In 1772, Frysztak became part of the Austrian partition, which was a period of revival of trade and crafts. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 19th century, the city was affected by a cholera epidemic and fire. The Jews then moved to the empty squares left by the burnt houses in the market square, and in 1810 they built a brick synagogue. In 1831, the town was decimated again by disease. All the deceased, regardless of origin and religion, were buried together in the cholera cemetery outside the built-up area.

In 1838, 657 Jews lived in Frysztak. At that time, the Kahal maintained a hospital for the poor, and Jewish associations operated in the city, such as Gemilas Chesed (Loan of Mercy in Hebrew) or the Chevra Kadisha funeral society. Next to the synagogue there was a Jewish library and a Talmud-Torah school. In 1890, 39 Jewish houses burned down in the city fire, including the wooden old synagogue, cheder and hospital for the poor. From 1892, Jews held the position of deputy mayors of the town.

At the end of the 19th century, anti-Jewish riots occurred in the town when peasants from nearby villages attacked Jews during the market day. A similar situation occurred in 1918. A larger group of approx. 300 peasants from the surrounding villages attacked the town, mainly robbing Jewish property. However, a year later, as a result of rumors about a ritual murder, a dozen or so Jews were beaten. The Austrian gendarmerie intervened during the above-mentioned conflicts.

Between the two world wars, Jews had two synagogues, a bet ha-midrash and a Talmud-Torah school in Frysztak. The Orthodox Aguda had the greatest influence on political organisations in the town. In 1921, 1010 Jews lived here, and by 1939 this number had increased to approx. 1400. The last rabbi was Chaim Baruch Halberstam from the famous tzadik family from Nowy Sącz.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Frysztak was occupied by the German occupation authorities. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the occupiers shot several Jews praying in the synagogue and set the book collection there on fire. Germans also shot the rest on the road to Strzyżów and buried them in the Catholic cemetery nearby. Even at the beginning of the war, they set up a Judenrat (Jewish Council) and the Jewish police, and in 1941 set up a labour camp on the outskirts of the town. It was originally intended for Jews from Warsaw. The Jewish population was forced to build a railway siding from Wiśniowa to Stępina, where a railway tunnel was being constructed.

In 1942, the German occupation authorities established a ghetto in Frysztak, where Jews from surrounding villages and from Warsaw were also gathered. The liquidation operation took place in 1942, when the occupier deported and murdered over 850 people (mainly women, children and elderly people) in the forest in Warzyce. Another group was shot in the forest in Krajowice, in a village near Jasło. The remaining Jews were sent to the ghetto in Jasło. Ultimately, most of them died in the German Nazi extermination camp in Bełżec. Only 35 prisoners remained in the city, where they were tasked with cleaning up the deserted ghetto, and then they were sent to the ghetto in Przemyśl.

During the war, the German occupiers rounded up and murdered Jewish people, including e.g. 9 people in 1940 at the local Jewish cemetery and 60 refugees hiding in the forest in 1942. Only 20 Jews from Frysztak probably survived the Holocaust.

The Description

The Jewish kahal in Frysztak owned two Jewish cemeteries under its management. One of them, called the new necropolis, was built in the 18th century on the slope of a hill near the road to the village of Glinik Dolny, opposite the house located at Twierdza 27a. The concrete walls of a small funeral home and one tombstone have been preserved in the area enclosed by a metal fence. Photographic documentation from 2009 allowed the count of approximately 60 tombstones, but over time they disappeared in the neglected part or vanished completely.

Author of the note: Magda Lucima

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