Jews in Będzin
The synagogue
In Będzin, important places connected with Jewish culture are located near the castle:
The place where the Great Synagogue was located and where it was burnt on September 8, 1939 (opposite the castle, GPS: N 50.3263944°, E 19.1282459°):
The hospital
Former Jewish hospital built in 1906 (Podzamcze 29 Street, GPS: N 50.3284290°, E 19.1300789°):
The new cemetery
The cemetery was founded in 1831, located on the slope of the Castle Hill (GPS: N 50.328190°, E 19.132051°):
The old cemetery
Founded in 1592 (Zawale 21 Street, GPS: N 50.32408°, E 19.13043°):
The Cukerman's Gate
Former tenement houses of Reb Nuchim Cukerman (1858-1929), a wealthy merchant from Będzin. Today this place is called "The Cukerman's Gate" and the Foundation "Inicjatywa Brama Cukermana" is in charge of it (Plac 3 Maja 2 Street):
The Cukerman's Synagogue (Plac 3 Maja 2 Street, GPS: N 50.324779°, E 19.133682°):
Inside the former synagogue. Karolina Jakoweńko from Foundation "Inicjatywa Brama Cukermana" is talking about this place:
Guestbook:
The Synagogue "Mizrachi"
Founded during The Great War by Chil Wiener, a wealthy merchant, a member of the orthodox Jewish zionist organization "Mizrachi" (Potockiego 3 Street, GPS: N 50.3234494°, E 19.1328323°):
Tenement house of Rutka Laskier
Rutka was a 14-year-old Jewish teenager when she died in Nazi death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau. She is well known for keeping her diary. She hid it under the stairs of a tenement house in the Będzin ghetto. The diary was published only in 2006. Below, the house where she lived:
Karolina Jakoweńko from Foundation "Inicjatywa Brama Cukermana" talking about Rutka's live:
Ghetto
The ghetto was set up on May 1942 and lived there almost 30000 Jews from Będzin, Zagłębie, Kielce, Oświęcim, and Czechosłowacja. When the Germans decided to liquidate the ghetto in August 1943 and export the Jews to the death camp, the Jews started the uprising (see: The Jewish Combat Organization in Będzin). Especially, Frumka Płotnicka showed great courage and commitment. The Polak Family (especially Maria Polak, a Pole) has shown its great help to build an underground bunker. Below, "Ghetto Heros' Square", a monument commemorating the Jewish insurgents in the ghetto (Podsiadły Street, GPS: N 50,3170526°, E 19,1443248°).
The area of former ghetto:
The Polak Family house under which a tunnel connecting to an underground bunker was built (Podsiadły 24 Street, GPS: N 50,3181506°, E 19,1428300°):
Listen to audio guide dedicated to Jewish culture in Bedzin:
