The so-called “Jewish town” was then located near Legnica, on the Czarna Woda River and stretched from the old castle bridge, along Nowa Street, across the castle square, reaching deep into the castle garden and beyond the Głogowska Gate. It housed a synagogue, a Jewish school and a cemetery.

In the mid-15th century, Silesia saw mass pogroms of the Jewish population, which was linked to the activities of John of Capistrano. Legnica was one of the towns where in 1453 local Jews were burned as a result of accusations of theft and desecrating the Host. In addition, Jewish properties were confiscated and the surviving Jews were expelled from the town.

The Jewish population reappeared in Legnica only in the second half of the 18th century when, on the basis of the 1755 Tolerance Edict of the King of Prussia, they were granted a settlement permit. This, however, applied to wealthy individuals who had at least 1,000 ducats, excluding their wives and children.

Initially, the Jewish community of Legnica was subordinate to the Jewish Community Co-operative of Głogów, and it became fully autonomous in 1818. In 1845, banker Raphael Prausnitzer purchased a site for the construction of a synagogue which was to replace the house of prayer located on Ritterstraße (Pl. Rycerska Street). The temple, which was located at 16 Bäckerstraβe (Pl. Piekarska Street), was built in the English neo-Gothic style and its consecration took place on 16 June 1847. The synagogue survived until 1938, when during the Kristallnacht pogrom it was burnt down and then demolished.

During World War II, the Jewish residents of Legnica became prisoners in transit camps for the Jews of Lower Silesia in Prędocice (Ger. Tormersdorf), Krzeszów (Ger. Grüssau) and Rybna (Ger. Riebnig), and then they were sent on deportation transports from Wrocław to Treblinka, Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen and to extermination camps in the East.

After World War II, Legnica became one of the largest Jewish communities in Lower Silesia. After the so-called repatriation from the Soviet Union, in July 1946 the number of Jews was 4,450. They established a number of dynamic Jewish organisations, of which still operating today are the Jewish Religious Community (Polish: Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska), with its headquarters at 12 Chojnowska Street, and the local branch of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews (Polish: Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne Żydów) in Poland (7a Nowy Świat Street).

The Description

The second Jewish cemetery in Legnica in the modern period was established in 1837, although the first burial took place there already in 1834. The land for the establishment of the new cemetery was purchased and donated to the Jewish community by Raphael Prausnitzer – the owner of the oldest bank house in the city. The necropolis was located in the southwest corner of the multi-denominational cemetery and occupied the area between today's Wrocławska and Cmentarna Streets. The ceremonial opening of the new necropolis took place on 30 October 1838. In 1877, A funeral home was erected in the cemetery; it housed a spacious prayer hall, a room for holding the deceased and upstairs administration offices. In 1891, the cemetery area has been extended to the north, giving it an area of 0.76 ha.

After the dissolution of the Synagogue Community in Legnica in 1939, the Reich Association of Jews in Germany (German: Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) became the owner of the cemetery. At the time, it occupied an area of 68 a 73 sq m, and its grounds included a funeral home and the caretaker's quarters. In the early 1940s, the cemetery buildings were used by the local post office. The Jewish cemetery contained around 1,000 graves with tombstones and monuments and around 500 graves without tombstones. The tombstones were planned to be removed and the cemetery surface levelled. The value of the area was estimated at RM 25,300 (Reichsmark), the buildings at RM 18,200, and the cemetery facilities and fencing at RM 500, totalling RM 44,000, however, the tax authorities lowered the value to RM 38,400. The sale and purchase agreement with the City of Legnica was not finalised until 24 November 1944.

After World War II, the cemetery was taken over by the community of Polish Jews and used by the Congregation of the Mosaic Faith (Polish: Kongregacja Wyznania Mojżeszowego) in Legnica. Due to a lack of burial spaces, the eastern side was expanded to include a field that was part of the pre-war municipal cemetery.

Currently, the owner of the necropolis is the Jewish Religious Community in Legnica. The cemetery property is located at 106 Wrocławska Street and comprises plot no. 484/1. It is still an active necropolis today. Both the cemetery and the funeral home are listed in the register of monuments – the first one under the number 600/754/L, the other – 601/997/L.

The number of surviving tombstones is difficult to estimate – it is only known that by 1942, there were 1,500 graves in the cemetery. The tombstones have different forms (steles, obelisks, table and chest tombs) and state of preservation. The historic cast iron fence of the necropolis as well as the entrance gate and wicket have partially survived to the present day.

The funeral home located in the cemetery is a brick two-storey building in an eclectic style with neo-Renaissance elements. Due to its poor state of repair, it is currently out of use. Above its front door, there are sentences in Hebrew: “Meeting place of all that lives”, “Dust you are and to dust you shall return” and “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed”.

Author of the note: Tamara Włodarczyk

Bibliography

• Brilling B., Die jüdischen Gemeinden Mittelschlesiens. Entstehung und Geschichte, Stuttgart 1972.
• Firszt S., Cmentarzyska i cmentarze legnickie [in:] Szkice legnickie Volume XX, Legnica 1999.
• Kozaczewska-Golasz A., Czerniawski E., Nagrobki architektoniczne na dziewiętnastowiecznym cmentarzu żydowskim w Legnicy, [in:] “Ochrona Zabytków” 1984, No. 3.
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Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.