Brzozów, Poland

(Brzezów, Breziv, Brz'ozuv)

Latitude 49°42´, Longitude 22°01´

181.5 miles SSE of Warsaw

 

 

 

Maps/Province Information ~

 

·       Town Location (MapQuest)

·       When a part of Galicia - Brzozów was in the Administrative District of Sanok.  Brzozów is listed as part of  the Province of Lwów  in the “1929 Polish Business Directory”.  From 1945-1999, Brzozów was part of Krosno Province.

·       Today - Brzozów is in the Administrative District of Podkarpackie  

 

 

Town History ~

The Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland, Volume III, pages 71-72 includes a population chart beginning with the year 1808 and ending with the year 1931.  During this time the Jewish population for the town fluctuated from 144 Jewish residents to 1046 Jewish residents.  To see more population details and to find out more about the early settlement of the town, go to: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol3_00071.html

According to the GUS Census of 1931, Brzozów had a population of 10,109.  3.3% of this population or 338 inhabitants were Jewish.  (Ed: There appears to be a discrepancy between the statistics stated in the Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland and the GUS Census of 1931)

 

“Virtual Shtetl” – includes a detailed history of Brzozów

http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/city/brzozow/

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In the year 2000,  Brzozów had 8,000 inhabitants.  (Ed: To my knowledge none of these inhabitants were Jewish.)

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The Memorial (Yizkor) Book ~

Sefer zikaron kehilat Breziv (Brzozów) [A Memorial to the Brzozów Community], Editor: Avraham Levite, Israel, 1984.

 An online version is available via the Dorot Division of the New York Public library.  This online version is the entire yizkor book (548 pages), as printed including photos. This book is divided into Hebrew, Yiddish, and English sections. You can navigate through it in a variety of ways. “Next” (one page at a time), “Advance 10”, or  “50” pages at a time.  Photos of 2 of the 3 Rabbis below are online, but I am unable to include them on this site.

Go to: http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=1026

For photos and more details on the Rabbis in the section below, go to page 161 for “FEITH/FEIT”, pages 186-187 for “WEBER”, and pages 69-70 for “GABEL”

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Table of Contents (in English) http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Brzozow/Brzozow.html

List of Victims – p. 341 (in English) http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Brzozow/brz341.html

List of Photographs – p. 345 (in English -- not the actual photos) http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Brzozow/brz341.html#Page345

 

The Rabbis ~

FEITH/FEIT

Reb Israel Feith, son of Alexander Zusman Feith, was born in Brzozów in 1858.  For more information on Reb Feith, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above. (page 161)

 

WEBER

Rabbi Ha’im Weber was the Beis Medresh Rabbi.

Rabbi Yossele Weber was Brzozów’s last Rabbi.  He was the son of Rabbi Hai’im Weber and arrived from the shtetl of Boyberik to take his father’s place. 

For more information (incredibly sad story) and  photo, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above.  (pages 186-187)

 

GABEL

Rabbi Yser Gabel came to Brzozów from Lubaczow.

Rabbi Shalom Gabel replaced his father, Rabbi Yser Gabel and kept his position of Rabbi for 54 years.

Rabbi Simon Gabel, his grandson, replaced Reb Shalom upon his death.  Rabbi Simon Gabel was a Rabbi in Brzozów until the extermination of the Jewish population. For more information on Rabbis Yser/Shalom/Simon Gabel and  photo, follow the directions in “The Memorial (Yizkor) Book” section above.   (pages 69-70)

Source:  Sefer zikaron kehilat Breziv (Brzozow) [A Memorial to the Brzozow Community], Editor: Avraham Levite, Israel, 1984.

(If you are aware of additional Rabbis, please contact Debbie Raff )

 

The Cemetery ~

The Jewish cemetery is located on ul. Ceglowska. A cemetery survey was completed in 1992 by the US Commission (#POCE000707) To see details of this survey, go to: http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/poland/brzozow-brzozow.html

In 1990 Dreiza and Natan Weiss of Israel established a monument on the site of the mass grave of August 1942. In 1994 they began building a fence around the cemetery area. The uncovered pieces of gravestones were incorporated into the monument in the form of the tablets of law.
 

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"Monument for a Destroyed Jewish Community." Part I, The Forward, May 30, 1986, p. 7, 27

'To the more than a thousand Memorial volumes on the destroyed Jewish communities of Eastern Europe that have been published in Tel Aviv, New York, Buenos Aires and Paris there has now been added the Sefer Ziroken [sic] Kehilat Breziv, as that Jewish community in southwest Galicia was known in Yiddish….'

"The Extinguished Jewish Shtetl." Part II, The Forward, June 6, 1986,  p. 13-4

'The first written documents about Brzozow, long before it was 'Yiddishized' into 'Breziv' stem from the beginning of the 14th century, the time of the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom, when this region was called 'Red Russia…'

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Museum of Family History Cemetery Project

To see the surnames found within the Brzozów burial plots located in the New York metropolitan area,

Go to:  http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/cp-brzozow.htm

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Jewish Vital Records ~

The Jewish Record Indexing Project (JRI-Poland) has indexed the following Birth, Marriage and Census records. Births (1885-1905), Marriages (1877-1905) and Censuses (1869, 1880, 1890 and 1900). http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/town/brzozow.htm

 

These record entries are online at: http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/jriplweb.htm  Information extracted from records less than 100 years old including Birth, Marriage and Death, may be available.  Contact Eden Joachim for more details.

 

World War II ~

Polish Righteous Among Nations - “Those who Risked their Lives”

Jakub Gargasz and his wife Zofia (Rozycki) Gargasz farmed at Brzozow, Krosno province… 

Franciszek Hrycko (1920-)  and his wife Maria Hrycko lived on a very small farm at Kazimierowka, commune of Dynow, district of Brzozow… 

Brzozów Links ~

Other Nearby Towns with ShtetLinks ~

Region - Related Links ~

Other – Related Links ~

And don't neglect the wonderful treasures at JewishGen ~

 

 

This space is reserved for your family story!  Just let me know!

 

                                                                                             

 

                                                                          

   Comments?/Questions? (send an e-mail)

 

 

 Compiled by Deborah Raff
Lovingly Updated 30 June 2013
Copyright © 2004 Deborah Raff

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