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At the start of the war in Pińczów lived 3.5 thousand Jews. In the autumn of 1942 Germans started their thoroughly planned destruction. Jews were transported to nearby city Jędrzejów by train but some of them had to go on food 20 kilometers. Not all Jewish who lived here have been sent to the concentration camp. Numerous Jewish people found a shelter in homes of their Polish friends or in villages near Pińczów. One of the Jews who survived  was rabbi Rapaport Szepsia, he was hiding in the house of Polish family – The WIlczyńscy. Unfortunately not all. Jews were so lucky. Germans were constantly looking for Jews and searching every house in Pińczów. When they found any Jewsh people they were shot on the spot together with their Polish friend who were giving them shelter. There have been severed executions in Pińczów and nearby villages. I would like to emphasise that only in Poland and Ukraine every attempt to help Jewish people was punished with or death penalty.

English version of page

1. Jewish people in Pińczow
2. Synagogues
3. Schools
4. Cemeteries
5.
6.Report of urban game
7. Visit of educators from America

Cemeteries

Jewish Cemeteries in Pinczów / rituals associated with the burial of the dead.

In areas Pinczów were three Jewish cemeteries , the Jewish Cemeteries . The oldest (from about the sixteenth century ) built outside the city walls , the Nida river , near today's backwaters . Over the years it has been abandoned , however, because of that he was often flooded by the river. The second burial site was located closer Pinczów . This cemetery was located near present-day street Słabskiej for Reformed monastery .
During the war, it was partially destroyed , and after the war , built industrial buildings . At the cemetery was first city slaughterhouse , today there is a private poultry breeding facility .
The third cemetery , used until the end of stay of the Jews in Pinczów lay Street Cemetery , next to the Catholic cemetery. More interestingly , now in its place is a vocational school , in which we find ourselves now . So we can say that at this moment we are in the graves Pińczów Jews.
The Pińczów cemetery , tombstones addition there were also wooden .
Many of them were richly decorated by artists Pińczów . Cemetery during the war has been largely destroyed by the Germans , who used the gravestones ( previously mentioned gravestones ) as building blocks for paving roads and canals. In tatach 80 -
These were recovered several tombstones that were desecrated during the war , using them as building material.

More on Jewish cemeteries

In the case of Jewish cemeteries can meet a few terms . besides
the earlier introduced , taken from the German word " cemetery ", from which are derived the terms " Jewish cemetery ", " kierkow ", " kerchoł ", there are also other names .
In Hebrew, they are " bet chaim " ( house of life ) , " bet kwarot " ( house graves) or " bet olam " (the house of eternal life ) , in Yiddish - " hajlike ort " ( holy metered ) and " gute ort " (good place).

Cemeteries are a place of holiness , but also ritually unclean , so the output is a well at which to perform ablution or a ritual washing of the body. Lust cemetery also prevents access to the area Kohenom (pronounced Koenom ) - the Jewish priests . Although this does not apply graves of their relatives . Even then , however, must maintain an appropriate distance from the grave.


According to Jewish tradition, the funeral should be organized during the day of death. This custom probably comes from a time when Jews lived in desert areas where the process of carcass decomposition proceeded rapidly .
For hundreds of years Jews were buried directly in the ground , but this practice , at least in the Polish lands began to disappear in the nineteenth century. Then they began to bury their dead without bans coffin. Currently, Jews dead body wrapped in a shroud ( ritual cloth ) and placed with the head facing east (toward Israel ) . Before finally closing the lid on the coffin of the deceased 's head , poured down coming from Israel. Then the deceased is transferred from the funeral home to the cemetery. The hearse followed the people by setting up a funeral procession . The procession moved slowly , which was a sign of respect for the deceased. In the past, it was recommended directing funeral procession in such a way that it passed next to the synagogue .

Extremely important is the principle of the inviolability of the grave. The human remains are in fact waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, Jewish cemeteries should not be dug up , and the exhumation is tolerated only in certain extreme cases. For Jews, the most important is what 's in the earth , and the tombstones - though naturally enclosed respect - they have such an important matter. Jewish grave can not be reused . There is no concept of " liquidation" of the cemetery. If the area designated for the burial will be fully utilized , and the purchase of additional new land is not possible on the old graves Heap with a thick layer of soil (so-called embankment ), which buries a further delay.

Out of respect for the dead in the cemetery do not consume food , drink, bring the Torah, engage in activities not available to the deceased . Do not graze animals and collect hay. One can not treat the cemetery as a shortcut way.
Typical of Jewish cemeteries is the division of land into male , female and children . In addition, men in the cemetery , they should wear a hat to express in this way, respect for the dead . Also buried in the cemeteries synagogues equipment , such as damaged Torah scrolls .

The evolution of forms graves throughout history :
At first burials were made in caves (of which we can learn from the Old Testament ), and the piles of stones.
Later evolved into a popular form today gravestones - vertical tombstone . The tombstones were made of various materials - from granite boulders , sandstone , marble, iron or wood. Macewa its appearance refers to the gate , a symbol of the transition from earthly life to live in a different world. On older tombstones we find names, but only the names of the dead , and the names of their fathers. For hundreds of years Jews referred to the identity of the proper name . The Jewish graves is often seen stacked stones . The genesis of this custom has some explanation. This custom probably comes from the old days , when the body was buried in the desert. Protection against wild animals burial place by laying on the rocks , it was an expression of respect for the deceased. The graves were brought no flowers and candles , but the penetration of other cultures blurs out the difference. Principles of Judaism make it to the graves there are no photos or images of the dead (though in this case, time brings change ) . What we can meet up with a very rich symbolic ornamętyką . Common themes are also animalistic (ie, images of animals) , but they are of purely symbolic significance . They relate mainly to the names.

Jewish people in Pińczów

Jewish people have lived in Pińczów since sixteen the century. For many years they could live freely, work and built houses. They have recived prenissions to build temples or Jewish schools.

Almost every shop in the city's marketplace was owned by the Jews. They were mainly engaged with the trade and sold horses, cattle, wood, dairy products and shoes. People could also use the services of gifted Jewish craftmens and small shops. The biggest advantage of such shops was a huge varienty of goods, it was possible to buy there almost everything you could dream of. A important pary in local society played two doctors, a dentist, school teachers and printers

Jewish people also owned

-a printing company

-a soda water company

-a mill

-and a tannery

According with census from 1921 in Pińczów lived 4324 Jewish, a 2397 from them were Polish.

Polish people have a possitive and frendly relation with Jewish people. In 1928 in the city council in Pińczów were seventeen Jewish people. The chairman of the council was priest Konstanty Aksamitowski who was popular with the Jewish people.

Schools

In Pińczów there have been two types of religions schools: cheder (Jewish primary school) and Talmud Tora. They have mostly situated in the city’s marketplaces. In the district of Pińczów there have been 10 religions schools. Some richer Jewish children where educated by private teachers. According to historical sources we know that they have contined their education in our high school.

Synagogues

1748 in Pińczów there were 3 synagogues. Among them there was the oldest wooden Synagogue. According to the legend the King of Poland has offered the local authorities, a place to build the synagogues that was considered as an act of great respect. Until the WW II were preserved only two synagogues. Unfortunately during war, they have been destroyed and one of them pulled down.

The synagogue that you can see behind me was devastated and neglected. Fortunately the synagogues has been restored and how we can visit it. The synagogue is not only the building that we see today. In the past here has also been a rabbi’s one storeyed and small little gravediggers house.
The last rabbi in Pińczów was Rapaport Szapsia.

      The Old Synagogue is a cuboid. Its walls are supported by stone buttresses, and high walls built up over the ceiling's level form an austere attic deprived of any decorative elements. The attic shelters a concave wooden roof with copper roofing, and water gathering there is removed outside by metal spouts.

      The shul consists of several rooms. There is the main room, called male room, with an adjoining vestibule which had a kahal room sectioned off; over them, in the first floor, with a separate entry, there is the women's gallery (empora). This synagogue is in Polish synagogue architecture the oldest example of a temple of a so-called lengthwise system, in which all rooms were built at the same time and form a compact building with a common roof. The synagogue was continuously surrounded by annexes which held among others religious school rooms and stairs to the upper floor; until today survived only a newer ground-floor vestibule with the main entrance.

      The male room takes over half the space in the building, but at the same time it is considerably lower set in comparison to the vestibules and the ground level, because the synagogue was once situated in a slight drop in ground level. Since 2005, the room is decorated by two stained-glass windows by Jacek Nowak, brought from Heidelberg and presenting hundreds of faces.

      The vestibule was once the synagogue's main transport node, with entrances to the other rooms and the exit. Its ceiling and walls are covered by beautiful polichromy with plant tendrils, flower vases, bowls of fruit, birds, animals and fantastic creatures. There are also painted prayer texts as well as foundation inscriptions with the dates of 1695-96 and 1741-42

      The synagogue is surrounded by a wall the whole surface of which is lined with fragments of headstones of historical value from the town's destroyed Jewish cemeteries. It was meant to be a monument to commemorate the once presence in Pińczów of the town's former, tragically gone inhabitants.

      The synagogue is visited by about seven thousand people yearly, both from Poland and from abroad: there come Pińczów Jews and their descendants looking for traces of the past, there come individual tourists, and there is also the most numerous of all groups – young people from Israel, the USA, Scotland and other countries. After many years, there have come good times for the synagogue and it's again dawning in Pińczów for it.