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KORNIK (Pol. Kórnik; Ger. Kurnik), town in Poznan province, W. Poland.
Documentary evidence points to the presence of Jews in the town from 1618. In 1687 and 1713 the *Great Poland Council convened in Kornik. A privilege granted by the local nobleman allowed the Jews permanent residence and the right to trade in cloth, livestock, etc. against payment of special taxes. Communal records, beginning from the early 18th century, existed until World War II and included the special statutes of the tailors' guild, which was founded in 1754 with 44 members and still had 51 members in 1853.
A small wooden synagogue was erected in 1736, and a larger one in 1767. According to the 1765 census, there were 367 Jews in Kornik, some of whom owned houses outside the Jewish quarter. After the Prussian occupation a provincial assembly met in Kornik in 1817 with the aim of submitting to the government suggestions for improving the lot of Poznan Jewry. Among Kornik rabbis was R. Israel Moses b. Aryeh *Loeb who served from 1781. A schoolhouse was built in 1846.
During the 1848 revolution the Jews were attacked by the rebels. In 1808 the Jewish community numbered 566 (36% of the total population), increasing to 1,170 (43%) in 1840. From then on their number continually diminished due to migration to larger cities, falling to 399 (15%) in 1871, 220 (9%) in 1895, 111 (4.4%) in 1905, 92 (3.6%) in 1910, 57 (2.6%) in 1921, and only 36 in 1939. They were expelled by the Germans to Lodz and Kalisz in December 1939, sharing the fate of the local Jews.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
R. Mahler, Yidn in Amolikn Poyln in Likht fun Tsifern (1958), index; B. Wasiutyirski, Ludność żydowska w Polsce w XIX i XX wiekach (1930), 167; G. Loukomsky, Jewish Art in European Synagogues (1947), 37, 64; A. Warschaur, Die staedtliche Archive in der Provinz Posen (1901), 118; AZDJ, 63 (1899), 521; Mitteilungen der Gesamtarchive der deutschen Juden, 4 (1913), 110; A. Grotte, Deutsche, boehmische und polnische Synagogentypen (1915), 14, 17, 39, 41, 51–60; Deutsche wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift fuer Polen, 13 (1929), 139ff.; Mitteilungen zur juedischen Volkskunde, 3 (1907), 67f.; E. Callier, Powiatpyzdrski w XVI stuleciu (1888–91), 141; L. Lewin, Die Landessynode der grosspolnischen Judenschaft (1926), 33, 46, 98, 104ff.; A. Heppner and I. Herzberg, Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der juedischen Gemeinden in den Posener Landen (1909), 585–90; M.K. Piechotkowie, Bóżnice drzewniane (1957), illustrations nos. 100, 101.
Source: Jewish Encyclopedia 1903
An essay about growing up in Kornik is the source of the photo used to illustrate this project. Here:
http://www.jhi.pl/en/blog/2014-04-10-i-was-born-in-kornik
Jewish Records Poland offers the town project three LDS films, #1194061, 1194062 and 742003 that need extraction and posting. Project coordinator Madeline Okladec is in charge.
Official Polish Vital records are located at archiv 53, Fond 3579.
The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835 Revised Edition Compiled by Edward David Luft lists 91 individuals who were granted citizenship in Kurnik. During the period of the Grand Duchy of Posen Kurnik was in Schrimm County along with the towns of Schrimm (44 naturalized people), Dolzig (7), Xias (8), Moschin (14) and Jaraczewo (11).
From the International Jewish Cemetery Project, accessed July 31, 2020:
KORNIK: Wielkopolskie Print Email Coat of arms of KórnikAlternate names: Kórnik [Pol], Kurnik [Ger], Burgstadt [Ger 1939-45]. 52°15' N, 17°06' E, 12 miles SSE of Poznań (Posen). Jewish population: 399 (in 1871), 92 (in 1910). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), IV, pp. 922-925: "Kurnik". This town with fewer than 6,807 inhabitants in 2006 is a major tourist attraction for its castle and library. Until 1961, the modern town of Kórnik consisted of two separate towns: Kórnik itself and the town of Bnin, located only 1 km away. Both towns were founded in Middle Ages. The origins of Jewish settlement in Kórnik are unclear. Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Bfore and Dring the Holocaust attributes the first mention of Jews from Kórnik to the end of 17th century. A study entitled "The Oldest Record of Jewish Settlements in Poland," says that as early as 1507, Jews paid coronation taxes. 16 Jews lived there in 1674 engaged in trade and crafts, especially tailoring. Jewish population increased substantially in the first half of the 19th century: 1837-1,158; 1840-1,170 (44%); 1871-399; and 1910-92. Many iimmigrated to Germany and America. At the outbreak of WW II, 30 to 35 Jews remained. The Nazis deported them to Lodz and Kalisz. [June 2009]
The Countess of Teofil built the wooden synagogue in 1767, one of the most unusual in Poland. The lower part of the synagogue designed for men and the upper gallery for women was completely torn down by the Nazis in 1940. All that remains is the narrow passage from the market for prayer taken by the Kornik Jews, 1.5 x 10 meters, called " Uchem Igielnym." The door in Hebrew and German reads: "This is the gate to the eternal; just enter here." The passage was renovated by locals in 1979. At the front door are two plaques indicating the synagogue and the passage. Annually, the doors to the passage are opened and candles lit on Catholic Holy Days. In this way, Kórnik residents honor the memory of their former Jewish neighborsArchival synagogue photos. [May 2009]
CEMETERY: The Nazis destroyed the Jewish Cemetery in Kórnik on the outskirts of the city at the junction of ul. Średzkiej and ul. Średzkiej and ul. Parkowej in 1941. Marble tombstones were taken by the Nazis to shore up the sides of drainage ditches and for pavements. The Soviets established the cemetery as an arboretum for the Institute of Dendrology. In the 1960s, the mortuary building demolished. In 1981, during the rebuilding of ulica Reja, a few matzevot fragments were excavated. Działacze Kórnickiego Towarzystwa Kulturalnego decided to save them; and later other gravestones were found in the city streets. These granite, sandstone, and marble gravestones mostly from the 19th and early 20th century have inscriptions in Hebrew and German. Some matzevot still contain traces of polychrome. The opening of the lapidarium on May 6, 1984 at Święta Kwitnącej Magnoli was thanks to Jerzy Fogel of the Kórnick Cultural Society. In his letter to the Social Committee for the Care of Cemeteries and Monuments of Jewish Culture [Spo%C5%82ecznego Komitetu Opieki nad Cmentarzami i Zabytkami Kultury Żydowskiej], he wrote: "The interior will be made available to the public only in exceptional cases. The object is not a museum, nor does it aspire to the role of the monument of martyrdom of the Polish Jews (...). The main premise was to organize the lapidarium as a humanitarian act." Photos. [May 2009]
US Commission No. POCE0000452
Alternate name: Kurnik in German. Kornik is located in region Pozranskie at 52°15 17°06, 20 km from Pozrania. Cemetery is at 5 Parkowa St. Present population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
Town: Urzad Miasta Gminy, 1 Nepodlegtosci St., tel. 170147. Regional: region Konserwator Zabytheow, 61-716 Poznan, 93 Kosccmszki St., tel. 696464. Interested: Dr. Kazimier Krawiarz, Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, tel. 170-033. 1921 Jewish population was 57. Jewish community was Conservative. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker, a continuous fence, no gate. Reached by crossing the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, owner of the property. Access is open to all. No gravestones are visible. Removed stones are incorporated into a veranda at 20 Flensa Ave, Kornik; 13 entire and 40 fragments are in the lapodarium at the market square in Kornik. Adjacent properties are residential. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Within the limits of the cemetery is the former cemetery guard's house.
Pozana Pniewski, 47/4 Pry...... St. completed survey August 1991. The site was visited in 1989. Dr. Kazimier Krawiarz was interviewed for this survey.