[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||97px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”22px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipi_breadcrumbs bc_home_icon=”off” bc_hover_item_bg_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” items_text_color=”#b0b0b0″ border_color_all_items=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_breadcrumbs][et_pb_nextend_smart_slider_3 slider=”15″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_css_free_form=”.selector {|| size: 90%;||}” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_nextend_smart_slider_3][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Inter|900|||||||” title_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” title_font_size=”32px” module_alignment=”left” custom_padding=”59px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22title_text_color%22%93}”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Inter|300|||||||” header_3_font=”Inter|300|||||||” header_3_text_align=”justify” header_3_text_color=”#959595″ custom_margin=”-24px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||31px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
After World War II, Lower Silesia became a particularly important place for the Jewish community in Poland. The decisions made by the “Big Three” that redrew borders in Europe led to one of the largest “population movements” in history. The borders of the Polish Republic changed, with Poland losing several provinces in the east but, as a form of “compensation,” receiving former Prussian territories, including Silesia and its largest city, Wroc\u0142aw. This region became a kind of Polish “Wild West,” where, amidst the ruins of World War II, people could rebuild their lives. It is therefore not surprising that survivors of the Holocaust and those who had escaped the German killing machine to the Soviet Union came to this area. Wroc\u0142aw became a center for the Jewish community. <\/span>Life on Lower Silesia flourished, and soon Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w and Bielawa joined in. New institutions, schools, synagogues, and organizations were established to support the rebuilding of the Jewish community. It seemed that Lower Silesia would become a new “Promised Land.” However, the Kielce pogrom and the growing animosity of repatriates towards Jews soon followed. Jakub Egit, chairman of the Regional Committee of Polish Jews, eventually called the Jewish settlement a “Great Illusion.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/historiaodzyskana.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Podcast-7-czesc-2-\u2013-Noc-krysztalowa-i-zaglada.mp3″ title=”Promised Land” album_name=”FBK Podcast” _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”–et_global_heading_font|600|||||||” title_text_color=”#FFFFFF” title_font_size=”33px” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.48)” background_image=”https:\/\/historiaodzyskana.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ziemia-obiecana.png” background_size=”stretch” background_blend=”darken” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_accordion toggle_icon=”4||divi||400″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”45daa919-3f03-483a-83eb-b203211bb2ae” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22,%22body_link_text_color%22%93}”][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Numbers” open=”on” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||”]<\/p>\n After the end of the war in Lower Silesia, there were approximately six thousand Jews. Most of them were former prisoners of labor camps, primarily branches of Gross-Rosen. The majority of them settled in the districts of Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w, Wa\u0142brzych, Jelenia G\u00f3ra, and K\u0142odzko. People were moving around. Those who had not been Polish citizens before the war returned to their places of residence. However, most of them wanted to emigrate to the West. The communist authorities encouraged Jewish people to settle in Lower Silesia. Just one year after the war, the number of members of the Jewish community increased dramatically, reaching 100,000. <\/p>\n \n Repatriates, displaced persons from the territories of the Polish Republic that were incorporated into the Soviet Union after World War II, also arrived. The largest centers where Jews began new lives were: Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w, Wroc\u0142aw, and Wa\u0142brzych. Among them were no members of the pre-war German Jewish communities, as only about 300 people survived the war. They made an unsuccessful attempt to rebuild the Jewish community in Wroc\u0142aw. Polish Jews were not interested, as the German origin and lack of trust were obstacles. As a result, German Jews left Lower Silesia. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”New municipality” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n The nearly 700-year history of the Jewish community in Wroc\u0142aw ended with physical extermination by the German government. Few surviving Jews, scattered throughout Lower Silesia, were unable to rebuild the former structures. In 1945, a completely new chapter began in the Jewish history of the region. <\/p>\n \n In June, the Regional Jewish Committee, led by Jakub Egiet, began operating. The communist authorities allowed the establishment of the Yishuv, a structure resembling a Jewish autonomous district. It was to be established in Lower Silesia, with its headquarters in Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w, where the largest Jewish population resided. <\/p>\n \n The revival of Jewish life in Lower Silesia was remarkable. The Central Committee of Jews in Poland reactivated the Society for the Protection of Jewish Public Health in Poland, which opened its branches in Lower Silesia in the autumn of 1946. Soon, a network of about fifteen clinics, medical centers, and first-aid stations, including dental clinics, emerged, along with the largest hospital in Wa\u0142brzych, named after Dawid Guzik. The Jewish Religious Community established its headquarters near the Synagogue under the White Stork. By 1948, there were already 26 Jewish schools, including a ballet school and two music schools, where Yiddish and Hebrew were the languages of instruction. <\/p>\n \n The revival of Jewish life in Lower Silesia was remarkable. The Central Committee of Jews in Poland reactivated the Society for the Protection of Jewish Public Health in Poland, which opened its branches in Lower Silesia in the autumn of 1946. Soon, a network of about fifteen clinics, outpatient clinics, and first-aid stations, including dental clinics, emerged, along with the largest hospital in Wa\u0142brzych, named after Dawid Guzik. The Jewish Religious Congregation was located near the Synagogue under the White Stork. By 1948, there were already 26 Jewish schools, including a ballet school and two music schools, where the languages of instruction were Yiddish and Hebrew. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Cultural life” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Jews played a significant role in the post-war cultural life of Lower Silesia. For a short time, Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w became the most important Jewish city in Poland. Symche Natan directed the first post-war theatrical performance here, based on a text by Sholem Aleichem, entitled “The Bloody Joke.” Orchestras performed, and choirs sang in Dzier\u017coni\u00f3w. By mid-1946, this small town in Lower Silesia was home to dozens of smaller and several larger cultural institutions. From 1946 onwards, the Lower Silesian Jewish Theater (Niderszleziszer Jidiszer Teatr) existed in Wroc\u0142aw, under the direction of Ida Kami\u0144ska, with the renowned director Jakub Rotbaum. <\/p>\n \n Throughout Lower Silesia, theatrical groups and other local initiatives emerged, including in Wa\u0142brzych, \u015awidnica, and Zag\u00f3rze \u015al\u0105skie. The press flourished, with the newspaper “Nowe \u017bycie \u2013 Tribune WK\u017b na Dolnym \u015al\u0105sku” being published in large quantities. The “Niderszlezje” publishing house, which specialized in publications in Yiddish, was also very active. Film productions were also being created. In the famous documentary “Der jidyszer jiszuw in Niderszlezien” from 1946, the integration of the new territories into the Polish state was supported. However, the creation of a Jewish pavilion at the Exhibition of Recovered Territories was blocked by the state authorities. This signaled that the activities of Jews in Lower Silesia, which were so strong in the first year after the war, had to begin to decline from 1946 onwards. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Crucible” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n \u017bydzi przybywaj\u0105cy na obszar Dolnego \u015al\u0105ska w pierwszych powojennych miesi\u0105cach pr\u00f3bowali odtwarza\u0107 swoje \u017cycie po tragedii wojny i Holocaustu. Pojawia\u0142y si\u0119 jednak codzienne problemy oraz konieczno\u015b\u0107 odnalezienia si\u0119 w nowym miejscu, w kt\u00f3rym obecni byli jeszcze Niemcy i coraz wi\u0119ksze rzesze przesiedlanej ludno\u015bci polskiej. By\u0142y wprawdzie nieliczne pr\u00f3by odwetu na ludno\u015bci niemieckiej, ale jakakolwiek zemsta nie by\u0142a tak wa\u017cna. Stawa\u0142a si\u0119 jednak ona istotnym elementem \u015bwiatowej polityki, na kt\u00f3r\u0105 zwykli ocalali nie mieli wp\u0142ywu. Na Dolny \u015al\u0105sk przybyli \u017bydzi ortodoksyjni, liberalni oraz grupy lewicowe, przedwojennego PPS-u, Bundu, a tak\u017ce grupy, kt\u00f3re jawnie sprzyja\u0142y nowemu systemowi. Dzia\u0142a\u0142y r\u00f3wnie\u017c ugrupowania syjonistyczne, dzia\u0142aj\u0105ce na rzecz utworzenia niezale\u017cnego pa\u0144stwa \u017cydowskiego na terenie Palestyny. By\u0142 to istny tygiel. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Religious life” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Jews arriving in Lower Silesia were quickly allowed to establish a Jewish Religious Congregation. The communist authorities did this as early as February 6, 1945, three months before the Soviet troops captured Wroc\u0142aw. The religious life of Wroc\u0142aw’s Jews centered around the only synagogue that survived, the Synagogue under the White Stork. Soon, institutions of the Jewish community began to operate, including the religious school Talmud \u2013 Tora. Two Jewish cemeteries also came under the administration of the Congregation: the old cemetery on \u015al\u0119\u017cna Street and the new cemetery on Lotnicza Street. In addition to the mentioned synagogue, there was also a “small synagogue” \u2013 the *Shul*, also known as the day synagogue, located near the synagogue, and prayer rooms in Wroc\u0142aw’s O\u0142bin district. The limited damage to this district favored the revival of life, as it was where Polish repatriates settled. Two prayer rooms for Jews were located on \u017beromskiego Street and Ole\u015bnicka Street. There were also food warehouses and kosher butcher shops in that area. A *mikveh* (ritual bath) that survived the war, and the Bikur Chojlin Association, which was responsible for the sick and the poorest members of the community, also operated there. Religious services were conducted by Rabbi Szulim Trejstman starting in 1946.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Jaworska, a cherished memory of fear” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n Pr\u0119\u017cnie rozwijaj\u0105ca si\u0119 gmina \u017cydowska w Jaworze zosta\u0142a zniszczona w czasach rz\u0105d\u00f3w nazistowskich. Przetrwa\u0142y po niej liczne \u015blady, w tym funkcjonuj\u0105cy od pocz\u0105tku XIX w. cmentarz przy obecnej ul. Czes\u0142awa Mi\u0142osza. W wyniku powojennego ruchu ludno\u015bci w Jaworze osiedli\u0142a si\u0119 kilkusetosobowa grupa \u017byd\u00f3w, funkcjonuj\u0105ca w ramach Komitetu \u017bydowskiego i Kongregacji Wyznania Moj\u017ceszowego. Spo\u0142eczno\u015b\u0107 ta przej\u0119\u0142a cmentarz \u017cydowski, na kt\u00f3rym w przededniu \u015bwi\u0119ta Jom Kipur, 4 pa\u017adziernika 1946 r., zorganizowa\u0142a nietypowy poch\u00f3wek, na pami\u0105tk\u0119 zbrodniczych dzia\u0142a\u0144 Niemiec w okresie II wojny \u015bwiatowej. W obecno\u015bci przedstawicieli partii politycznych, organizacji \u017cydowskich i polskich pochowano ta\u0142esy oraz pewn\u0105 parti\u0119 myd\u0142a RIF, kt\u00f3ra, z du\u017cym prawdopodobie\u0144stwem, by\u0142a wykonana z t\u0142uszczu pomordowanych wi\u0119\u017ani\u00f3w. W uroczysto\u015bci wzi\u0119\u0142o udzia\u0142 ponad 150 os\u00f3b. Ta wyj\u0105tkowa ceremonia przypomina\u0142a o losie milion\u00f3w pomordowanych \u017byd\u00f3w, a dla w\u0142adz komunistycznych mia\u0142a by\u0107 tak\u017ce manifestacj\u0105 wobec zbyt niskich wyrok\u00f3w w Norymberdze dla zbrodniarzy niemieckich. Sam cmentarz wykorzystywany by\u0142 do roku 1958, a w roku 1974 zosta\u0142 ostatecznie zamkni\u0119ty. Zdewastowany doczeka\u0142 w 1990 r. wpisu do rejestru zabytk\u00f3w, a w XXI w. cz\u0119\u015bciowej renowacji.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Emigration ” open_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” closed_toggle_text_color=”#1f1f1f” closed_toggle_background_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22toggle_text_color%22%93}” toggle_text_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” toggle_font_size=”21px” closed_toggle_font=”Inter||||||||” open=”off”]<\/p>\n For some, Lower Silesia was the Promised Land, while for others, it was merely a stopover in the vast post-war migration. Between 1946 and 1947, the communist authorities did not place significant obstacles in the way of Jewish emigration, but poverty, exhaustion, and acts of antisemitism discouraged many Jews from staying in Poland. After the Kielce pogrom in July 1946, Jakub Egit pressured the city authorities to provide protection for Jews and for the committees. From that point on, guards armed with weapons stood at the entrance to the Committee, which deepened the frustration and sense of alienation. <\/p>\n The activities of legitimate Zionist organizations in Lower Silesia, as well as the work of Bricha (an organization that helped European Jews emigrate to Palestine) and other institutions assisting in emigration, provided an additional incentive to leave. It is important to remember that during this time, the movement of people, especially Jewish people, was enormous in Lower Silesia. At the beginning of 1949, approximately 50,000 Jews lived in Lower Silesia, but according to one of the last population censuses of Jewish people from the late spring of that year, only 43,135 people of Jewish nationality were registered. At the end of 1948, the Soviet Union’s initially favorable attitude towards Israel also changed. Consequently, the attitude towards the Jewish population in all countries of the Eastern Bloc also changed. Zionist parties were gradually being eliminated and were increasingly viewed unfavorably by the communist authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland. <\/p>\n The massive wave of emigration between 1949 and 1950 led to a drastic reduction in the Jewish population in Wroc\u0142aw and Lower Silesia, and marked the final end to the hopes of establishing an autonomous Jewish settlement structure in post-war Poland. The dream of a new life proved to be a great illusion. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9saW5rX3VybF9wYWdlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsicG9zdF9pZCI6IjE0NTIiLCJlbmFibGVfaHRtbCI6Im9mZiJ9fQ==@” button_text=”The Night of Broken Glass and the Holocaust” button_alignment=”left” button_alignment_tablet=”center” button_alignment_phone=”center” button_alignment_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _dynamic_attributes=”button_url” _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”18px” button_bg_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”1px” button_font=”Inter||||||||” button_icon=”4||divi||400″ button_icon_placement=”left” background_layout=”dark” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22button_bg_color%22%93}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9saW5rX3VybF9wYWdlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsicG9zdF9pZCI6IjE0NTQiLCJlbmFibGVfaHRtbCI6Im9mZiJ9fQ==@” button_text=”In the People's Democratic Government” button_alignment=”right” button_alignment_tablet=”” button_alignment_phone=”center” button_alignment_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _dynamic_attributes=”button_url” _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”18px” button_bg_color=”gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e” button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”1px” button_font=”Inter||||||||” button_icon=”5||divi||400″ background_layout=”dark” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-5a9fdf91-df28-41b5-b5fe-62687ea35f4e%22:%91%22button_bg_color%22%93}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"