According to the census of 1765, 468 people of the Jewish faith lived in the vicinity of Chrzanów and Trzebinia.

In 1815, when Trzebinia became part of the Republic of Kraków, an independent religious commune was established and land for a cemetery was officially purchased. Previously, the Jews of Trzebinia probably belonged to the Olkusz kahal. However, already at the end of the 18th century they strived to become independent. Then, among other things, they built a small synagogue and informally founded a necropolis.

The Jewish community at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries had four synagogues, a mikvah and a ritual slaughterhouse. Jews were mainly engaged in trade and distilling, and the first social organisations were created. In the interwar period, 513 Jewish families lived in Trzebinia and nearby towns. There was a noticeable decline in the popularity of the Orthodox in favor of new trends, including Zionism.

After the outbreak of World War II, Trzebinia was occupied by the Germans, who started mass and individual executions and persecution of Jews. The Trzebinia ghetto was not established, but the occupation authorities removed Jews from many streets. In 1942, Jews from Trzebinia were sent to the ghetto in Chrzanów, and from there to the German Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Trzebinia was officially established in 1815, although burials there had probably been taking place since approx. 1780. It was located next to the Pukawiec stream, which does not exist today, on a plot in the shape of an elongated rectangle. It is currently located at Słowackiego street, opposite the exit of Szymanowskiego street.

In 1902, the necropolis was fenced and a pre-burial home was built. Unfortunately, the site was severely devastated during the Second World War. At that time, Holocaust victims were buried here in mass graves, including Jews from the labor camp 'beyond the tracks.'

In the late 1980s. the abandoned cemetery was visited by Zelig Rabinowicz, one of the descendants of the Jews of Trzebinia, with his family. Moved by the condition of the necropolis, he appealed to the Committee of Trzebinia Citizens in Israel. In the following years, renovation works began, during which the wall was rebuilt, a gate was added, the wall of the no longer existing pre-burial home was secured and the ohel was renovated. In 1990, a monument in the form of a broken matzeva with a Star of David was erected in honor of those murdered in the years 1939–1945.

The Jewish cemetery in Trzebinia preserves approximately 600 tombstones made of sandstone, limestone, granite, marble and terrazzo, with typical decorations and inscriptions in Hebrew and German. There is a clear division into four quarters, including one intended for children and women, to the left of the entrance gate. On the right side there was a men's quarter along with a separate place where rabbis and important members of the community were buried. There is an ohel in which local tzaddks are buried: Chaim Israel Kluger, Israel Chaim Kluger, Simon Moshe Jon Levi and Chaim Abraham Levi. The oldest preserved tombstone dates back to 1780, while the last known funeral took place there in 1942.

Author of the note: Magda Lucima

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