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This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the town of Brzozow, Poland, also known as Breziv, Bereziv, Brozovia, Berezov, Bz'ozuv, Prozzow, Березів, ברעזשוב.
The Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland, Volume III, pages 71-72 includes a population chart beginning with the year 1808 and ending with the year 1931. During this time the Jewish population for the town fluctuated from 144 Jewish residents to 1046 Jewish residents. To see more population details and to find out more about the early settlement of the town, go to: Pinkas Hakehillot
According to the GUS Census of 1931, Brzozów had a population of 10,109. 3.3% of this population or 338 inhabitants were Jewish. (Ed: There appears to be a discrepancy between the statistics stated in the Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland and the GUS Census of 1931)
“Virtual Shtetl” – includes a detailed history of Brzozów Virtual Shtetl
History
Brzozów was founded in 1359. It took on the name of an earlier, adjacent settlement of the 14th century, which gradually over time came to be known as Stara Wieś (Old Village). A large Jesuit Basilica and Monastery, built in 1760, is found in Stara Wieś. Queen Mary donated Brzozów and four other villages to the Bishops of Przemyśl in 1384. From the middle 14th to the early 19th centuries, the Bishops of Przemyśl resided principally at Brzozów.
Tatar attacks took place in 1525, 1623–25, 1629 and with heavy losses in 1674. Afterwards, Brzozów declined commercially until the 19th century. From the first partition of Poland in 1772 until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), head of the district with the same name, one of the 78 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Austrian Galicia province (Crownland).
Before WW2 there was a Jewish community of about 1300 in Brzozów. All were sent to death camps or murdered by the Nazis during the war. Since then, there has been no Jewish presence in the town.
Economy
In 1550-1650, nineteen trades were practiced here including cloth-making, food processing, and leather-making as well as wood, metal, and ceramic trades. The first hospital of record is mentioned in 1518. A parish school was in existence in the early 16th century, and annual elections of mayors and judges, subject to approval of the bishop, commenced in 1410.
The town for hundreds of years had been known for the manufacture of combs, but the industry disappeared by the 1960s. Manufacture of oils was another industry in Brzozów; walnut oil was a famous product reportedly supplied to the royal table in Kraków in the 16th century. Oils were also produced from plum core.
A post-office was opened in 1851
The Rabbis
- FEITH/FEIT Reb Israel Feith, son of Alexander Zusman Feith, was born in Brzozów in 1858. For more information on Reb Feith, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above. (page 161)
- WEBER Rabbi Ha’im Weber was the Beis Medresh Rabbi.
- Rabbi Yossele Weber was Brzozów’s last Rabbi. He was the son of Rabbi Hai’im Weber and arrived from the shtetl of Boyberik to take his father’s place. For more information (incredibly sad story) and photo, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above. (pages 186-187)
- GABEL Rabbi Yser Gabel came to Brzozów from Lubaczow.
- Rabbi Shalom Gabel replaced his father, Rabbi Yser Gabel and kept his position of Rabbi for 54 years.
- Rabbi Simon Gabel, his grandson, replaced Reb Shalom upon his death. Rabbi Simon Gabel was a Rabbi in Brzozów until the extermination of the Jewish population. For more information on Rabbis Yser/Shalom/Simon Gabel and photo, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above. (pages 69-70)
Source:
- Sefer zikaron kehilat Breziv (Brzozow) [A Memorial to the Brzozow Community], Editor: Avraham Levite, Israel, 1984.
(If you are aware of additional Rabbis, please contact Debbie Raff )
The Cemetery
The Jewish cemetery is located on ul. Ceglowska. A cemetery survey was completed in 1992 by the US Commission (#POCE000707) To see details of this survey, go to: Jewish Cemetery
In 1990 Dreiza and Natan Weiss of Israel established a monument on the site of the mass grave of August 1942. In 1994 they began building a fence around the cemetery area. The uncovered pieces of gravestones were incorporated into the monument in the form of the tablets of law.
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- "Monument for a Destroyed Jewish Community." Part I, The Forward, May 30, 1986, p. 7, 27
- 'To the more than a thousand Memorial volumes on the destroyed Jewish communities of Eastern Europe that have been published in Tel Aviv, New York, Buenos Aires and Paris there has now been added the Sefer Ziroken [sic] Kehilat Breziv, as that Jewish community in southwest Galicia was known in Yiddish….'
- "The Extinguished Jewish Shtetl." Part II, The Forward, June 6, 1986, p. 13-4
- 'The first written documents about Brzozow, long before it was 'Yiddishized' into 'Breziv' stem from the beginning of the 14th century, the time of the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom, when this region was called 'Red Russia…'
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Families
- Ciesla Family
- Kroliki family
Reference:
Karol Pilch - photographer:
"Glowne skrzyzowanie noca Brzozow" by Karol Pilch (Karol91) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - Karol Pilch