Information boards at the Brzesko Jewish cemetery

(Based on the book „Jewish cemetery in Brzesko” by Iwona Zawidzka, Brzesko, 2001; used with permission from the author and the publishing house)  It is difficult to determine the time when Jews first settled in Brzesko (Jews called the city...

Mundek (Chaim Jakub) Strauber, son of the merchant Israel Ber Strauber and Estera née Bruck, was born on November 3, 1908 in Dolina (now in Ukraine, before the war in the Tarnopol Province in Poland). The family moved to Brzesko,...

Jews constituted two-thirds of the pre-war inhabitants of Brzesko. World War II meant the end of the Brzesko Jewish community. The Germans started persecuting Jews immediately after they occupied Brzesko on 5 September 1939. They set fire to the main...

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children....” (Deut. 6: 6-7) Following this instruction in the Torah, Jews have always taken the education of their children very seriously. Due to this,...

Jewish communities used to maintain their own registers of births, marriages, and deaths, and the registrars who fulfilled that function were held in high esteem.. In Galicia (in the Austrian partition), following the 1868 law, the authorities had to appoint...

Each synagogue employed a Shammes (sexton) to manage the building’s facilities. His job included looking after the prayer books, preparing the Torah scrolls for use, lighting candles before the Sabbath, helping the rabbi, and waking men for morning prayers. The...

The Hebrew word Sofer refers to a professional scribe who can transcribe  the Torah scrolls used during synagogue services and other religious texts that must be handwritten, such as tefillin and mezuzas. Many scribes also function as calligraphers—writing functional documents...

The job of a traditional rabbi (the word is from Hebrew רבי, meaning ‘master’or ‘teacher’) is to lead the Jewish religious community, answer questions on religious matters relating to everyday life and Jewish ritual, write religious books, and provide elementary...

Although Brzesko was a small town before the war, it had four brick synagogues and a wooden one, and its rabbis came from famous rabbinical families - Lipschitz, Templer, and Teitelbaum. The oldest ancestor of this last family, mentioned on...

There were 2 Jewish cemeteries in Brzesko: an old (at Głowackiego street, opposite the city hall) and a new one (at Czarnowiejska Street). The old cemetery was most probably founded in the 17th century. After it had been overfilled at...

Henoch Klapholz, son of Jukel and Liebe, was born in Nowy Sącz on November 3, 1849. By 1867 he  had moved to Brzesko: that year he married Ruchel Kreindel Cellnik, daughter of Isak Mojżesz and Simcha Cellnik from Brzesko. Over...

For religious Jews, the equality of men and women begins in God as both man and woman were created in the image of God. In traditional Judaism, women's obligations and responsibilities are different from those of men but no less...

Merchant Abe Lieber (1843-1921), son of Isaak Leib Lieber and Rifka nee Izbic, lived a long life and was one of the most respected Brzesko residents. He was a member of Brzesko’s town council for over 40 years (1877-1920), and...

Yehudah (Juda) Kaufman (1839-1923), son of Samuel Leib and Gittla from Zborowa, was one of the most respected Bresko Jews. He was a shochet (ritual slaughterer) and a mohel - for several decades he circumcised all Jewish boys born in...