The earliest records of Jewish settlement in Brzeziny date back to the mid-16^th century. A division document from 1547 mentions Żydowska (Jewish) Street[1.1]. According to Jerzy Kołodziej, at least several dozen Jews lived in Brzeziny at the time. They probably traded in wool and cloth and worked as intermediaries in job commissions[1.2]. In the 16th century, the local adherents to Judaism were subject to the kahal in Łęczyca[1.3].

A pogrom is said to have taken place in Brzeziny in 1262. Five Jews were to be killed in an act of retaliation for suspected ritual murder[1.4]. Another pogrom probably broke out in 1656, when the army of Stefan Czarniecki murdered ca. 40 Jewish families. According to Paweł Fijałkowski, the number of victims could have been much smaller and included refugees from other towns[1.5]. Fijałkowski also claims it likely that the Jewish community in Brzeziny was reborn before the end of the 17^th century[1.6]

Jewish burghers of Brzeziny are mentioned in a document dating back to 1736, produced in connection with the court case brought against the town by the Łęczyca Province for non-payment of taxes[1.7]. Subsequent references to the Jewish population of the town come from documents issued in 1741, mentioning Józef Marklowicz and Józef Pellitor. More detailed source information from 1758 concerns lease contracts concluded by the owner of the town, Józef Lasocki, with Hersz of Brzeziny, Józef Markowicz, Mejer Lewkowicz, and Izrael Kuciński[1.8]. The first census of the Jewish population was carried out on 15 December 1764. It listed 203 Jewish people living in the town of Brzeziny and the neighbouring villages. They constituted 7% of the total population of the Brzeziny Region. At that time, Jews occupied 25 houses in the town itself.

The 1764 census also contains information on the professional activities of Jews. The following are listed: Mosiek Gierszowicz – tobacco maker, Jakub Jolewicz – leaseholder of the market in Brzeziny, Mortka Mortkowicz – pretzel maker, Józef Abramowicz – tailor, Zelig Lewkowicz – butcher, Szloma Lewkowicz – hatter, Icek Lajzerowicz – publican, and Enoch Judkowicz – brewer. The kehilla in Brzeziny also had jurisdiction over the Jews from the neighbouring villages of Wiączyń, Mileszki, Bedoń, Witkowice, Przanowice, Koluszki, Kędziorki, Stawki, and from the Rochna mill – 40 people in total[1.9]. A decade later, the Jewish population of the town experienced a sharp decrease, with only 132 Jews living in 16 houses. In 1790s, the community grew slightly, comprising 162 people.

After the January Uprising, the town experienced a large influx of Jews. In 1886, the community was composed of 3,314 people, i.e. 46.4% of the total population. In 1893, Jews constituted 50% of the population of Brzeziny. They were mainly involved in cattle trade and the sale of clothing at nearby fairs; they also ran small shops in the town itself. The local Jews also drove the tailoring industry, converting it into a large-scale operation based on individual family workshops and making Brzeziny the largest domestic tailoring centre in the Russian Empire. From the beginning of the 20^th century until 1939, Brzeziny was commonly known as “the town of tailors” or “the capital of Polish tailoring”[1.10]. The local tailors dealt exclusively with the production of male clothing, with its main outlet being the Russian market.

The development of tailoring contributed to the expansion of Brzeziny. Jews started to buy construction plots in the town centre. In the years 1890–1912, they built several dozen houses in the Neo-Renaissance and Art Nouveau style. The centre of social and cultural life of the Brzeziny Jews was Źródlana Street – present-day’s Berka Joselewicza Street.

In 1890, a clothing manufacturing plant was opened in the town by brothers Jakub and Abe Hersz Sułkowicz. In 1931, the company exported goods to the markets of England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and France. Their total value amounted to PLN 400,000; the company also cooperated with Clothing Manufactore Co. in Tel Aviv. Among the largest plants in the region was also the company of Maurycy Frankenstein, later transformed into the Frankenstein & Tuszyński Company. In the years 1933–1938, it was a member of the clothing export syndicate. Other Brzeziny export companies included: Mozes Raszewski Co., owned by the Dymant brothers and located at 12 Mickiewicza Street; the company of the Lew brothers at 7 Mickiewicza Street (they exported their products even to Egypt); enterprises run by Gerszon Krauze and Symcha Goldfarer. They all had their own stores in Brzeziny, and the largest one belonged to the Sułkowicz brothers[1.11].

World War I thwarted the development of tailoring, as the town was cut off from the absorbent Russian market. After the war, many Jews left Brzeziny for economic reasons, which significantly affected the local demography. The production was dominated by cottage industry, which rendered the earnings of local craftsmen much lower than of those in Łódź. In 1930, the daily revenue of an acclaimed Brzeziny tailor amounted to ca. PLN 1.50, and it decreased by as much as 50% during the Great Depression. This caused numerous conflicts and strikes.

The Jewish community actively participated in the social life of Brzeziny. Already in 1917, it had its representatives in the Municipal Council. Its members included: Moszek Rozenberg, Dawid Kaufman, Pinkus Jakubowicz, Aron Brzezinski, and Lejb Smolarski. The same year, the Municipal Board included three Jewish members. In 1918, a second centre of power was established in Brzeziny – the Workers' Council. Its members included representatives of the Bund and Poale Zion. In the elections to the Municipal Council in 1919, Jews obtained 11 seats, Poles – 11 seats, Germans – one seat. Jewish councillors represented four parties: the Bund, Poale Zion, Folkists, and the Orthodox-Zionist Mizrachi movement. The Municipal Board members included Chaim Icek Grünfeld and Abram Szafran[1.12]. In the elections to the Municipal Council of the second term, Jews also gained 11 seats; 12 were given to Poles and one to Germans. Electoral List No. 10, representing craft circles, received the largest number of votes. Poale Zion and the Orthodox community obtained two seats. Zelig Moszek Pinkus became a member of the Municipal Board[1.13]. Jewish councillors demanded broader democratic rights for Jews and solutions to the social and economic problems of the Brzeziny population. The subsequent elections took place in 1929. The Jewish community gained 13 seats, as compared to 10 Polish seats and one German. The Orthodox movement obtained five seats, Poale Zion-Left – three seats, the Trade Union of Tailor Craftsmen – two seats, the Bund – one seat, communists – one seat, Jewish Merchants – one seat. In the following elections of 1934, Jews obtained only seven seats. The Jewish Economic Bloc gained four seats, and the Jewish United Workers' Block – three seats. The last elections to the Town Council took place on 30 April 1939. The Jewish community gained 10 councillors, Germans received one seat, while Poles received eight seats from the OZON list (Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego – National Unity Camp) and six seats from the SN list (Stronnictwo Narodowe – National Party)[1.14]. The Jewish community was also represented in the district assembly.

During World War II, Brzeziny was incorporated into the Reich, forming part of the Litzmannstadt-Land District. One of the first acts of repression was the removal of Jewish physicians from professional practice. The Germans opened schools for Polish and German pupils; Jewish children were banned from attending them. On 19 September 1939, Germans confiscated ca. 100 suits from Jewish wholesalers and the warehouses owned by Jewish merchants[1.15].

On 9 November 1939, Germans set fire to the local synagogue, officially putting the blame on the local rabbi, Zelman Borensztajn. They used it as a pretext for imposing a contribution on the Jewish community – initially in the amount of PLN 10,000, later reduced by half. The money was collected by January 1940. The operation was headed by Erwin Bach – the leader of the local Selbstschutz, a paramilitary organisation of the local German minority cooperating with the occupant. The rabbi and other Jewish elders were arrested. The rabbi’s beard was set on fire[1.16].

From 12 December 1939, all Jews were ordered to wear a yellow armband with the inscription “Jude” on the right arm. One of the first documents issued by the occupant was a decree published on 18 November 1939 by the Command of the Central Border Area in Łódź, titled On Jewish Profiteers in Textiles and Leather Goods. Jews were forbidden to trade in any kinds of textiles, hides, and leather goods – Jewish tailors in Brzeziny became unemployed. In December 1939, seven large Jewish enterprises which had employed a total of 5,665 people in 1938 were no longer in operation. Effectively, most of Brzeziny residents were deprived of work. Shops, businesses and apartments belonging to Jews were marked with the Star of David. In December 1939, a resolution was passed that Brzeziny was to become Judenrein (German: “free from Jews”). The first deportations of Jews from sections of Piłsudskiego Street and Kościuszki Street began at the end of December 1939[1.17]. Soon, the decision to make Brzeziny “free from Jews” was changed, probably for economic reasons. The process of displacement was divided into stages and was to be completed until April 1940. Every two weeks, 500 people were to be driven away. Eventually, the operation was abandoned.

Under the decree of 28 April 1940, Germans established a ghetto in the town. Its population was composed of Jews from Brzeziny, those deported from Lipiny, and a group of Jews from Łódź. In the spring of 1942, ca. 300 Jews from Stryków were brought to Brzeziny. The number of the ghetto prisoners amounted to ca. 5,500–6,000.

The Germans left the administration of the ghetto to the Superior of the Jewish Elders. Fiszel Ikka was selected for the position. A unit of the Jewish Ghetto Police was formed. With time, the ghetto was enclosed with a wooden fence. However, this did not result in complete isolation; it was still possible to reach the “Aryan side” and thus smuggle food into the district and conduct trade[1.18]. According to the Chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto, Jews from Brzeziny were receiving food aid from Poles[1.19]. Housing conditions in the ghetto were disastrous; numerous epidemics broke out among the prisoners. Jews were used as forced labour by the Germans, who also committed numerous murders and carried out public executions.

The ghetto in Brzeziny was liquidated on 15–20 May 1942. A police unit from Łódź surrounded the area of the “Jewish quarter” with a tight cordon. The flow of correspondence was stopped. The Germans set up committees composed of physicians and tasked them with drawing up lists of residents, classifying them in terms of suitability for the needs of the occupant. On the night of 15/16 May, Germans carried out the first “operation,” during which children up to the age of 10 were taken away from their families. Altogether, ca. 800 children were apprehended. They were then killed in gas chambers in the camp in Chełmno (Kulmhof). On 18 and 19 May 1942, Germans began to deport the remaining ghetto population. They were ordered to gather in the streets, in front of townhouses. The deportees were allowed to take luggage weighing no more than 11 kg. Heavier bags and packages were taken away by guards and thrown back into the gates or flats. During the “operation,” the Germans carried out a selection, separating the strong and healthy from the sick, children, and the elderly[1.20].

This lasted for several hours. After the selection was completed, people were led under guard to the railway station in Gałkówek, located a few kilometres away. The elderly and the ill were driven in horse carts. In Gałkówek, during the process of loading the people into train cars, Germans killed at least a dozen people. Ca. 2,000 Jews were sent to the death camp in Chełmno. The rest – 3,789 people in total – were transported to Łódź.

The first transport from Brzeziny reached the Radegast (Radogoszcz) railway station in Łódź on the morning of 19 May 1942. Germans separated a group of 64 fit men and took them by tram to Bałucki Market Square, from where they were probably later sent to the forced labour camp in Dąbrówka. On the same day, another group of Brzeziny inhabitants arrived in Łódź. Some of them discovered that their luggage and food supplies had been plundered on the way. Jewish policemen were blamed for the theft. The authors of the Chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto, in the entry dated 20 May 1942, noted: “People arriving from Brzeziny (…) are poorly dressed and miserable. This can be explained by the fact that even before the war, Brzeziny tailors belonged to the most exploited proletariat; even then they rarely earned enough for their livelihood, let alone in the times of war, when their wages were not sufficient to quell one’s hunger, and getting food was not easy”[1.21]. On 20–21 May 1942, several people from Brzeziny were sent to hospital with suspected typhoid fever. Jews deported from Brzeziny were accommodated at Szklana Street. Their mental state was very bad, mainly due to having been separated from their families during the selection. No one knew what had happened to hundreds of children, the elderly and the sick; nobody suspected that they would be murdered in Chełmno. People were holding on to the false hope of soon reuniting with their relatives[1.1.19].

After the ghetto liquidation “operation,” ca. 300 Jewish workers were left in Brzeziny. Until the autumn of 1942, they were searching the houses in the ghetto and segregating the property left behind. The eventual fate of this group has not been determined. From time to time, Germans would bring some former inhabitants of Brzeziny back from Łódź, so that they would show them where they had hidden their valuables. As a rule, after finding the hidden property, its former owners were killed. In 1943, Germans formed a number of Jewish commandos, some comprising the inhabitants of Łódź. Their task was to demolish houses in the former Brzeizny Ghetto and use matzevot from the Jewish cemetery in construction works[1.22].

Only a small group of Jews from Brzeziny survived the Holocaust. After the war, some of the survivors settled in Łódź, which became the seat of the Committee of Brzeziny Jews. According to official data of the City Hall, there were four people of Jewish origin residing in Brzeziny as of 1 November 1946; on 1 October 1947, it was 15 people. Over the following years, all of them most likely migrated from Poland[1.23]. The exodus was triggered by a number of factors, including acts of anti-Semitism, especially the pogrom in Kielce. Another motive – often expressed in the recollections of survivors – was the trauma of the war, making it impossible to live “in the cemetery,” as many people described the towns where the Holocaust had taken place. At the end of 1954, only one Jewish person lived in Brzeziny[1.24].

Jews from Brzeziny migrated mainly to Palestine, the United States and France. They formed landsmanshaftn in all three countries. Their leading activists included Abraham Rosenberg, Rachel Bergman, Melech Herszenberg, Joseph Diamond, J. D. Berg, Morris Hendricks, Louie Horn, Fannie Tanenbaum, Fishel Maliniak, Sam Hyman, Masha Green, N. Summer, Izzy Schilsky, Joseph Shaibowicz, Max Tushinsky (Tyson), Sam Fox, Harry Peters, Willie Rosenfeld, Feiwel Rosenberg, Alter Rosenfeld, Gussie Pakula, Jehuda Fuks, S. Fuks, Aron Selin, J. Rosenblum, Meyer Lasky, Rene Lasky, Louie Hauser, Shlomo Schwartz, Sam Maliniak, Manny Snyder, S. Sobowinsky, Ruth Hauser.

On the initiative of the landsmanshaft in the USA, the Yiddish-language Brzezin Yisker-buch was published in New York in 1961. The volume has over 300 pages and describes the history of the town, the appearance of the synagogue, includes information about rabbis, melamedim, and other prominent figures, as well as about the social, political and economic life of the community and its destruction in the Holocaust. Two chapters are devoted to the émigrés to America and Israel. A dozen or so pages feature the list of people killed during World War II. The memorial book also contains many archival photographs. The last English-language edition, edited by Fay R. Bussgang, was published in 2012. It is worth noting that both the English version and the original text of the book are available in full on-line at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/brzeziny/brzeziny.html [Accessed: 9 May 2014].

In the times of the Polish People's Republic, some Jews from Brzeziny or their descendants visited their native shtetl. For example, Rhoda Hendrik-Karpatkin, the daughter of Jechiel Hendriks, granddaughter of Lajbel Hendrykowski, visited Brzeziny in 1960. The visitors usually went to places related to their families or to the devastated Jewish cemetery. It was not until the democratic transformation of the 1990s that steps were taken by the authorities to commemorate the Jewish heritage in Brzeziny.

On 18 May 1990, a plaque in the shape of a matzeva was unveiled on the frontage of the townhouse at 1 Berka Joselewicza Street, the former seat of the school and the rabbi's house. Designed by Jerzy Kołodziej, the plaque bears an inscription in Polish, Hebrew and English: “In memory of 6,000 Brzeziny Jews tortured and annihilated by the German invader, 1939–1945.”

In the years 1991–1992, the Jews from the Brzeziny Landsmanshaft, headed by Eliezer Zyskind, financed cleaning works and the construction of a fence at the Jewish cemetery. A monument was erected at the site, bearing a plaque with the following inscription: “To the eternal memory of Brzeziny Jews buried in this cemetery.”

In 1994, a book entitled Światło w dolinie łez [Light in the Valley of Tears] was published by Wydawnictwo Łódzkie. In the book, Sara Zyskind describes the wartime history of her own and her husband’s, Eliezer Zyskind, a former Jewish inhabitant of Brzeziny.

Thanks to the efforts of the Landsmanshaft, a monument was also erected at the site of the former Nazi German extermination camp in Chełmno. The unveiling ceremony took place on 21 July 1997. Several dozen Brzeziny Jews, including Eliezer Zyskind, took part in the ceremony, which was also attended by the inhabitants of Brzeziny and its mayor, Piotr Chojnacki. Prayer was conducted by Symcha Keller from the Jewish Community in Łódź with the participation of the parish priest of the local Roman Catholic parish, Father Idzi Piasecki. A speech was delivered by Eliezer Zyskind, who said: “By unveiling the monument, we are fulfilling the testament of our Jewish brothers murdered in Chełmno, who wished for us never to forget the Nazi genocide. This truth must be passed on to young generations. We are the last and now the only ones who can and should do it. By unveiling this monument, I am also fulfilling the promise given to my late wife, Sara Zyskind, who first conceived this idea”[1.25].