After 1812, when Jews were granted citizenship and equal rights, 12 Jews lived in Kisielice. However, their population began to grow rapidly. The climax of the village's development was in the early 1870s. In 1871, 276 Jews lived in the town, which accounted for 10% of the total population. In the following decades, the Jewish community only melted away, and in the 1930s, only 32 Jews remained. The local synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht of 9-10 November 1938.

The Description

The Jewish community in Kisielice had its cemetery. It probably occupied a flat, wooded area behind the municipal cemetery from Kisielice to Biskupiec (currently Mickiewicza Street (Polish: ul. Mickiewicza)). The exact date of its foundation is unknown; it may have been founded as early as the 17th century. In the late 19th century, when the community was most numerous, it was probably enlarged. Its devastation occurred during Kristallnacht. The destruction in the 1930s, during the war, and probably also after 1945, was so great that the primary source of information nowadays is the German archival maps of 1898 and 1928. No relics remain on the site that could indicate a cemetery site. Damaged architectural features can be seen in the scrub, but it is unclear whether these are pieces of gravestones, fencing or something else entirely. There is no outline of the boundaries in the form of a ditch or retaining wall, and there is no characteristic old tree (oaks, acacias), often planted in rows or around the cemetery plot.

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