it was set on fire on the night of 12/13 November 1938, but it only burnt to the ground the following night. In the 1960s, a block of flats was erected on the former premises of the synagogue.

The Jewish community in Sopot was initially composed primarily of followers of Reform Judaism, popular among German Jews. However, at the end of the 19th century the town saw an influx of Orthodox Jews from the Polish and Russian lands, who soon began to establish their own houses of prayer. These were situated, among others, on Seestraße (currently 67 Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street), Südstraße (currently 22 Grunwaldzka Street), 5 Pomerschestraße (currently 809 Niepodległości Avenue). Until 1935, there was also a house of prayer in the apartment of Rabbi Abraham Chen on Schulstraße (nowadays Kościuszko Street).

There were several organisations active in the town, including: the Israelite Society for Visiting the Sick and Organising Funerals (Israelitische Krankenpflege- und Beerdigungsverein); the Society of Eastern Jews in the Free City of Gdańsk with Seat in Sopot (Ostjüdischer Verein in der Freie Stadt Danzig, Sitz in Zoppot); Headquarters of the General Jewish Aid (Hauptquartier der Allgemeinen jüdischen Hilfe), in 1925 renamed to the Jewish Care Centre (Jüdisches Wohlfahrtszentrum). After World War I, several Zionist initiatives began its activities: parties such as the Zionist Organisation or Poale-Zion-Left, the Bar Kochba sports club, and youth clubs such as HeHalutz and the Blue-White Association for the Wayfaring of Jewish Youth (Blau Weiss. Bund für Jüdisches Jugendwandern). Until the 1930s, the Sopot community did not have a rabbi. It relied on the services of rabbis commuting from Gdańsk and preachers doubling as religion teachers and synagogue caretakers. It was not until ca. 1937 that Meir Bieler became the first local rabbi.

A Jewish community also existed in Sopot in the post-war period. The first Jews settled there in 1945, about 50 people in total. In the following years, their number fluctuated significantly; in 1946 from 56 to 449 people, in 1947 from 451 to 171. In the years 1948–1949, Sopot had ca. 170 Jewish residents. The Sopot branch of the Central Committee of Polish Jews operated until 1950. The local Jews later formed part of the Jewish community of Tri-City [Trójmiasto]. The community still exists today, belonging to the Gdańsk branch of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland and the Jewish Religious Community in Gdańsk. The year 2012 saw the foundation of the Beit Tri-City Progressive Community. Currently, ca. 100 Jews live in Sopot.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Sopot is one of the few in Pomerania to have been preserved to the present day. It is located at Jacka Malczewskiego Street (originally Große Katzerstraße). It covers an area of 0.5 ha. It was entered in the register of monuments under number 1043 (formerly 894) by decision of 30 November 1983.

The exact date of the establishment of the cemetery is unknown. However, it most probably happened in 1913, because that year the Jewish community bought a plot of land for the cemetery from the town for 10,000 marks and approved its statute. Earlier, the Jews of Sopot had used the necropolis in Bolszewo near Wejherowo; individual burials also took place in the municipal cemetery in Sopot, which was opened in 1878. The Jewish cemetery in Sopot was marked on maps dating back to 1922. It remained in use until the end of 1938. It was partially destroyed during World War II and officially closed in 1948. The process of devastation continued well into the early 1980s. The fence, decorative elements, and tombstones were destroyed.

In the years 1983–1989, the cemetery was revitalised by the city authorities, the conservator of monuments, and the Nissenbaum Family Foundation. The fence and the gate were renovated, about 100 tombstones and a fragment of an ohel were placed at the site. A lapidarium assembled from found fragments of matzevot was built at the end of the main alley. The cemetery was opened to visitors on 13 May 1990.

The cemetery plot has the shape of a trapezoid with an elongated western side. Sections of the original fence have survived in the eastern and western part, later supplemented with concrete elements. Also preserved is a three-span brick gate from the side of Malczewskiego Street. There is an inscription above the middle span reading: “Ze Shaar Elohim” (“Here is the Gate to God”). The cemetery is adjacent the Catholic cemetery from the east and surrounded by a forest on the other sides. The necropolis is divided into two sections by a lane running from the entrance gate, with linden trees growing on the sides. Each section has two regular rows of tombstones facing west. This spatial arrangement is typical of Christian traditions and distinguishes the Sopot necropolis from, for example, the Jewish cemeteries in Gdańsk and Wrzeszcz. About 100 tombstones have survived, including some in the shape of a stele or cut tree trunks made of terrazzo and artificial stone. The monuments often bear inscriptions in two languages, including Polish, German, Russian, and Hebrew. In the southern part of the cemetery there is an elevated platform with stairs on the main axis. Until 1939, it was where the funeral home was located, built in 1922 (the outline of the foundations is visible). The cemetery is a part of the local cemetery complex situated on the slope of the so-called Lisie Wzgórze (Fox Hill). It is adjacent to the Catholic cemetery and the former Evangelical, now communal cemetery.

Author of the note: Tomasz Kawski

Bibliography

• G. Berendt, Żydzi na gdańskim rozdrożu (1945–1950), Gdańsk 2000.
• H. Domańska, Żydzi znad gdańskiej zatoki, Warszawa 2000.
• H. Domańska, “Żydzi w Sopocie,” Rocznik Sopocki 1995.

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