In the towns belonging to the bishops of Poznan, the medieval privilege de non tolerandis Judeais was in force until 1793, so they could appear just after it was abolished. Indeed, the community existed in the early 19th century. Wilhelmina, later the wife of the rabbi of Międzychód and Babimost, was born in the town at that time. In 1808, 98 Jews lived in Pszczew, and the community reached its demographic peak in 1840 - it consisted of 173 people, mainly involved in trade and craft.

In the 19th century, there was a synagogue, a cheder, a mikveh and a kosher butcher in Pszczew. A specific thread in the community’s history was... a criminal case. This is because by the 1840s, there was a widespread gang of thieves, swindlers and fencers operating in the area. Christians also belonged to the gang. All the states and classes of Pszczew were involved, and the worst knaves were the representatives of the Jewish community and town councillors. The workshops operating in the city provided thieves with the tools, and there were no problems with “fixing” a false witness. In 1832, the police broke up the gang - in investigations into multiple burglaries in Berlin, traces led back to Pszczew. With the help of residents of Międzyrzecz, the culprits were arrested. During this period, a Jew from Pszczew, Abraham Isaak Leslauer vel Greenthal, was criminally active in the United States. In a monograph devoted to him, the researcher of the history of the Jews of Greater Poland, Edward Luft, calls him “the greatest pickpocket of the 19th century in the United States, and perhaps in the world”. He created a mafia-like organisation in America. American newspapers eagerly followed his actions. He died in New York in 1877, at the age of 67.

From the middle of the 19th century, the population of the Pszczew community, like other surrounding towns, was systematically decreasing. At the end of the 19th century, the community had 58 inhabitants. After World War I and the division of the Międzyrzecz District by the new Polish-German border, the Jewish population in Pszczew decreased even more. By the time Hitler came to power, the community already had only 28 members, half of whom were from the two most prominent families: Deutschkrons and Treitels. At the turn of 1938 and 1939, there were still fourteen Jewish inhabitants in Pszczew.

From 1819, there was a synagogue. The community’s stamp confirms this with Sinagoga Siegel zu Betsche 1819’ inscription. It was soon destroyed, but was rebuilt in 1854. It is a small, preserved building in the southern part of Pszczew, at 2 Międzyrzecka Street (Polish: ul. Międzyrzecka 2), built from the so-called half-timbered style. The walls are now plastered, and the interior has been rebuilt many times. In 2008, there was still a gallery for women above the vestibule. The last major ceremony was held in the synagogue in 1935. It was the bar mitzvah of Leonard Deutschkron, who later lived in Israel. By 1938, only sporadic meetings and services were held there.

On 19 May 1938, the Nazis began the procedure of liquidating the Jewish community in Pszczew. During the Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), SA activists and Hitlerjugend militia profaned the synagogue. After the Jews from Pszczew were deported in March 1940 to the Bürgergarten camp near Piła, or in 1942, the synagogue building was taken over by the painter Otto Lemke, who converted it into a studio. After the war, the building continued to be used as a painting workshop and coach house. Bruno Pujanek later took it over for a locksmith workshop. In the 1970s, traces of the original polychrome were still visible on the ceiling - golden stars on a blue background, symbolising the sky. The former synagogue building now belongs to a private owner. There are several other former Jewish properties in Pszczew to this day, among them at the present 10 Kościelna Street (Polish: ul. Kościelna 10) - the former ancestral home of Inge Deutschkron, who happily settled in England and 1978 wrote her autobiography I Wore a Yellow Star. It was the basis for a play called From Today, Your Name is Sara.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery is located about 1 km southwest of the centre of Pszczew, on the road to Trzciel. The slope, situated on a small hill, descends in an easterly direction. The eastern part of the cemetery was probably transformed in 1944, when the Germans created the field fortifications of the Trzciel fortified area (Tirschtiegel-Riegel). The area of the cemetery is approximately 0.17 hectares.

The date of the foundation of the cemetery is unknown. This may have been in the early 19th century, when the Jewish community was established. The contemporary commemorative stone mentions the year 1730, but the sources do not confirm this date. The first burial took place there in 1938. In the 1970s, the cemetery was liquidated by way of an administrative decision. There may have been about 10 more gravestones on it by this time, including one from 1810. A fragment of another matzeva is kept in Pszczew’s ‘Dom Szewca’ museum, which also houses an exhibition on Pszczew’s Jews. In addition to the old trees that distinguish the site, there is now one matzeva, found in 1995 by the Society of Friends of Pszczew. It belongs to Joseph Posner, who died on 7 August 1861.

A commemorative stone with a Star of David and an inscription was unveiled at the cemetery’s edge: “Jewish Cemetery 1730-1939”. Leonard Deutschkron from Israel attended the ceremony, whose loved ones are buried there. The commemoration was arranged by Wanda Stróżczyńska, a resident of Pszczew, and the Society of Friends of Pszczew.

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