Remember Jewish Czemierniki

Pronunciation: Tch-em-eer-nicki or Tsh-mernick

HISTORY OF JEWISH CZEMIERNIKI

Czemierniki is a village in east-central Poland, with a population of around 1,700. It was also spelled Chemenik, Chemernik, and Chemyernik. The village is 8 miles south of Radzyn Podlaski, 30 miles north of Lublin, and 44 km southeast of Lukow.

A Czemierniki synagogue was established in the late 1600s. In 1670, Zelman Markowicz, a Jew from Czemierniki, is mentioned in Lublin's books. In 1703, Jakub Sobieski allowed Jews to settle in Czemierniki. The Jewish community soon after established a separate cemetery, called “Okopiskiem”, located near the warblers’ 'Birchwood' to the right of the main road from Czemierniki to Radzyn Podlaski. Innkeeper Majer Aronowicz, was the head of the Jewish community in 1698. Other Jews such as Shmer Boruchovich and Michael Yakubovich are also mentioned.

The year 1703 brought a wave of Swedish troops ravaging the village. It was nearly destroyed then, and again in 1711 when a fire broke out. In 1748, Jews lived in 50 houses in the town. In 1813, another fire consumed the village. Rabbi Chil Gertner is mentioned as rabbi of the community between 1848-1852.

In 1855 and 1873, cholera epidemics struck the village. In 1869, as part of the post-January Uprising repercussions, Czemierniki lost its status as a village and the privileges that go along with that.

In the mid-1800s, a kehilla was established in the village. Around 1880, there were 559 Jews in Czemierniki. Also in 1880, the village had the following amenities: a steam sawmill, a watermill, a brewery, two oil mills, a brickyard, soap works, the municipal office, an elementary school and a loan fund. The Jewish population reached 1,000 by 1900 and comprised around 40% of the total village population.

By 1921, the Jewish population numbered 1,004 and represented 42% of the town's population. A synagogue, a Jewish cemetery and a mikveh was under kehilla's supervision prior to WWII.

In 1930, the Jewish community employed the following individuals: Rabbi Froim Feldman; shochets David Gotendyner and Mendel Wajs; secretary Jacob Tauber(g); collector Szaja Wierniki; synagogue sexton Moshe Kamionka; mikvah supervisor Moshe Melczak; and Mordko Lichtenberg, whose position was unclear.

NEARBY JEWISH COMMUNITIES

Jewish communities also existed near Czemierniki, as follows: Leszkowice, Lurzawa, Niedzwiada, Ostrowek, village of Piaski, Skoki, Wohyn (1,025 Jews in 1921), Wola Kamieniewska, Zawada. No population data is currently available for how many Jews lived in each of these communities, unless otherwise noted.

CZEMIERNIKI DURING THE SHOAH

Many Jews escaped from Czemierniki and headed for the USSR in 1939; the village was left with about 700 Jewish inhabitants. In the spring of 1940, a ghetto was formed by the Nazis.

Apart from Czemierniki's population, a group of refugees from other centers -- 1,000 Jews in all -- were placed in the ghetto.

In 1942, the Nazis shot 36 Jews accused of helping the partisans.

At the turn of October and November of 1942, Jews were deported from Czemierniki to the ghetto in Parczew — from where they were sent to the Treblinka Death Camp.

In the spring of 1945, the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) murdered several other Czemierniki Jewish Holocaust survivors.

WHAT REMAINS

In 1703, the Jewish community established a separate cemetery, called “Okopiskiem”. The cemetery was destroyed and no graves remain. The cemetery was located at Polnoc Kolonia street on the road to Radzyn Podlaskia. In 2000, a monument commemorating the site of the former Jewish cemetery was placed.

The Jewish synagogue was destroyed in the Holocaust. It’s shape and location are unknown. Around 350 people participated in services at the synagogue on a weekly basis.

Zachor - We Remember. Please review the site content below.
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[History] [Demographics] [Jewish Life] [Wikipedia - Czemierniki]
[Persecuted persons, Parczew] [Synagogue] [Cemetery]
[Jewish Partisans in the Parczew Forest]
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1929 Polish Business Directory Listing — Czemierniki, Poland

Koladzieje (wheelwright): Branicki
Kolowrotki: M. Linski
Kowale (blacksmith): S. Krol
Spozywczo artykuly (grocery store): M. Kazubek
Stolarze (carpenter): W. Kozak
Tartaki: Sz. Rozner, I. Rozenberg
Wiatraki (windmill): F. Kwas, T. Wysocki