The first synagogue was built in 1810[1]Dzieje Trzemeszna [The History of Trzemeszno], Cz. Łuczak [Ed.], Poznań 2002, p.102., at Bóżnicowa Street (Synagogue Street), now Maria Konopnicka Street. Next to it were a garden, a shed, a gravedigger's house, a carriage house and a mikveh (a ritual bathhouse). The latter reportedly had no windows, only skylights[2]http://www.marienburg.pl. According to M. Obremski, in 1839, on the basis of a 30-year prescription, the Jewish Community was entered as the owner of the plot in the land records[3]Maciej Obremski, Trzemeszno. Studium historyczno-konserwatorskie miasta, typescript, Toruń 1982, object No. 121..
In 1885 there was a fire in the synagogue[4]A. Heppner, I, Herzberg, Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der jued. Municipalities in the Poznań Lands,, Koźmin- Bydgoszcz 1909, p. 991.. The physical trace of this event is the preserved Yizkor Book, which is a copy of the burnt book and contains an annotation about the fire written by Samuel Rothmann, a Jewish merchant living in Trzemeszno (photo 1-2)[5]Hazkarat Neshamot , Księga Jizkor, the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, sygn. PL-413..
The Jewish Community did not have adequate funds for its reconstruction; although it received 4,000 marks in indemnification, this amount was inadequate and the community was forced to seek help from other communities. The committee for the construction of the synagogue included: I. Glaser, I. Jacob, M. Friedmann, I. Lehrs, S. Rothmann, E. Strelitz[6]A. Heppner, I. Herzberg, op. cit., p. 991.Eventually, in its place stood a new, more impressive synagogue, which survived until World War II. Unfortunately, no photograph depicting the Trzemeszno synagogue in its entirety has survived, except two photos where it is partially visible in the background.
It is worth mentioning that the synagogue fire contributed to the creation of the fire brigade in Trzemeszno. The "Volunteer Fire Guard of the city of Trzemeszno" was established on October 30, 1889 and consisted of 81 members of "men wielding weapons and citizens of the city of all states and religions. Its composition reflected the national composition of Trzemeszno, which was under the Prussian partition, as well as the desire to defend and fight together against the fire element by Poles, Germans and Jews, who united to protect the life, health and property of their fellow citizens" (photo 4-5)[7]Archiwum OSP w Trzemesznie, Act of the Society "Volunteer Fire Guard of the City of Trzemeszno".
We know the names of several rabbis employed by the Jewish community in Trzemeszno: Israel Münchenberg, Heymann Hermann Wolfsohn (employed in the years 1837-1841), Israel Gabrielewitz (c. 1849), Samuel Willner (1859-1862), Marcus Mordechai Borchardt, I. Abraham (1870)[8]A. Heppner, I. Herzberg, op. cit., p. 991;
dokumenty z archiwum Uniwersytetu w Southampton, (Hartley Library, University of Southampton), sygn. MS 164 AJ 196
.
An interesting trace of the presence of Jews in Trzemeszno is the parchment scroll of the Book of Esther, which was found in 2004 in a metal tube in the attic of a house on Dąbrowskiego Street, near the former synagogue. It is not known to whom it belonged and in what year it was created. It is currently located at the Regional Museum in Trzemeszno (photo 6).
In the autumn of 1939, on the orders of the Nazis, the synagogue was demolished. According to the residents’ testimonies, the local Jews were forced to demolish it. Another source states that the interned priests from the deanery were used for demolition[9]https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackBookOfPoland/The%20Black%20Book%20of%20Poland_djvu.txt.
One of the oldest living natives of Trzemeszno, Henryk Nowak, recalls: "I remember this synagogue at Bóżnicowa Street. It stood behind a fence that had a brick foundation. We boys, to take a closer look at what it looks like, we would climb up on this foundation and looked at the orchard. The windows were high up. I did not see how it was demolished. I know it was right in the beginning"[10]Recording of a conversation with Henryk Nowak from VII 2021, from the private archive of Agnieszka Kostuch..
Currently, a residential building is located on the site of the former synagogue (photo 7).
The text was edited by Agnieszka Kostuch based on the competition work In the Footsteps of Trzemeszno Jews (2014) written by Zuzanna Jatczak and Klaudia Kirszner under the supervision of Maciej Adamski.
Translated by Olimpia Nowicka-Sulla
Przypisy
| ↑1 | Dzieje Trzemeszna [The History of Trzemeszno], Cz. Łuczak [Ed.], Poznań 2002, p.102. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | http://www.marienburg.pl |
| ↑3 | Maciej Obremski, Trzemeszno. Studium historyczno-konserwatorskie miasta, typescript, Toruń 1982, object No. 121. |
| ↑4 | A. Heppner, I, Herzberg, Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der jued. Municipalities in the Poznań Lands,, Koźmin- Bydgoszcz 1909, p. 991. |
| ↑5 | Hazkarat Neshamot , Księga Jizkor, the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, sygn. PL-413. |
| ↑6 | A. Heppner, I. Herzberg, op. cit., p. 991. |
| ↑7 | Archiwum OSP w Trzemesznie, Act of the Society "Volunteer Fire Guard of the City of Trzemeszno" |
| ↑8 | A. Heppner, I. Herzberg, op. cit., p. 991; dokumenty z archiwum Uniwersytetu w Southampton, (Hartley Library, University of Southampton), sygn. MS 164 AJ 196 |
| ↑9 | https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackBookOfPoland/The%20Black%20Book%20of%20Poland_djvu.txt |
| ↑10 | Recording of a conversation with Henryk Nowak from VII 2021, from the private archive of Agnieszka Kostuch. |