Josepf Wolff was a trader. The family of Mises Samuel (Moises Solomon) settled in 1728. Two more appeared in the 1850s and 1860s, and by 1800 there were already six. With the influx of others, their representatives began to lay the foundations of an independent Jewish community. Within its borders, apart from Miastko, the community also included Wałdowo, Barcino, Dretyń and Trzebielino. In 1752, 21 Jews lived in the town, at the end of the 18th century - about 25 (2%), in 1848 - 148, in 1871 - 172, in 1889 - 240 (2.5%), in 1898 - 142 (2.7%), in 1907 - 105 (1.8%), in 1911 - 70 (1.2%), in 1931 - about 60 (about 0.9%), in 1939 - only 4.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the growing community started to develop the municipal infrastructure. Its first element was a cemetery (1812) - earlier, the local Jews used the cemetery in Szczecinek, for which the community paid 22 marks. In 1818, a synagogue was built, demolished after 30 years due to its poor technical condition. In 1848, a new synagogue was built on Wasserstraße (Wodna Street (Polish: ul. Wodna), now Królowej Jadwigi Street (Polish: ul. Królowej Jadwigi)), which served the community until the 1930s. Religious confraternities were also established as associations for self-aid, charity and funeral arrangements. These included the Chevra Kadisha (Chevra Kadischa Verein) and the Israelite Women's Association (Israelitischer Frauenverein). No rabbis were employed in the community, probably for financial reasons. They were limited to a cantor and a teacher. In the 1840s, Josef Blau held both functions. 20 children attended the religious school in 1898, in 1903 - 10, 1911 - 5. Soon, it was liquidated. Anti-Semitic sentiment intensified in the late 19th century. In the spring of 1900, there were incidents following an alleged ritual murder in Chojnice.

In the interwar period, the organisation and control of religious life in the community were generally handled by a cantor, a shochet, and a religious teacher in one person - as a cult official (Kultusbeamte). The last to hold this office was L. Brandes, which was already unpaid by Baruch Friedman in the 1930s.

From 1933, with the rise to power of the Nazis, local Jews became an increasingly discredited and marginalised group. The process of gradual liquidation of the community began. The pressure caused the Jews to gradually leave the city and the Germans as far as possible. However, there was no organised displacement or extermination within the town. In 1937, the synagogue was sold. It was adapted into a glass workshop, destroyed during the hostilities of World War II. The Jews of Miastko shared the fate of the German Jews. They were deported from various parts of Germany, mainly from Berlin, eastwards to ghettos (e.g. Riga), to German Nazi concentration and extermination camps (Theresienstadt, Auschwitz-Birkenau).

The Description

In 1812, the community bought two morgens of land in the northern part of the hill with steep slopes, called Gerichtsberg - Sądowa Góra or Galgenberg - Execution Hill; over time, the name Jewish Hill (Jüdischer Berg) was adopted. The site was located on the edge of the town, at some distance from the crossroads of the then Bahnhofstraße (Polish: ul. Dworcowa) and Kösliner Straße (Polish: ul. Koszalińska); today it is a plot of land at Młodzieżowa Street (Polish: ul. Młodzieżowa), with an area of 1.26 ha, on a quadrilateral plan. The cemetery was opened in 1820. The last burial took place after the outbreak of war in 1939.

Beginning with the "Kristallnacht" of 9-10 November 1938, local Nazis destroyed tombstones, and the necropolis was devastated. However, the total destruction was done during the communist era, although the site of the cemetery was still identified in 1966. Tombs were dug up. There were incidents with drunken people. The sand was picked up for building purposes. During the construction of the present General and Technical Secondary School Complex (Polish: Zespol Szkol Ogólnokształcące i Technicznych), matzevot were excavated and placed in a ditch, which was later filled in. In 2004, the remains were excavated and reburied.

Currently, there are no gravestones in the cemetery. It is a green area, partly wooded. The area of 1.26 ha, donated to the Union of Jewish Communities in 2007, is now owned by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland. The modern plot boundaries do not coincide with the cemetery boundaries. The approximate western, northern and eastern boundaries were based on the slopes and steep escarpments of the hill. On the side of Młodzieżowa Street (next to the gate to the school premises) lie two stones, perhaps marking the entrance to the cemetery. Traces of illegal gravel extraction are still visible in the north-western part.

Author of the note: Tomasz Kawski

References

• Pielka M., Żydzi w prowincji pomorskiej w XIX wieku: gmina żydowska w Szczecinku (Neustettin), „Słupskie Studia Historyczne” 2014, nr 20, pp. 37–58.
• Salinger G., Zur Erinnerung und zum Gedenken. Die einstigen jüdischen Gemeinden Pommerns, Bd. 3, New York 2006.
• Szutowicz A., Suplement, czyli Żydzi w Miastku, „Biuletyn Kawaliera” 2009, pp. 12-18 [online:] http://bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/Content/2857/KAWALIERASPECJALNE.pdf [Accessed: 19/01/2021]

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