However, it is assumed that Jews may have arrived in Trzciel as early as the Middle Ages.

The oldest preserved document confirming the presence of Jews in Trzciel dates back to 1745. It is a statute granted to the Jews by the owner of the town, Ludwik Szołdrski, drawn up in German. It is not known whether the recipients of the statute had already been present in the town for some time or had just arrived. Perhaps they returned after a longer absence, when the town was rebuilding itself after the Swedish devastation. Among the Jews settling in the town, 90% chose the area of Nowy Trzciel. According to the census of the Jewish population of 1765, carried out to evaluate the poll tax, there were 223 Jews in Trzciel. In 1770, they built a wooden synagogue in Nowy Trzciel. No information on the design or operation of the temple has survived.

According to the Prussian census of 1793, Trzciel had 253 Jewish residents. They were mainly involved in trade, which was a profitable business thanks to the town’s location on the commercial route from Poznań to Frankfurt an der Oder. In 1833, a Jewish school was opened in the town. Until 1851, its teacher was the later rabbi and preacher, Doctor Gustaw Gottheil (died in 1903 in New York).

On 3 December 1869, the local Jewish community formally adopted a statute. In 1889, it took over the property of the liquidated community in neighbouring Brójce. As early as the second half of the 19th century, the number of community members began to decrease. This was due to a wave of Jewish emigration to larger cities in western Germany. In 1910, the school in Trzciel was closed due to an insufficient number of pupils. After its liquidation, the building – preserved to the present day – was adopted to serve as an old people's home. Nowadays it is a residential house.

In 1874, a new synagogue was erected to replace the old wooden house of prayer. Located at today's 3 Mickiewicza Street, it was a brick building on a rectangular plan, with dimensions of 11.25 × 14.25 m, covered with a hip roof. The synagogue was closed after World War I and sold to the town authorities, who converted it into a fire station. The vestibule with the portal on the western side was dismantled and two large gates for fire engines were carved in the wall; a turret was added on the eastern side. Since the building was no longer used as a synagogue, it was not set on fire during the Kristallnacht (9/10 November 1938). In 1939, there was still a small wooden gallery inside the building. The former synagogue still exists today and is used by the fire brigade. Some of the preserved elements of the original façade can be seen on the southern and western exterior walls.

In 1920, the town was divided by the new border established by the Treaty of Versailles. The western part of Trzciel remained in Germany, and the eastern part was incorporated into Poland. Before the Nazi rise to power in 1933, only 22 Jews lived in German Trzciel. The community disappeared before or during World War II.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Trzciel is one of the most picturesque in the Lubusz Land. It is located on a wooded hill, about 1.5 km north of the town, within the administrative boundaries of the village of Świdwowiec, by the road to Jabłonka Stara. The northern side of the hill descends towards Żydowskie (Jewish) Lake. The area of the cemetery is about 0.65 ha.

The date of the establishment of the cemetery is unknown. The first mention of its existence dates back to 1745. The oldest preserved tombstone stands on the grave of Yehuda Lejb (died 1759). Due to lack of historical sources, it is impossible to retrace the history of the cemetery. Paradoxically, the earliest preserved document referring to the necropolis concerns its liquidation. It is a letter of the Presidium of the National Provincial Council in Zielona Góra of 24 January 1972, addressed to the Presidium of the National County Council in Międzyrzecz. It informs that not all legal conditions required to liquidate the cemetery were met. The document is kept in the State Archives in Zielona Góra.

In 1995, inventory of the cemetery was taken at the request of the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Gorzów Wielkopolski. A total of 58 standing tombstones were recorded. The monuments were photographed, and the epitaphs translated into Polish. In the summer of 2001, a group of students from Poland, Germany, Israel, and the United States, under the supervision of Jan Jagielski from the Jewish Historical Institute, conducted clean-up works at the cemetery.

Two district groups of tombstones have survived to this day. The older ones, located on the top of the hill, mostly date back to the second half of the 18th century. Made of field stones and glacial erratic boulders, they bear Hebrew inscriptions. The newer slabs, standing closer to the road, on the eastern side of the hill, are mainly from the years 1880–1900. Mostly made of sandstone, they have epitaphs in Hebrew and German. Sparse symbolism suggests that the Jews buried in the cemetery were followers of Reform Judaism. Also recorded in the field inspection were ca. 50 grave framings and fragments of matzevot loosely scattered around. The most impressive marble and granite matzevot were stolen after World War II.

In 2014, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the site. It bears an inscription in Polish, German, and Hebrew reading: "Jewish cemetery in Trzciel. In memory of the Jews buried here.” The cemetery is the property of the State Treasury, under the management of the State Forest Directorate, Trzciel Forestry District.

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