They then appeared among the payers of the coronation tax. Settlement is unlikely to have been disrupted in subsequent centuries. In 1674, there were 18 Jews (12.9% of the total population), in 1765 - 146, in 1794 - 149 (24.5%), in 1835 - 441, in 1843 - 628 (48.4%), in 1858 - 355 (35.1%), in 1871 - 382 (30.3%), in 1895 - 122 (10.7%), in 1912 - 56 (5,3%).

The kahal was probably established in the 17th century. In 1759, it was in debt to the church in Gogolev for the amount of 100 florins. In the seventeenth and seventeenth centuries, the social and topographical location of Jews in the urban space was formed, which did not change in the following centuries. They lived mainly in Żerkowska and Garncarska Streets, where the most critical elements of the municipal infrastructure were located. An exception was the cemetery, established around 1765 in the village of Komorza (now Komorze Nowomiejskie).

In the first half of the 19th century, there was a rivalry in the New Town community between the initially few supporters of reform in the spirit of the Haskalah and the supporters of tradition. The latter grouped themselves around the Beth Midrash, in time forming the "Beit ha-midrash" association (Beth-hamidrash Verein), continuing the Talmudic studies initiated by Rabbi Solomon Elias in the 1820s. In 1861, the association had 19 members. There were already 30 members in 1865. The local rabbi, Laser Strasser, in the 1830s and 1840s, was the only one from the area of the Grand Duchy of Poznań who officially protested against the conferences of rabbis belonging to the radical reform movement. In 1840, no sermons were held in German in the Nowe Miasto. Gradually, however, there were more and more supporters of modernisation, as evidenced by the increase in naturalised Jews, most of whom were involved in crafts. In 1830, 46 of them (31 tailors, 1 tanner, 2 hatters, 4 butchers, 4 bakers, 1 jeweller, 2 glaziers, 2 soap makers), in 1837 - 77, in 1846 - 76.

Conservative attitudes were not limited to the New Town Jewish community, especially in the first half of the 19th century. This also applied to the numerically dominant group of local Christians who demanded strict separation from the Jewish population. The Magistrate publicly announced that Jews must abide by the prohibition on burying the dead within 75 hours after their death. In response, the municipality informed the Landrat that it has long complied with this order and only buries the dead with medical certification. In 1840, during the Corpus Christi procession, Jews were publicly urged in Polish not to show themselves in the street during the ceremony "except with their heads uncovered". One day a local priest arbitrarily placed two Jewish sisters, aged 15 and 16, in a convent under false pretences that they wanted to be baptised. Only the personal intervention of the police president had any effect. The girls were released, and the police president personally escorted them to their family home. Municipal elections were held in 1835. The date fell on a Jewish holiday, so Jews did not participate.

The community had a synagogue. In 1849, the old synagogue was given a Synagogen-Ordnung. On 3 September 1874, a new one was consecrated, staged at the junction of Zamkowa and Garncarska Streets (Polish: ul. Zamkowa and Garncarska). Next to it, in Garncarska Street, the new building of the municipal school (Elementarschule), which had already been maintained since 1829, was opened in 1871. The teachers in it were: Aron Goldschmidt (c. 1830), Gotlob Borgheim, Löwi Juda Harlam (1834-1842), Braf (1843), Burchardt Wolff (1844-1868), S. Jacobsohn (1872-1890), J. Auerbach (1899-1903). The number of pupils in the Jewish school resulted from general demographic changes in the population of the Jews of Nowe Miasto. In 1838, 84 Jews lived there; in 1842 - 93, in 1849 - 100, in 1858 - 80, in 1863 - 52, in 1878 - 50, in 1899 - 16, in 1903 - 12. This school was abolished after 1903, and its premises were converted into a residential building, which has survived to the present day.

Community rabbis provided religious services in Nowe Miasto: Jacob Abraham ben Nachman z Lask (circa 1792-1810), Jacob Teomin (circa 1812), Salomon (circa 1819-1821), Elia ben Josek Spiro (1822-1825), Jacob ben Elkana (1825-1830), Menachem Nachum ben Jacow (1825-1830), Shalom ben Elijahu vel Salomon Elias (1825-1830), Laser Strasser (1840s), Israel Josef (1874-1877), Salomon Lewin (od 1877 do 1899?). From 1899, the Jews of Nowe Miasto were subject to the rabbinate in Jarocin. Religious confraternities complemented their activities, which were given the status of associations in the 19th century. These included: The Funeral Association "Chevra Kadisha", which, it is believed, merged with the Care Association to form a unified Care and Funeral Association (Krankenpflege und Bestattungverein), as well as the Women's Association (Frauenverein) and the "Szneider Chewra" Association (Schneder Chewra).

After Poland regained its independence, the number of New Town Jews fell dramatically, reducing to zero even before the war. In 1921, 16 Jews lived there; in 1929.  - 6, in 1937 - 1 (0,1%).

Description

The cemetery existed from around 1765 in the area of Komorza village (now Komorze Nowomiejskie), near the Komorze-Rogusko road, on the slope of a hill overlooking the Warta river. The cemetery plot had a plan similar to a semicircle, with its base on the side of a dirt road leading from the village of Komory. Two small buildings adjoined the cemetery area from the outside; these were probably the cemetery caretaker's building or the funeral home, and a technical room (e.g. for the hearse). At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as can be seen in the photographs, the cemetery was fenced with a stone or stone-brick wall; there were many gravestones. It is known that rabbis were buried here: Menachem Nachum, Jacob Abraham, Solomon Elias, and the cantor and butcher Marcus Lewin. The Necropolis operated until the early 1930s.

Today the cemetery is disused and devastated. A gravel pit was located in its place, after which deep trenches were left, partly covered with forest. There are still isolated fragments of matzevot. One resident of Komory recalled: "When I was in primary school, we went there for a trip on Children's Day, and then go skiing. In the 1970s, when the new bridge over the Warta was being built, sand was hauled from there for the embankment for the road from the bridge to today's CPN station [petrol station]. Bones and skulls were found in the heaps of sand dumped on the embankment. A huge part of the cemetery was irretrievably destroyed. Only the remains of the foundation of the cemetery caretaker's house remain. Pine trees were planted on the damaged part[...]'. In the District Museum in Jarocin, one of the matzevot from the cemetery in Komorze. It commemorated the burial of Fajgele, daughter of Yitzhak ha-Kohen, who died on 20 Kislev 5609, i.e. 15 December 1848.

Author of the note: Tomasz Kawski

References

• Ciesielska A., Dzieje Nowego Miasta nad Wartą, Poznań 2006
• Dzieje Nowego Miasta n. Wartą i jego Kurkowego Bractwa Strzeleckiego z okazji trzechsetlecia Bractwa 1637–1937, Poznań 1937.
• Guldon Z., Wijaczka J., Ludność żydowska w Wielkopolsce w drugiej połowie XVII wieku, [in:] Żydzi w Wielkopolsce na przestrzeni dziejów, Poznań 1995;
• Heppner, A. Herzberg, Aus Verganheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der jüdischen Gemeinden in den Posener Landen, Koschmin – Bromberg 1904–1909, pp. 645, 647–648.