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Piła, Poland 53°09' N 16°45' E 188 mi WNW of Warszawa N 16°45' E
This project is not for Schneidermühl, Tittling, Bayern, Deutschland.
Pila is well documented at the JewishGen site here:http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/pila/ . This is a primary resource.
Peter Cullman has written a 375 page book on this town; http://www.avotaynu.com/books/Cullman.htm Peter Cullman spent fifteen years compiling a history of Schneidemühl (today Piła, Poland). The result is a portrayal not only of the Jewish minority, but also the community in which it resided. The book begins by describing the slow growth of this tiny Polish town and the arrival of Jews in the 16th century. The reader is provided a detailed account of the synagogues, the arrival of rabbis, and the changing nature of this community against a background of major European historical events.
The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835, Revised Edition, compiled by Dr. Edward David Luft, published by Avotaynu in 2004 lists 25 people from the town of Schneidemuhl who were awarded citizenship. Among the names listed are Heymann Bornstein, Lewin Moses Goldschmidt, Anton Henschel, Jette Lewin Herz, Lewin Herz, Peter Jacobsohn. Heymann Ruben Levy and Jacob Abraham Levy, and several others.
This town was in the Bromberg Administrative District in 1834. The County of this town was Chodziesen. Other towns in this County were Uscz (7 citizens), Margonin (17 citizens), Samoczyn (19 citizens) and Budzin (13 citizens).
A comprehensive article, with photos, about Pila is available at this site: http://www.xn--jdische-gemeinden-22b.de/index.php/gemeinden/s-t/175...
From the Genealogy.net database Juden im Deutschen Reich these people were born in Pila (Schneidermuhl): ASCH, Joseph * 24.12.1850 in Pila, + 18.11.1928 BAUMANN, Hildegard * 01.27.1916 in Schneidemühl BAUMANN, Martin * 1886 in Pila, + 11.02.1907 in Havel (river) BENDIT, Amalie * 20.11.1857 in Schneidemühl Conitzer Frieda Johanna * 31.12.2016 in Pila, + 12.12.1907 in Heidelberg Conitzer, meta * 04.01.1893 in Pila, + 08.18.1942 in Riga (Ghetto) Cunio, Mathilde Emilie Valesca * 24.12.1864 in Schneidemühl HENKEL MAN Martha Marie * 03.31.1881 in Schneidemühl Heymann, Jacob * 01.08.1851 in Schneidemühl LIPPMANN, Lippmann * 07.31.1859 in Pila, + 1940 in Berlin-Wedding LOEWINSOHN, Lewin Lesser * 1801 in Pila, + 1872 in Olsztyn Mendelsohn, Louis in 1830 * Schneidemühl, + 1898 in Berlin MEYER SON, Bernhard * 05.24.1856 in Pila, + 13.08.1920 SAMUEL SON, Fritz * 02.03.1884 in Schneidemühl SAMUEL SON, Henriette * 05.18.1858 in Schneidemühl SCHWERINER, Flora Fanny * 05.05.1864 in Pila, + 16/10/1916 Schwersenz, Else * 30.11.1893 in Schneidemühl TOBIAS, Felix * 08.17.1876 in Schneidemühl TOBIAS, Simon * 09.16.1811 in Pila, + 06.28.1904 in Rostock wELL, Frieda * 03.13.1916 in Schneidemühl
Adressbuch der Stadt Schneidemühl 1896 http://adressbuecher.genealogy.net/addressbook/547466e71e6272f5d060...
Schneidemuhl Detainees. This database contains records for 512 people who were detained in or deported from the district of Schneidemühl in 1941. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/0232_Schneidemuhl_deta...
Liste der Kolonisten aus dem Netzedistrikt von 1776-1798 von Lena Bellée-Vogt (List of colonists from the net district of 1776-1798 by Lena Bellée-Vogt) http://www.kerntopf.com/diverses/kolliste.htm Netzedistrikt or Netze-Distrikt (Polish: Obwód Nadnotecki) was a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 until 1807. It included the urban centers of Bydgoszcz (Bromberg), Inowrocław (Inowraclaw), Piła (Schneidemühl) and Wałcz (Deutsch Krone).
Another source is the Archive Project, Posen West Prussia section. Schneidemuehl General information: First Jewish presence: 16th century (see below); peak Jewish population: 1,039 in 1858; Jewish population in 1933: approximately 600 Summary: By the end of the 16th century, Schneidemuehl was home to a functioning Jewish community. Members of the early community lived in a designated Jewish quarter, surrounded by a moat, on the outskirts of town. In 1655, 33 local Jews were killed by a band of Swedish soldiers, who also destroyed the synagogue and its ritual objects. Although local Jews received a letter of royal protection in 1670, it was not until the 19th century that the community began to flourish. Established in the 1830s, Schneidemuehl’s Jewish elementary school was destroyed, as was the synagogue, in the fire of 1834. In 1841, a new synagogue was built on Wilhelmsplatz; it was in the 1840s, too, that the community established a new school and a mikveh. By the end of the 1850s, over 1,000 Jews lived in Schneidemuehl. We also know that from the late 1920s onwards, Schneidemuehl was home to a district rabbinate of which approximately 1,400 Jews from 14 communities were members. In 1932/33, the leaders of the community were Isidor Lewin, Alex Soldin and Nathan Moses. Dr. Arthur Rosenzweig was rabbi, and Siegfried Sommerfeld and Samuel Rosenthal headed a representative committee of 13 members. In charge of the cemetery, synagogue and community finances were J. Lewin, S. Jacob (the chazzan) and a lawyer named Fleisher. The community was also home to a local center for Jewish welfare, which, under the leadership of Dr. Adolf Bieber, distributed food and fuel to the needy. Other local Jewish associations included the following: a chevra kadisha (88 members) led by Max Simonsohn; a sisterhood (131 members) led by Erna Frankel; an association for interest-free loans (53 members) led by Dr. Bieber; a Jewish youth group led by a man named Werner; a German-Jewish youth group led by Ludwig Rosenthal; the Salo-Adler lodge; and, finally, a sisterhood associated with the Salo-Adler lodge. In 1932/33, 62 Jewish children attended Schneidemuehl’s various schools. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue was set on fire; 63 Jewish businesses and 23 Jewish homes were also ravaged. By May 1939, only 116 Jews lived in Schneidemuehl. The old cemetery was destroyed in 1939, after which the site was converted into a public park. Gravestones were used to shore up the river banks; although two of the three surviving stones were restored in the 1990s, they were later destroyed by vandals. Those Jews who failed to emigrate were interned in the Buergergarten in March 1940, from where they were deported to the East on March 21, 1940. At least 270 Schneidemuehl Jews perished in the Shoah.
Review of the yadvashem.org database indicates about 550 individual victims of the Holocaust were from Pila Schneidermühl. Some may be duplicates.
Photo: The synagogue of Schneidemuehl at the beginning of the 20th century (postcard). Courtesy of: Unknown. Private use only, not reproduced here. Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans Sources: EJL, IAJGS, LJG, YV kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Pila/index.html Located in: Posen-West-Prussia
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