History
Jewish community before 1989 – Polska / pomorskie
Kwidzyn is about 24 miles south of Malbork (Marienburg/Nogat.) Leib Jacob Lewin, a banker, was the first Jew to settle down in the town. He came there together with his family in 1790. Over following years more and more Jewish families began to settle, each of whom had to pay an annual fee for the benefit of a royal treasury board. They were to pay for living in the town but also so-called military, wedding and child taxes were also collected from the families. They also had to pay a silver supply tax. Initially, there were few Jews in Kwidzyn, in 1789 there was only one family living there and the number increased up to eight in 1811. Already in 1887, however, the figure reached its maximum as there were 357 people living in the Jewish community. In the following years the number was smaller, still considerable, however: there were ca.290 Jews in 1890 and in 1930 it was 210 Jews at best. Only before the outbreak of WWI, i.e. in about 1910, the community witnessed a drastic slump in its population down to 120 inhabitants, but after that the number increased, not for long, though.
Also Jews living in nearby towns, such as Gardeja (Garnsee), Korzeniewo (Kurzebrack), Michałowo (Marienau), Mareza (Mareese), Opalenie (Münsterwalde), Czarne Dolne (Niederzehren) i Czarne Górne (Hochzehren) belonged to the synagogal community of Kwidzyn. Jewish locals earned their living basically off trade. “Kaufhaus M. Conitzer & Söhne” (eng. M.Conitzer and Sons) department store was the most famous Jewish shop in the town but there were lots of little Jewish shops that provided the locals with every-day necessities. Before the outbreak of WW II there was a slump in the populace of the Jewish community. In 1933 it consisted of only 186 members and in 1938 the number was solely 100 persons. Nevertheless, over following months all of them left Kwidzyn for bigger cities or foreign countries; the community was dissolved. It is certain that members of at least 25 families that lived in Kwidzyn in the early 1930s were killed in Holocaust.
The text written in about 1955 by Ewald Lenski, an ornithologist, confirms that the relationships between a Jewish minority and Christians in Kwidzyn were friendly. He wrote: Jews and Christians always got on well with each other and were equal citizens of the town. Being honest entrepreneurs and craftsmen both groups were committed to their profession. In every-day life and interpersonal relations Jews were always very modest, and, like the rest of town’s population, they dutifully fulfilled their legal and civil obligations , always serving their motherland. Jewish children stood out for being well-mannered and always ready to help those in need. They were very talented and many remembered them as the best friends from school. They attended synagogue services, like all pious people. Jewish citizens were neither proud nor arrogant but always treated their employees in a fair manner. Extremely remarkable is their family life, which they extremely valued…
In 1815 the Jewish community in Kwidzyn, then still rather small, was granted permission to establish its own cemetery in Graudenzer Straβe (currently Grudziądzka St.) The dead had formerly been buried in the cemetery in Sztum (Stuhm), located about 15 miles south of Kwidzyn. Religious services were originally held in a room that was specially arranged for it in a house of one of the wealthiest community members in Marienburger Straβe (present Braterstwa Narodów St.) It was not before the early 1830s that a synagogue was erected thanks to collected money. It was located in Mauernstraβe (Murarska St.) and a blessing ceremony was attended not only by community members but also numerous Christian town dwellers. An Evangelical priest made a speech then. Over time the synagogue turned out to be too small and almost 100 years afterwards the community commenced construction of a new, bigger synagogue at the corner of Grünstraβe and Heckenstraβe (somewhere near present Piłsudskiego and 15. Sierpnia Streets.) In the years between 1845 and 1850 dr. Heimann Jolovicz served as a preacher in the Kwidzyn community. He supported a radical reformatory movement and established “Stowarzyszenie Reformacyjne” (Eng. Reform Association, German: Reformvereinigung.) He introduced for instance Sunday services and the German language to religious services, which were not supported by the believers, though. During Kristallnacht in November 1938 the synagogue was burnt to ashes by stormtroops (Sturmabteilung) and the cemetery was leveled with the ground.
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