As you know, there were 2 Jewish cemeteries in Brzesko: an old one
(currently a parking lot opposite the city hall) and a new one (on
Czarnowiejska Street). The old cemetery was most probably founded in the 17th
century, but after it had been overfilled at the beginning of the 19th century,
tBrzesko Jewish community bought a plot of land for the new cemetery, further
from the city center. You can read more about the history of both cemeteries at
our website, this article is based on Mrs Zawidzka book: https://brzesko-briegel.pl/en/history-of-cemeteries/
But now I would like to share with you some new data I’ve recently
found.
There exists a very accurate map of Brzesko from 1847 (you can find it
at the website szukajwarchiwach.pl), on which both cemeteries are marked.
The map of the new cemetery, which in 1847 occupied a small part of the
present territory, seems particularly interesting. According to Mrs. Zawidzka,
it was not until 1902 that the Brzesko Jewish comminity asked the commune
council to withdraw part of the municipal land adjacent to the cemetery to
increase the burial place, and a year later the entire area of the enlarged
cemetery was fenced with a wall.
As far as I know, it has not yet been established where the pre-burial
house of Brzesko Jews had been located. However, this map of the cemetery from
1847 and the death record of Jakob Lieberman. “a gravedigger in the Jewish
community” indicate that the building could have been inside the cemetery
– as was the case in many Galician Jewish cemeteries.
The map shows a small building marked pink right by the border of the
cemetery, and Jakob Lieberman’s death record (1896) states that he lived in a
house without a number at the cemetery.
Anna Brzyska, March 2020
