Before the war, the majority of Brzesko’s Jewish community consisted of Orthodox Jews. In 1909, 17 of them met so that to establish “The Society for Hasidic Torah Study”.
Such associations operated in many Galician towns. For example, in Kraków’s Kazimierz district on Józefa Street, you can still see a building that belonged to such an association, with its name on the front wall.
The main objective of this organization was to organize, support, and promote regular, daily studies of the Torah and the Talmud. The members committed to setting aside fixed times of the day for learning.
These 17 people became the founders of the new Brzesko Association. They drafted the Statute, which was approved in August 1909 by the Imperial-Royal Lieutenancy (C.K. Namiestnictwo) in Lviv. The Statute signed by all the founding members of the Association is kept in the Lvivi archive.
“The association is named Kovea Itim LeTorah DeChasidim /The Association of Torah Studies for Hasidim/ and has its seat in Brzesko.
The purpose of the association is to create a common place of study for its members to study the Talmud, Mishna, Kabbalah, and other Hebrew studies, where a prayer /service/ is to take place every morning and evening, along with the exposition and reading of the Torah.” (From the Statute of the Association.)
I would like to say at least a few words about some of these people (the fragments of the inscriptions from the tombstones are italicized — as many as 6 of them have survived).
Jakob Leib Zimet (1880–1935).
Before the war, Jakob Leib Zimet and his wife Rifka (née Braun) lived in
Brzesko on Głowackiego Street together with their 10 children. (Two more of
their children died in infancy). Jakob Leib was a merchant; on the ground floor
of his tenement house (current address: 8 Głowackiego Street), he ran a grocery
store, while the family lived upstairs. This is how his youngest daughter, Sara
Malka, remembered her father:
“My parents always took care of the whole extended
family and gave them groceries from the shop. Mother opened the shop early in
the morning. Father came to the shop later, after finishing his morning prayer
and Torah study…
Throughout his life, my father combined the Torah with work. He woke up every
day at 4:00 AM to study the Torah, and at 8:00 AM he came to the shop. He was
highly respected in the town, took care of the needs of the Jewish community,
and was a town council member…” (From the memoirs of Sara Malka Shulevich,
née Zimet, shared by the family.)
Jakob Leib Zimet died in his house, surrounded by his wife and children, on July 26, 1935, as a result of kidney failure. A matzevah with an exceptionally moving inscription still stands on his grave.
Here lies
A crown of good name
A man of dear spirit and wise knowledge, the Rabbi
The governor, the fearing and exalted in Chassidut
And ascetism, he sanctified himself with permissible
Things, a branch from the trunk of holy men,
Our teacher, Mr Yaakov Arie and in his last days he added
To his name the name Zeev, son of the rabbi, respected man, the exalted
In the Torah Mr Pinchas Yitzhak of blessed memory, descendant of the rabbi, the Gaon
The Tzadik in the Torah’s holiness, our teacher Yosef Asher
From Przemyśl and of the Rabbi, the holy Gaon in the Torah’s holiness
Mr Yaakov Grunwald, the son-in-law of the Rabbi, the holy Gaon
Head of all those in exile, rabbi Shmelke from Nikolsburg [Mikulov], may the Tzadik’s memory be blessed for life in the world to come. He died at the age of 55
Years on the evening of the holy Shabbat after midnight on 25 Tamuz
5695 [July 26, 1935]. May his soul be bound in the bundle of life
(Deciphering the Hebrew inscription and its translation into English by Yossi Elran)
Moses Dawid Teller (1884–1931)
Moses Dawid Teller was also a merchant. He was born in Rzepiennik and most likely moved to Brzesko after marrying Sara Scheindel Zinger. The couple had only one child, a daughter named Rifka, who died at the age of 2. Unfortunately, Moses Dawid contracted pneumonia and also died young, at the age of just 46.
Efraim Templer (1863–1938)
The Talmudist Efraim Templer was a grandson of Rabbi Pinkas Templer. He lived on Berka Joselewicza Street, which was also the location of his house of prayer. He died in 1938 and is buried alongside his father and grandfather in the ohel at the Brzesko Jewish cemetery.
The crown of Torah
The crown of good name
Here lies
Our master, teacher and Rabbi, the righteous Gaon, the famous, holy light, chasid and ascetic, in Torah and Mitzvot
Efraim, may the Tzadik’s memory be blessed, son of the Gaon, the Tzadik, Rabbi Baruch, president of the holy rabbinical court in
Rzepiennik and grandson of the Holy Gaons Rabbi Alexander Yaakov,
President of the holy rabbinical court in Wielkie Oczy, and the Gaon, holy Tzadik, Rabbi and teacher Pinchas
And the Gaon, holy Tzadik, rabbi and teacher Matityahu from here
And a scion of the stern of
The holy Gaons, Authors of the “Tvuot Shor” [book by Rabbi Alexander Sander Shor] and the “Siftei Cohen” [book by rabbi Shabtai Cohen] and the rabbi Moshe Isserles [of Kraków], may their memory be blessed, may their merits protect us and the entire Israel
From his youth until his day of death he did not move from the tent of
Torah and worship and all his holy thoughts were
Full of work in the wisdom of the holy Torah and he understood in depth the truths of
The Torah and he left after him a blessing of very many holy books
In all the disciplines of the Torah and with this he came to his sanctuary
Great was his fear of G-d and his piousness, And his soul was
As dust (of the earth) for he never wanted to gain anything for himself from the crown of the Torah
He was a faithful disciple of our Holy Rabbi, author of the Divrei
Yeheskiel [Yecheskel Shraga Halberstam] of Sieniawa and his pure soul rose
In holiness and purity ____ on 20 of Shevat 5698 [January 22, 1938]
May his soul be bound in the bundle of life
(Deciphering the Hebrew inscription and its translation into English by Yossi Elran)
Pinkas Templer (1868–1936)
Pinkas Templer was named after his great-grandfather, Rabbi Pinkas Templer, whose matzevah can be seen in one of the two ohels at the Brzesko Jewish cemetery. He married Cyrla Perla Landau, and between 1896 and 1910, they had ten children. He was a sofer—a “writer of the 10 commandments,” as his profession was described in his children’s birth records.
Around 1917, the family emigrated from Poland: Pinkas and Cyrla Perla entered into a civil marriage in Vienna in 1917, and at least four of their children started families in Slovakia. Pinkas died in Slovakia in 1936 and is buried at the Jewish cemetery in the town of Dunajská Streda.
Moses Dawid Landau Jr. (1868–1942)
Moses Dawid Landau Jr was born in Brzesko in 1868. He married Reisel Marjem Stimler. The couple settled on Głowackiego Street (current address: 9 Głowackiego Street), they had 8 children. Moses Dawid ran a men’s clothing store on the ground floor of the tenement house; the family lived upstairs. His wife died in 1927; Moses Dawid was murdered in the Shoah.
Gecel Gunzig (1884–1942)
Gecel Gunzig was a great-great-grandson of the highly renowned Krakow Rabbi, Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (1754–1823). You can read about the Brzesko descendants of this rabbi in a separate article on our website: https://brzesko-briegel.pl/en/news/brzesko-descendants-of-rabbi-kalonimos-kalman-epstein/
Gecel married Perla Kapel, the daughter of a Dayan (rabbinical judge) from Brzesko; they had four children. Before the war, the family moved from Brzesko to Krakow. In 1940, they lived at 12 Wąska Street. At the beginning of 1941, they were all ordered to be displaced from Krakow to Brzesko. Most likely, they returned to their hometown and – like the majority of Brzesko Jews – were deported to Bełżec and murdered there in 1942. There remain only photographs preserved in the archives of the Central Jewish Library.
Jozef Gunzig (1850–1928)
Jozef Gunzig was Gecel’s father. He was born in Krakow and moved to Brzesko after marrying Rudel Abusch, a great-granddaughter of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Epstein. He died in 1938 at the age of 78, but his wife lived for more than 12 more years. She passed away during the war, in 1940, but died of natural causes, and the family managed to erect a matzevah on her grave.
Here lies
Mr Josef Gunzig
Son of Mr Eliakim Getzel
His soul left on Cheshvan 24, [5]689 [November 7, 1928]
Elderly man, advanced in years, served
The Lord till the end of his life. May his soul be bound in the bundle of life
(Deciphering the Hebrew inscription and its translation by Jolanta Kruszniewska)
Isak Teichthal (1879–1943)
Isak Teichthal was born in Okocim in 1879; he was the son of Samuel Teichthal and Rifka Stern. He lived in Brzesko and ran a drapery (textile) store on Głowackiego Street, opposite Neuman’s pastry shop. Isak Teichthal was very close friends with Leib Landau; they prayed together in the synagogue of Isaak Lipschitz (according to the testimony of Leib’s grandson, Dov Landau). Isak Teichthal married Chaja Mandelbaum. The couple had 7 children; shortly after the birth of their youngest daughter, they moved to Krakow, where Isak also owned a store. During the war, they were in Brzesko, and later in the Bochnia Ghetto. Only one son, Akiva, survived the war. Isak Teichthal was shot in the forest in Szebnie on August 15, 1943.
Kalman Reinhold (1878–?)
Kalman Reinhold was the son of Salamon Isaak Reinhold and Rifka Ides Seelengut. He married Anna Sattler, and they had two children. Both their son and daughter perished in Auschwitz. Most likely, Kalman was also murdered, but no documents confirming this have been found.
Leib Wolf Stimler (1859–1937)
Leib Wolf Stimler was the son of Hersch Schyje Stimler and Cypora (née Braun). He married Tauba Zinger/Birnbaum and lived in Brzesko on Głowackiego Street. From 1879 onward, he ran a mixed goods trade. The couple had 7 children. Leib Wolf died in 1937, and his wife died in January 1940.
Baruch Keller (1856–1932)
Baruch Keller was born in Nowy Sącz; he moved to Brzesko after marrying Chana Cluwe Landau. The couple had 9 children, but only two survived to adulthood. He died in 1932 and is buried near the ohels at the Brzesko Jewish cemetery.
Blessed shall be your entrance
And blessed shall be your exit (Deut. 28:6)
Here is buried*
A noble, righteous man … God-fearing
Old and advanced in years (cf. Gen. 24:1) our teacher, lord and master Baruch
Son of Mr.Tzvi Hirsch. His soul departed on 4 of Adar II (5)692 [March 12, 1932]
Son-in-law of a righteous man, Mr. Faivisch, may his memory be blessed for the life in the world to come.
Amidst great weeping and dejection he was taken to his resting place
May the many sons of his town proclaim his glory. They lost the precious stone and did not receive the reward
He walked righteously in his humility all his days
He led his family on the path of righteousness to the very end
His Creator in the Garden of Eden will shape his soul
The Lord will repay him for his many merits at the end of time
May his soul be bound in the bundle of life
(Deciphering the Hebrew inscription and its translation by Jolanta Kruszniewska)
Chaim Kornhauser (1881–1942)
Chaim Kornhauser was born in Wesołów near Zakliczyn. He married Baruch Keller’s daughter, Feigla, and moved to Brzesko. The couple had three children. Chaim was murdered together with his wife in 1942.
Israel Josef Holzl (1876–1933)
Israel Josef Holzel was born in Rzepiennik Strzyżowski; he married Brzesko-born Marjem Ides Blaugrund. The couple had 7 children; Israel Josef died of cancer in Brzesko on October 29, 1933.
Here is buried
A righteous man, rabbi, our teacher, Mr
Israel Yosef
Son of Mr Chanina
Left in good fame on 11 of Cheshvan (5)694 [October 31, 1933]
May his soul be bound in the bundle of life
(Deciphering the Hebrew inscription by Jolanta Kruszniewska)
Kalman Singer (1883–1942)
Kalman Singer was born in Żabno; he was the son of Shlomo and Devorah (née
Schullehrer). He married Brzesko-born Gittla Desser. The spouses had six
children, all born in Brzesko. Kalman was murdered during the war years
together with his wife and 4 children.
Manes Waksman (1884–?)
Manes Waksman was born in Oleszyce on November 30, 1884; he moved to Brzesko
after marrying Chana Mindel Templer. The couple had 4 daughters and a son; the
girls attended the public elementary school on Głowackiego Street and were good
students. Most likely, the family moved to Oświęcim in the 1930s, as it was in
that town that Manes and Chana Mindel entered into a civil marriage in 1937.
Moses Leser Landau (1885–1942)
Moses Leser Landau was born in Nowy Sącz in 1885; he was the son of the Brzesko
merchant Baruch Landau and Sara Nicha Peterfreund. He married Hendel
Abrahamowicz and settled in Brzesko. The couple had several children; their son
Baruch Jechiel, born in 1909, survived the war and submitted a testimony to Yad
Vashem in 1957 regarding the death of his parents and two sisters in the
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Mendel Israel
Mendel Israel was born in Wojnicz. He married Ruchla Wieliczkier and moved to Brzesko. The couple had five children born between 1880 and 1889 (three of them died in infancy). Mendel was a property owner and a “writer of the ten commandments of God in Brzesko” (as his profession was described in his son’s birth record). Ruchla Wieliczkier died in 1919 at the age of 60, at which time her husband was still alive. The fate of Mendel Israel could not be determined.
Seventeen religious Jews, for whom the daily study of the Torah was so important. Eight died of natural causes before the war; six were murdered in the Holocaust. The fate of the remaining three remains unknown.
© Anna Brzyska, 2026