Although some historical sources say that Jews lived in that town in 1190, that date should be considered unlikely. The presence of Jews in Bolesławiec in 1361 was mentioned in a chronicle by Matheus Ruthard. In the 14th century, from the taxes imposed on the Jewish population, the residents of Bolesławiec financed the construction of the town walls between the Upper Gate and the Nicholas Gate. Judengasse or Żydowska Street (ul. Żydowska) was probably located in the Mikołajskie Suburb, on the western side of Komuny Paryskiej Street (ul. Komuny Paryskiej). The end of the medieval Jewish community came in 1454, when the Jews were expelled from the town, the direct reason for which was a visit of Franciscan John of Capistrano to the city, who gave a sermon in the local church.

In the 19th century, the pioneers of the Jewish community in Bolesławiec were Israel Hülse, Meyer Schindlower and Moritz Zaller. The first prayer room was established by the members of the Jewish community in 1823. It was located at the then Kirchplatz, in a house that belonged to widow Böhm. From 1857, the rooms in the house of merchant Helbig, 12 Schlosstraße (now 1 Maja Street, ul. 1 Maja) were used for religious purposes. In 1822, there were only 21 Jews in the town, their number was 99 in 1849, and in 1880 - 194, which was the highest number of Jews in Bolesławiec.

In 1877, in the Mikołajskie Suburb, on a square by Teichpromenade (present Bolesława Kubika Street, ul. Bolesława Kubika), the construction of a synagogue began. It was the only synagogue in Lower Silesia in the Moorish style. During the Kristallnacht of 9 November 1938, it was burnt down and the fire brigade focused on saving the neighbouring buildings.

After the Nazis came to power, some of the Jewish inhabitants of the town managed to emigrate from Germany. The names of those who remained can be found on the lists of the prisoners of the transit-camps for Jews from Lower Silesia in Krzeszów (Grüssau) and Rybna (Riebnig) and on the lists of transports of Lower Silesian Jews from Wrocław to Auschwitz, Treblinka, Riga, Piaski and Theresienstadt. During World War II, two branches of the Gross Rosen concentration camp were established in Bolesławiec - one of which, AL Bunzlau I on Staroszkolna Street (ul. Staroszkolna) was for Jewish prisoners.

After World War II, Bolesławiec did not become a place of organised Jewish settlement. In the 1940s, on the initiative of a small number of Jews from Bolesławiec, one of the city streets was renamed to Bohaterów Getta Street (ul. Bohaterów Getta).

The Description

As early as in 1814, Jews who lived in Bolesławiec were obliged to establish a burial ground. The land for the establishment of the cemetery was purchased from the Silesian Crown on 28 February 1816. The Jewish cemetery in Bolesławiec was created at the junction of today's Komuny Paryskiej and Jeleniogórska streets (German location - Löwenbergstraße), and the first funeral took place a year later. In 1816, a stone wall was built around the cemetery by Master Mason Gottlob Zahn. A year later, Moritz Zaller, Meier Schindlower and Israel Hülse donated funds for the construction of a funeral home. In 1824, linden trees were planted in the cemetery and the funeral home was built soon afterwards. The necropolis was expanded twice - in 1870 and 1927 (on the side of the then Löwenbergerstraße). The last funerals at the cemetery took place in 1938.  

From 1924, the Chevra Kadisha, a traditional burial society, has been active at the synagogue community and its purpose was to provide assistance in cases of illness and death and to organise funerals. At the beginning of the 1930s, the organisation had 23 members, with Emil Ruppin as its chairman.

In the 1940s, the Jewish cemetery in Bolesławiec was taken over by a forced association for Jews in Germany called the Reich Association of Jews in Germany (Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland). In 1942, the organisation - under pressure from the security police and the security services - was forced to sell Jewish cemeteries in various locations. In Bolesławiec, the talks began in 1943 - at that time, the head of the local district tax office proposed the sale of the property to the city of Bolesławiec. The value of the cemetery was estimated to be RM 0.50 (Reichsmark) per square meter, which, with the total area of 698 square metres, amounted to RM 349. The deal was not finalised until 10 March 1944, and the city of Bolesławiec agreed to bear the costs of demolishing the wall of the cemetery and removing the damaged tombstones.

After the Second World War, the cemetery was not used because only a few Jewish families lived in the town. Its liquidation took place in the period from 1963 and 1965 - at that time, it covered the area of 820 square metres, it was surrounded by a stone wall and there were 128 graves. The necropolis was liquidated based on a resolution of the Presidium of the Provincial National Council in Bolesławiec on 27 October 1965, which justified doing so based on safety - it was claimed that the 1.5-metre high cemetery wall obstructed the visibility for drivers and could cause accidents. It is not known what happened to the tombstones; two of them could be found in the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec (Polish: Muzeum Ceramiki w Bolesławcu) and became part of the museum's collection. The older tombstone, in the shape of a traditional matzeva, comes from 1827 and was found on the grave of Meir Broin, the son of Shlomo Zalman. The other one comes probably from the grave of Chawa (Chana or Chai) Hiller, who died in 1888. Both matzevot have undergone conservation works and are in very good condition. They are the only remnants of a Jewish cemetery destroyed in the 1960s.

Presently, the cemetery is located at the corner of Komuny Paryskiej and Jeleniogórska streets - it occupies plot no. 184, Precinct no. 11 of Bolesławiec. There is a square with benches in the necropolis and a path leading through the burial field along the east-west axis. The historical elements include a row of linden trees found along the southern border of the cemetery.

Tamara Włodarczyk

References

• Bolesławiec. Zarys monografii miasta, eds. T. Bugaj, K. Matwijowski, Wrocław 2001.
• Führer durch die jüdische Gemeindeverwaltung und Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland 1932-1933 / herausgegeben von der Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Deutschen Juden, compiled by B. Schlesinger, Berlin 1933.
• Christani H., Das Leben in der deutschen, Schlesischen Kleinstadt Bunzlau von 1871 bis 1946 in vier Epochen, b.m.w., 1973.
• Card of the Jewish cemetery in Bolesławiec, compiled by K. Myśliński, 1992.
• Łasica T., Historia żydowskiej społeczności Bolesławca do 1945 roku, Bolesławiec 2019.
• Połomski F., Zawłaszczenie i sprzedaż cmentarzy żydowskich w latach II wojny światowej na Śląsku. Ze studiów nad prawa własności w III Rzeszy, "Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis", no. 815 (Studia nad Faszyzmem i Zbrodniami Hitlerowskimi, vol. XI).
• Wernicke E., Chronik der Stadt Bunzlau, Bunzlau 1884.

Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.