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book: The Jews of Częstochowa
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The Jews of Częstochowa

The Life and Death of a Community, a Concise History
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2023
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About this book

Częstochowa was the home of the eighth largest Jewish community in Poland. After 1765, when there were 75 Jews in Czestochowa, the community grew steadily. With emancipation in 1862, many Jews migrated to Czestochowa and contributed to its industrial and commercial growth. In 1935, there were 27,162 Jews out of a total population of 127,504. When the Nazis deported Jews to Częstochowa to work in its munition factories, the Jewish population exceeded 50,000. Almost all perished in Treblinka.

Anti-Jewish feeling was spurred on by the Church and Fascist groups that organized boycotts of Jewish stores and incited pogroms intended to drive the Jews out of the city.

The Jewish labor movement fought unemployment and poor working conditions. Impoverished families were aided by community charitable funds. Jewish philanthropists established the non-sectarian “Jewish Hospital,” progressive schools, two gymnasia and the “New Synagogue.”

During election seasons, the entire Jewish political spectrum, from the socialist parties to the ultra-Orthodox, competed in the self-governing body, and in the Municipal Council.

By 1901, stylishly dressed men and women mixed in the streets with poor religious Jews in their traditional garb. A popular press, libraries, theaters, cinema, sporting events and youth movements gave Częstochowa Jews a variety of cultural choices to suit their politics, artistic taste, and modes of leisure. Public life transformed a dreary factory town into one of the most colorful and celebrated Jewish communities in Poland before and after the First World War.

Author / Editor information

Mark W. Kiel, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, USA.

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    I
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    Contents

    V
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    Acknowledgements

    XI
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    Foreword

    XV
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    Preface

    XIX
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    The Polish Background

    XXI
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    Table of Population and Percentage of Jews

    XXIX
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    Introduction: The Pulse of the City

    1
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    Part One: Origins to World War I

    13
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    Part Two: The German Occupation and Political “Democratization”

    52
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    Part Three: The Second Polish Republic and “Democratization”

    57
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    Part Four: Culture

    69
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    Part Five: Jewish Political Parties

    83
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    Part Six: Recovery and Economic Assault

    114
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    Part Seven: 1939–1946

    127
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    Part Eight: Aftermath

    165
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    Part Nine: Rescuing Memory

    174
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    Bibliography

    179
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    Abbreviations

    183
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    Index

    185
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 7, 2022
eBook ISBN:
9783110770230
Hardcover published on:
November 7, 2022
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110769944
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
29
Main content:
198
Illustrations:
13
Coloured Illustrations:
2
Tables:
1
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110770230
eBook ISBN: 9783110770230
Hardcover ISBN: 9783110769944
Keywords for this book
Poland; Jewish histoiry; Jewish Polnish history; Holocaust
Audience(s) for this book
Historians in the field of Polish-Jewish history; Jewish Studies.
Safety & product resources
Downloaded on 17.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110770230/html
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