The main phase of the community's development took place in the 19th century. In 1816, the number of Jews living in Słupsk grew to 130, in 1840 to 363, in 1874 – 879, and in 1895 – 1,000 (4% of the town’s population). The community infrastructure began to take shape in the late 18th century, and community officials were employed. The statute of the Jewish "corporation" was drawn up ca. 1820, and the synagogue community was officially established in 1847. Apart from Słupsk itself, it also encompassed Budowo, Damno, Główczyce, Gardna Wielka, Łupawa, Mikorowo, Dębnica Kaszubska, Stowięcino, and Ustka.

From 1796 till ca. 1826, the local teacher, cantor, and shochet was Casper Jacob Cohn, born in Trzcinianka. At first, occasional religious services were held in private homes. In 1841, Doctor Josef Klein became the local rabbi. He held the office for 20 years. During his time in service, the first synagogue in Słupsk was built (in 1842), located in the quarter of today's Filmowa, Piekiełka, Bema and Waryńskiego streets. Another synagogue, at today's Niedziałkowskiego Street, was opened in 1902. It was an impressive edifice whose prayer hall could accommodate 400 men and 300 women. It also had a meeting room where the community board assembled. A community house was built next to the synagogue. It doubled as the residential quarters of the cantor. There was a poultry slaughterhouse in the yard. In the 1890s, a cattle slaughterhouse was opened. At the beginning of 1900, merchant Raphael Wolff founded an old people's home at 4 Lutosławskiego Street. In 1933, it was converted into apartments for Jews who had lost their flats as a result of the anti-Jewish policy of the NSDAP.

In the 19th century, the Jews of Słupsk established a number of organisations, some of them being remodelled traditional religious societies. These were, among others, "Chevra Kadisha" (Chewra Kadischa Verein), the Jewish Women’s Organisation (Frauen Verein), the Jewish History and Literature Society (Verein für jüdische Geschichte und Literatur). The Jewish Sports Club was established in Słupsk during World War I. Until the 1930s, there was a nursing home in the town (at Lange Straße, now Długa Street) and a Jewish school (at Schillerstraße).

A wave of anti-Jewish violence swept through Słupsk in 1881, as was the case in many other Pomeranian towns. In the 20th century, the community shrank in size. In 1914, Słupsk had ca. 500 Jewish residents, in 1927 – 400 (1%), and in August 1939 – 215. Systemic persecution of Jews began in 1933; the community became depopulated, with many families leaving for Berlin and other cities or migrating abroad. During the so-called "Kristallnacht" on 9/10 November 1938, SA militias and other Nazi supporters destroyed the few remaining shops owned by Jews. The synagogue was set on fire. The fire brigade did not extinguish the fire, only making sure it did not spread to the nearby buildings. Members of the Jewish community were forced to cover the cost of demolishing the burnt ruins and cleaning the street. Afterwards, they were arrested. Initially imprisoned in Słupsk, they were eventually deported to the Nazi German concentration camp in Sachsenhausen.

On 10 July 1942, all Jews under the age of 65 were assembled in the school at Deotymy Street and deported to the Nazi German Auschwitz extermination camp. Most of the remaining people were sent to the ghetto in Terezin near Prague, and a small group – to the Stutthof sub-camp in Słupsk, set up in 1944 on the premises of the railway repair workshop at Kołłątaja Street. Imprisoned with them were 620 Jews from Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Very few Jews settled in Słupsk after the war. In January 1946, there were 46 Jewish residents in the town, in May 1946 – 87, from the second half of 1946 until the spring of 1947 – 113. By the end of 1948, their number stabilised at the level of 22–24 people. They were migrants from various parts of Poland, organisationally subordinate to the District Jewish Committee in Gdańsk.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Słupsk was established in 1815, following at least a year of preparations. The community had earlier used the cemetery in Lębork, about 60 km away, and other nearby graveyards. In 1815, one of the Jews of Słupsk was buried in a cemetery 7.5 km from the town, in the village of Stanięcino.

The Jewish cemetery in Słupsk was founded on a small plot of land, 140 feet long and 80 feet wide, situated by Freyschmidtweg – a small street starting at the intersection of today's Kaszubska and Madalińskiego streets (present address: 6 Kaszubska Street). According to maps from the 1920s to 1940s, the cemetery area had the shape of a polygon, almost a trapezoid. The first burial was held in August 1815 – it was the funeral of Hinde Abraham, who died at the age of 71. A few years later, the chairman of the Jewish community, Joseph Liepmann, was laid to rest at the necropolis. In 1821, the cemetery in Słupsk was devastated and the cemetery fence was destroyed; the perpetrators were never found, despite the community offering prize money. In the years 1907–1908, a two-storey brick funeral home designed by E. Röser was built in the necropolis. Ritual ablutions of the dead were performed on the ground floor, which was also where the hearse was kept. Ceremonies were held on the first floor. The building, which has survived to this day, was adjacent to a massive iron entrance gate forming part of the fence put up ca. 1908. The gate has also been preserved. The funeral home was entered in the register of monuments pursuant to Decision No. 978 of 5 May 1980. Maps show that cemetery lanes ran along the inner boundaries of the necropolis, intersected by several crosslines. The area was covered with ornamental plants, probably shrubs and trees.

On 14 May 1941, the community authorities, headed by Emil Gottschalk, were forced by the Nazi authorities to sell or give up a part of the cemetery with an area of 0.7 hectare. At the same time, the southern section of the necropolis was probably incorporated into the cemetery of the Parish Church of St. Mary’s (St. Mariengemeinde). In 1942, the central and north-western part of the Jewish graveyard (together with the funeral home), with an area of ca. 0.28 ha, was leased or transferred to the cemetery gardener Albert Reetz. Soon afterwards, he submitted an application to the authorities for permission to build a greenhouse and a cellar at the site; he supposedly used gravestones and wood from the cemetery in construction works. On 12 January 1943, the authorities conceded to the request to use the funeral home as a dwelling for foreign workers.

After most of the cemetery had been taken over in 1941, the only part left in the possession of the community was a plot with an area of ca. 0.16 ha. It was filled with graves from the years 1900–1942 but was temporarily opened for new burials. Most of the valuable tombstones from the premises were removed before 1945, and over time the rest became overgrown with wild vegetation. In the 1970s, the area was levelled, and a layer of soil was added. In the same period, half of the cemetery (plot 5/5) was taken over to expand the municipal cemetery, and all remaining matzevot were removed (Warcisław Machura prepared photographic documentation shortly before the liquidation). A branch of the Monument Conservation Studio in Gdańsk was accommodated in the former funeral home.

As a result of such extensive changes, the boundaries of the cemetery were partially blurred. They are still visible from the west, delineated by a street and a fence. From the north, they are marked by a fence, from the east – by the base of a buttress at today's municipal cemetery, from the south (approximately) – by a cemetery lane. The site itself has been transformed or destroyed. In the vicinity of the funeral home (plot no. 5/4) there is a modern garage building. The western part of the former central section holds a grassy area with tall greenery on the sides (plots no. 5/7 and 5/6), and the southern and eastern sections now form part of the municipal cemetery.

It was not until the 1990s that the Jewish cemetery in Słupsk was commemorated. A stone tablet in the form of a stele was erected at the side, with an inscription reading: “IN MEMORY OF JEWS / WHOSE ASHES / REST / IN THIS SOIL / RESIDENTS AND AUTHORITIES / OF THE CITY OF SŁUPSK / 1994.” The former building of the funeral home is now the seat of the "Dom na Rozstaju Kultur" (“House at the Crossroads of Cultures”) Association. Stored inside are fragments of broken matzevot. The tombstones bear the names of Jacob Flatow (died between 1888 and 1890), Rosalie Stern (6 April 1844–16 June 1904), Wolffberg (d. 6 January 1910) and Henriette Lindt (20 January 1853–29 December 1933).

Tomasz Kawski

Bibliography

• D. Cholewińska, “Gmina synagogalna w Słupsku. Trzy wieki istnienia,” in: Po żydowsku. Tradycje judaistyczne w literaturze i kulturze, Słupsk 2005.
• Führer durch die Jüdische Gemeindeverwaltung und Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland 1932–1933, B. Schlesinger (ed.), Berlin 1933.
• Historia Słupska, ed. S. Gierszewski, Poznań 1981.
• G. Salinger, Zur Erinnerung und zum Gedenken. Die einstigen jüdischen Gemeinden Pommerns, Bd. 2, Hannover – New York 2006.
• Śladami żydowskimi pod Kaszubach. Przewodnik. Jüdische Spuren in der Kaschubei. Reisehandbuch, M. Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk, C. Pletzing (eds.), München 2010.

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