Dabrowa Tarnowska, Poland
Dombrowa, Galicia

Brief History

Dombrowa was established in the 17th century, with a first wooden synagogue in 1697. This important Hassidic community was led by the Hassidic Rabbis of the Unger family. The largest synagogue in Malopolska was built here in 1865 (pictured above in an early postcard), the Pearl of Hassidic Archtecture.

Life in Galicia under Austrian rule was difficult for Jews. Many emigrated to the US starting in the 1870s, forming the Bnai Rappaport Anshei Dombrowa synagogue. Rappaport was a Rabinical family in Dombrowa during the late 1800s. The Anshei Dombrowa Jewish Community in NYC sent financial assistance to Jews in Dombrowa. According to a WWII survivor, Harold Brand, the Anshei Dombrowa Jewish Community built and shipped the Bima for the Dombrowa Synagogue.

By 1900, Dombrowa had a Jewish population of 2,418 (80% of total), a Baron Hirsch school (150 students) and a Yeshiva (60 students). It was also a center for the Zionist movement. When Western Galicia was assimilated into Southeast Poland in 1917, following the end of WWI, the town was renamed Dabrowa Tarnowska.

Following WWI, the Polish-Soviet war continued. Herschel Willner, Kalman Willner's father, a member of the Polish army, was awarded the highest medal of honor. Herschel saved the life of Jozef Pilsudski, who was abducted by Ukrainians sent to kill him. Pilsudski was commander of Polish forces and later became Prime Minister of Poland. It was a bright point in history for Dabrowa Tarnowska to have a Jewish war hero! Jews had seats on the town council and there was also a Jewish mayor. Damaged during WWI by the Soviets, the Synagogue was renovated in the 1930s, given a new roof and a new front with two towers. When Pilsudski died in 1935, the Polish Jews lost a good friend who had denounced anti-semitism.

When Nazi occupation began September 1939, the Nazis took immediate control of the Synagogue, using it as a warehouse and stable. They gathered the town leaders ("intelligensia"), killing them in the Rynek (town square) while residents were forced to watch. The Nazi reign of terror had begun. A Judenrat (Jewish Council) was formed to represent Jews and help them find work. A ghetto was formed across from the cemetery. Many Jews were murdered in mass executions at the cemetery, including members of the Judenrat when the Nazis liquidated the ghetto in 1942. Some Jews were sent to Tarnow ghetto and most probably deported to Belzec and destroyed.

During the Nazi reign of terror, no one could be trusted. Many Polish lives were also lost, some by resisting and others for helping or hiding Jews. There is a monument in nearby Szarwark to a Polish family killed because they helped hide Jews. Despite the intense efforts of the Nazis and Polish Blue Police to find all Jews and the always present death penalty for helping Jews, survivor Carl Willner advises that 38 Jews survived, hidden by Dabrowa Tarnowska residents.

The Nazi officer in charge ("The Terror of Powisle Dabrowa") was killed by the Polish resistance effort during a raid at a farm outside the town, in a manner designed to appear like Nazi soldier error.

Poland fought for independence against two brutal enemies, the Nazis and the Soviets. Both agreed to occupy Poland at the beginning of WWII. The Western front was assimilated into Germany, as the land was given to German farmers and many Poles were forcibly relocated to the General Government. In the Eastern front, many Poles were deported to Siberia. The Polish government-in-exile and resistance forces were active throughout the war. Secrecy was critical. Many resistance fighters were killed. The Warsaw Uprising and destruction of Warsaw by the Nazis in 1944 weakened the resistance considerably. When WWII ended and the Nazis scattered, the Soviet army claimed Poland and arrested many resistance leaders. Poland was under Communist rule until Polish independence in 1989.

One survivor, Samuel Roth, returned to Dabrowa, reclaiming the family home on ulica Daszynskiego. The Roth family maintained a Shtibl (Jewish prayer and reading room) in their home. This is the last Shtibl in Western Galicia, housing an important collection of religious books and artifacts dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. Samuel Roth is gone, but the Shtibl remains, now a museum.

An attempt at renovation of the magnificent Dabrowa Boznica Synagoga was started in the 1970s, but was blocked by the Communists. Long abandoned and deteriorating, the Synagogue was renovated with EU, national, regional and local funding. Designed with beautiful Italian-painted frescos (panoramie) that have survived since 1865, it was dedicated in 2012 as a new cultural center.

Dabrowa Tarnowska is approximately 10 miles north of Tarnow, Poland (not to be confused with other towns named Dabrowa!)