Jews in Bielsko-Biała (, ), is a Jewish society with its headquarters in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. Nowadays, the area of its activity covers Cieszyn Silesia and western Lesser Poland, including the city of Oświęcim ().
Geographical and political location
The city of Bielsko () and the city of Biała () are two separate cities located next to each other. Both towns are separated only with the Biala river, which used to be the border between the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Polish Kingdom (1327-1526), between the Habsburg monarchy and the Polish Kingdom (1526-1772), between Austrian Silesia and Galicia under Austrian Empire (1772-1918) and between Silesian Voivodeship and Kraków Voivodeship under the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939). The border between the countries and regions also became the conventional line separating the influence of German Reform Judaism in Silesia from the Orthodox Judaism and Hasidism prevalent in Galicia. The cities were merged in 1951.
History of Jews in Bielsko (Bielitz) In the Middle Ages, Jews appeared in Cieszyn Silesia as passable merchants. They settled permanently in Cieszyn in the 17th century. In the middle of 18th c. first Jews settled in Bielsko and they were subject to Jewish community in Cieszyn for a century. The followers of Judaism settled in the town due to its economic attractiveness. The proximity of the border with the Kingdom of Poland, with Prussia and with Upper Hungary was an advantage for the trade and in 1772, when southern Lesser Poland along with Lipnik-Biala was attached to Austria, the town’s economy started to flourish. Additionally, the patent of tolerance issued by Joseph II on 15 December 1781 increased the scope of craft-related activities available to the Jews and allowed them to set up textile manufactures. At the same time, it imposed an obligation on the Jews to learn and use German language. Another edict from 1787 obliged the Jews to assume German names and surnames. As a result of these acts, local Jews started adopting German culture and supporting the German liberal party, which created favourable conditions for the process of assimilation with the other inhabitants of the town and later on – for the adoption of the Haskalah ideals. Until 1849 the burials of the Jews in Bielsko were held at the Jewish cemetery in Cieszyn. Jewish community in Bielsko became an autonomous legal entity on 27 December 1865. It adopted the name Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in Bielitz. After the break-up of Austro-hungarian empire, the authorities of Silesian Voivodeship acknowledged the community’s Polish statute and approved its new name: Żydowska Gmina Wyznaniowa w Bielsku(Jewish Community in Bielsko). This name was used until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 when the city was incorporated into the Nazi Germany, and the Jewish Community name was changed to Ältestenrat der jüdischen Gemeinde in Bielitz (Elder Council of Jewish Community in Bielsko). In February 1945, immediately after the offensive of soviet army, a Komitet Żydowski w Bielsku (Committee of Jews in Bielsko) was formed, and then renamed to Congregation of the Jewish Faith (Polish: Kongregacja Wyznania Mojżeszowego) in 1946. In 1995 it adopted its pre-war name: Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska w Bielsku-Białej (Jewish Community in Bielsko-Biała).
The Jewish community of Bielsko was very important and pioneered many activities on the borderline of between the world of Polish orthodox Jews and the German assimilated Reformed Jews. The first philanthropic association “B'nai B'rith” in Austro-Hungarian Empire was founded in Bielsko in 1889. The Jewish enlightenment (Haskalah) was developing rapidly here, few rabbis from Bielsko became professors at progressive seminaries in Wrocław and Berlin. Prof. Michael Berkowicz who lived in Bielsko was a friend of Theodor Herzl, and wrote a first translation to Hebrew of his Zionist manifesto “Der Judenstaat”.
The percentage of Jews in the total population of the town remain close to 20%. In 1921 there were 3982 Jews, in 1928, 4520, in 1930, 5200, and in 1939 their number exceeded 5 thousand.
The Jewish cemetery in Bielsko is the only one in Poland where Muslims (soldiers from World War I) and Christians (from mixed marriages) are buried together with Jews.
The most important progressive and official rabbis were: Hirsch Heinrich Morgenstern, Dr. Lazar Frankfurter (1865-1874), Dr. Wolf Lesser (1875-1882), Dr. Adolf Kurrein (1882-1888), Dr. Saul Horowitz (1888-1896), Dr. Markus Steiner (1896-1939). The most important orthodox rabbis were: Jecheskiel Paneth, Menachem Mendel Stern, Moshe Stern, Izak Stern.
History of Jews in Biała (Biala)