Kreuzburg
General information: First Jewish presence: 1414; peak Jewish population: 406 in 1869; Jewish population in 1933: 160
Summary: The modern Jewish community of Kreuzburg (present-day
Poland) was founded in or around 1772, after which the Jewish
population steadily increased (10% of the total population in
1847). Kreuzburg Jews—most were initially cash-strapped
peddlers and shopkeepers—conducted services in nearby
Kraskau until 1845, when a wealthy wine merchant helped
finance the construction of a prayer hall and an adjacent
community center, the latter of which housed a mikveh.
The economy of the town improved during the second
half of the 19th century, spurred on by the presence of wealthy
Jewish merchants and army contractors; many fashionable
clothing and footwear shops were opened in the town center,
as was a Jewish hotel. The community soon outgrew its prayer
hall, and in 1886 Rabbi Ferdinand Rosenthal consecrated a
new synagogue whose architectural style incorporated both
Moorish and Romanesque features.
Kreuzburg was home to many Jewish social and cultural
institutions, including a Zionist society, a Jewish war
veterans’ association, a ladies’ aid society and a chevra kadisha.
Although the Nazis could not enforce their anti-Jewish
legislation in Kreuzburg until 1937—the region was protected
by the League of Nations’ convention on minority rights—the
city was a hotbed of anti-Semitic activity; discrimination and
violence were rife, and many Jews left during the 1930s. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue and Jewish-owned stores
were set on fire, after which most Jews left Kreuzburg. According
to records, only one Jew lived there in November 1942.
Not a single trace of the former house of worship is now
discernible.
Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: EJL, LJG
Sources: EJL, LJG
Located in: silesia