The earliest mention of the local community appears in a document from 1706 in which King Frederick I of Prussia stated: “Due to the fact that a certain group of Jews came forward with the intention to settle in our villages of Witnica and Boleszkowice, we hereby announce that we will not suffer their presence there and we order for them to be expelled from these villages. And if they plan to settle in the towns of Neumark, as it sometimes happens, we do not want them there either.” On the basis of this declaration, it can be inferred that Jews had already lived in Witnica at that point but were subsequently expelled in compliance with the king's will.

The following mentions of Jews in Witnica date back to 1812, when they settled there following the adoption of the so-called Emancipation Edict. At that time, they most likely purchased land to establish a cemetery and possibly founded an official community. Preserved sources do not provide exact data on the size of the community before 1939. It may have reached its peak size with 88 members in 1875. Later on, in line with the general trend noted in the eastern regions of Germany, the number of Jews in the town began to dwindle.

In 1864, the Jews built a small synagogue at erstwhile Wilhelmstraβe (nowadays the intersection of Sikorskiego and Rutkowskiego streets). It was a building on a rectangular plan, made of non-plastered brick, covered with a gable roof with a small turret in the middle, with an outbuilding. In 1935, the disintegrating community sold the building to a member of the NSDAP, Herman Strunek. Thanks to this transaction, the synagogue was not destroyed during the Kristallnacht. After the war, it was used as a warehouse. In 1965, it was pulled down and a residential house was built in its place. In 2001, the site was commemorated with a boulder bearing the Star of David and a plaque with an inscription in Polish, German, and Hebrew: "Here once stood a synagogue 1864 – 1935 – 1965."

Several buildings once owned by Jews have been preserved in Witnica. At the former 59 Landsberger Straβe (today Rutkowskiego Street) there is the former house of the Krohn family, owners of the Krohn & Co. Company and one of the most influential Jewish families in the town; it currently houses a shop. At the former 3 Landsbergerstraße stands a sumptuous building that once belonged to the Stenger family. It housed a textile store, and nowadays is the seat of the Cooperative Bank. The Gutmann family owned a department store at former 5 Landsbergerstraβe; leather trader Abraham Jakobsberg – at 12 Cüstriner Straβe (today Rutkowskiego Street), furniture trader Max Hirsch – at 10 Cüstriner Straβe.

In 1938, the synagogue community was dissolved by its last chairman, Leo Bär. His family was forced to sell their house to a German buyer. The building is still standing today, at 10 Gorzowska Street, and serves as the seat of the “Peasant Self-Help” Municipality Cooperative (in liquidation).

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Witnica was established in the south-western part of the town, at erstwhile Mühlenstraβe (today Wojska Polskiego Street). It is situated on a gently sloping hill which the Germans used to call Judenberge ("Jewish Mountain"). Its area is 0.2 hectares. It is unknown when exactly the cemetery was established, but it presumably happened at the beginning of the 19th century, after the arrival of Jewish settlers in the town. The oldest tombstone stands on the grave of Schejnche Joachimsthal, who died on 9 September 1835. However, the first Jew from Witnica whose death certificate has been preserved was Salomon Gutmann, who died on 12 December 1848, aged five months. The grave of one of his sisters, Henriette Gutmann, who died in 1886, is still at the cemetery. In the years 1847–1903, at least 85 people were buried in the necropolis. The newest surviving tombstone bears the date 1903. It is uncertain when the last burial took place at the site.

The cemetery was not destroyed during the Kristallnacht (9/10 November 1938) or later. It was not until the 1950s that it started to fall into decay due to looting, vandalising tombstones, and dumping rubbish at the site. In the 1980s, the area was cleaned up by scouts several times. In the 1990s, the town authorities founded a plaque with the Star of David and the inscription "Jewish cemetery." In 1995, a monument conservator took inventory of the cemetery and in 2009, the surviving damaged tombstones were secured. According to the survey of the cemetery area conducted in 2018, the following objects could be found at the site: 10 complete matzevot, several dozen fragments of matzevot and bases, ca. 20 grave framings, low retaining walls and field stairs, a few lime trees in the cemetery lane. In addition, there were also several concrete posts forming part of the historic fence and fragments of the more recent fence.

The cemetery underwent an impressive restoration thanks to the municipal administration with financial support of Wolfgang Stammwitz, who is preparing a monograph about the Jews of Witnica. The work is to be published in 2022 and will be translated into Polish. The Jewish cemetery in Witnica is the last stop of the town tour organized every year by the Educatio Pro Europa Viadrina Association as part of the "Days of Jewish Culture."

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