Remember Jewish Tyszowce

Pronunciation: Tish-ovstsa or Tish-e-vitz

HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

Tyszowce is a village in Lublin province, near the city of Tomaszow Lubelski. The city was granted municipal rights in 1453. Jewish merchants settled there in the early 16th century, and by the 1630s they actively participated in the fairs at Lublin and L'vov. In 1565 King Sigismund II Augustus granted Jews equal rights and forbade market days to be held on the Sabbath. The Council of Four Lands sometimes met in Tyszowce and discussed autonomous governance of communities, independent choice of rabbis, guardianship of orphans, marriage arrangements, intercession with the government, and financial support for Jews in Eretz Israel. In 1649 and 1655-1657, the Jewish populations suffered from the armies of Czarniecki and Chmielnicki. Jews were living in the party of the city called Ostrow.

In 1571, there were 31 Jewish families living in Tyszowce. By 1630, Tyszowce numbered 1,420 people, of whom 280 were Jewish (19%). According to an article from 2011 in a Polish language source, "The oldest mention of the synagogue dates back to 1668. We can learn about a Jewish school from the damage from a fire caused in 1645, there is a hospital entry from 1762, and a mention of a mikveh in 1765.”

In 1765, 925 Jews living there paid the poll tax. Tyszowce’s Jewish community became an integral part of the village’s functioning, as the town became the largest center of butchery to the east of L'vov. In the 18th century, Jews there also engaged in trades like shoemaking, pottery, and commerce.

In 1815, the city was included in Congress Poland, and from 1823-1862 the Russian authorities limited Jewish settlement in the area because of its proximity to the Austrian border. The 732 Jews living there in 1827 comprised 34% of the total population. In 1857 there were 956 Jews (36%) and in 1897-98, there were 851 Jews (85%).

In the inter-war period, a cinema was established in Tyszowce by a Jew, Mejer Szek, and a Pole, Kazimierz Sikorski. Mejer Szek also owned a tavern in the town square. Employees of the Jewish community in 1930 included: Rabbi Aryeh Glanc, ritual slaughterers Icek Rozenbaum and Abram Sztern, and secretary Szloma Krajner. in 1921, 2,454 Jews made up slightly more than half of the city population. Between the world wars all the Jewish political parties were well represented and there was an active Jewish community life.

Jewish-owned restaurants by Sinai Szek and Jankiel Glik were located at the entrance to the town square, on both sides of the street. Among the Jewish tailors were Fiszer and Hipersztajn. Abram Laks owned a steam mill on the river. Cukier owned a fabric store, and Krant owned a cotton factory. Bencio Adler traded in grain, and Moshe Friedlander owned a mill in Majdan. Basista sold shoes, Kupersztajn sold textiles, and Minzberg sold grain. Gecel owned a bakery, while Racymora ran a tavern selling vodka. Abram Korensztajn sold groceries and colonial goods, and Chaim Kapel sold clothing. Moszko Fajer bought eggs and dairy products, Wolf Hochgelenter bought vegetables, and Berko Eng bought flour. Matys Wajntraub sold paints and cosmetics, Estera Wajs sold beer, Sura Unrych sold tea, and Lipszycz sold ice cream. Jewish restaurants were located at the eastern entrance to the market on both sides of the street.

The first records of a wooden synagogue in Tyszowce dates back to 1571. It burnt down in 1717. A synagogue constructed of stone and brick was located on the western part of the market square. On September 13, 1939, the synagogue was destroyed in a fire. In autumn of 1939, the remaining structure of the synagogue was blown up by the Nazis. The rubble from the desecrated synagogue was used by the Nazi authorities to force Jews to pave roads in slave labor.

The old Jewish cemetery in Tyszowce was set up at the end of the 16th century. It is located in Koscielna Street. The cemetery is surrounded by a brick wall on one side and a wooden fence on the other. During the Holocaust, shooting ditches were formed there. The Nazis took down the brick wall and used the bricks to build a stable for horses. Gravestones were used for pavements and footbridges. Tombstones were also used to pave the road to the nearby town of Laszczow. No tombstones are left at the old cemetery. A preschool was constructed in the area where the cemetery was located after the war. In 1988, a commemorative stone was put in the cemetery to commemorate a well-known rabbi named Ben Josef.

The new Jewish cemetery in Tyszowce was built in the late 19th century. It is located outside of the city, about 50 mi. northwest of the road from Tyszowce to Tuczapy. The Nazis devastated the cemetery. Fourteen tombstones have survived, of which the oldest dates to 1884. The tombstones have visible carvings and inscriptions in Hebrew. In 1988, thanks to Dawid Laks and Abraham Borg, a fence was built and the cemetery was renovated. Four matzevahs were erected and a monument to commemorate the Holocaust victims was erected. The cemetery fence is made of metal spans and there is the Star of David on the gate. Ashes were also brought from the Belzec death camp. Northwest of the synagogue there was a house of learning (Beit Hamidrash), adjoined by a Hasidic shtiebel (small house of prayer). The other shtiebelekh were scattered around the market square. Cheders were also located in the market square. On the banks of the river channel, there was a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath).

NEARBY JEWISH COMMUNITIES

Communities near Tyszowce that had Jewish populations include the following:

- Jarczow: The village had a significant Jewish population: see Remember Jewish Laszczow.

- Klatwy: The village of Klatwy near Tyszowce may have also had a Jewish population, but the number is not known.

- Laszczow: The village had a significant Jewish population: see Remember Jewish Laszczow.

- Mikołajki: Nazi officers searching the village of Mikołajki discovered three Jewish individuals. Two men and a woman were shot to death at a burial site and subsequently buried together.

- Niewirkow: The village of Niewirkow near Tyszowce had a population of 20 Jews.

- Perespa: The village of Perespa is located approximately 120 kilometers southeast of Lublin, in Tyszowce district. In 1921, a government census from Poland listed 17 Jews in the village. In 1939, six Jewish families lived in Perespa. In a questionnaire filled out by a Polish member of the village council, he reported that 15 Jews from Perespa were shot by the Germans (the Tyszowce Gandarmerie, Schutzpolizei [SCHUPO], S.S, and the Rachanie Auxiliary Police) in the nearby forest, possibly in 1943 (source: Yad Vashem).

- Poturzyn: The village of Poturzyn (Potuszyn), east of the village, had a Jewish population, but it is not known what the number of pre-war Jewish residents was.

- Rachanie: It is unclear how long the Jewish community of Rachanie existed. By the 1880s, about 18 Jewish families lived in the area, growing to a small community in the interwar period, largely situated near the road to Jozefowka. The Jewish community operated two water mills, two oil mills, two beer stores, grocery stores, liquor/tobacco stores and a tavern. The community had a private beit ha-midrash and a small cemetery but relied on nearby towns for a formal synagogue. In October 1939, some Jews fled toward Soviet-occupied territory. A labor camp was later established in the area. Many Jewish residents from surrounding areas were killed by German forces, with several murders occurring as late as 1943. A Jewish cemetery was located on a hill in the eastern part of the village, which was devastated after World War II, with tombstone fragments used for paving roads. Learn more at Remember Jewish Tomaszow Lubelski, which has information on the destroyed Jewish community of Rachanie.

- Siemnice: A census conducted by the Polish government in 1921 recorded 9 Jews living in Siemnice. It is unclear when exactly the Nazis sent 18 Jewish families from Siemnice in the 1940s to work in a manor house in Celestynów — located over a kilometer south-east of Siemnice. The Jews worked on the repair of drainage ditches and gardening on the grounds of the estate. It was owned by the Holtzer family. According to the testimony of Kazimierz Seń, who was a young man working on the estate at the time, on October 2, 1942, the Germans demanded that the Holtzers hand over their Jewish workers. When they refused, arguing that the Jews were essential workforce, a gendarme named Gerhard Jacchel, an adjutant of the 32nd Regiment of the Schutzpolizei (Protection Police), shot the Polish couple. On the same day, another gendarme arrived in Siemnice and told the sołtys (village head) that all the Jews living in the area had to assemble at the manor house by the next morning. Between 70 and 85 Jews were murdered there the next day. See also: The Massacre at Wozuczyn-Rachanie.

- Turkowice: The Catholic convent in Turkowice, run by the Sisters of Service (Servants of the Most Holy Virgin Mary), served as a significant hiding place for Jewish children, saving around 30 Jewish children.

- Wojciechówka: A census conducted at the end of 1940 found 37 Jews living in Wojciechówka at that time. It is located 3 km. north and west of Tyszowce. A document found in the Ringelblum Archive transmits the testimony of a Jew named Rotring, who lived at the time in the nearby village of Podbór: Rotring testified of the abuses and prohibitions imposed on the Jews living in the villages of the Tyszowce municipality, such as the prohibition of movement between the villages. He described how 7 Jews were shot dead by the Nazis, at the beginning of winter 1942, for walking on the road in Wojciechówka. He also testified about how a young Jewish man from Warsaw was captured by the Germans in January 1942 for walking the streets of the village of Wojciechówka. The gendarmes caught two elderly Jews near the place where the young Jewish man was staying in the village, took them to the cemetery, and shot them (source: Yad Vashem). Additionally, a document found by Yad Vashem also makes note of how Jews from this municipality, along with nearby communities -- Czermno, Łaszczów, Podbór and Perespa -- on May 25, 1942, as part of an Aktion. However, reliable documents show that the deportation from Tyszowce took place on May 22, 1942.

THE HOLOCAUST IN TYSZOWCE

On the outbreak of World War II, there were about 3,800 Jews in Tyszowce. In September, 1939 the Red Army entered the city but withdrew after a short time, in accord with the Soviet-German agreement on the partition line. About 1,000 Jews left the city for the east with the withdrawing Red Army. According to historian Emmanuel Ringelblum, who was murdered in Warsaw in 1944, “150 Jews were burned alive in the local synagogue in Tiszowce.” This event took place on September 13, 1939.

The Germans army occupied the city at the beginning of October 1939. The Nazis established a Judenrat composed of 10 people in the spring of 1940, headed by Zelig Cukier and including Matisyahu Blachman, Emmanuel Blecher, unknown Fishleber from Germany, Issachar Helrubin, Abraham Yakov Kornblum, Szloma Krainer, Aharon Med, Nuteh Schneider, and Josef Winder.

The Nazis also set up the Jewish police, headed by Mejer Szek and including Dovid Leib Ojfer, Melech Shteper, Heni Lozer and the sons of Becalel Riemer and Wishnower. The Nazi head of the military police in the city, Ernst Schultz, was unbearably cruel toward the Jewish population.

Tyszowce Jews were engaged in slave labor, as follows: (1) 120 Tyszowce Jews were imprisoned at a labor camp established in Zamość for water melioration work; (2) An unknown number of Jews from Tyszowce worked at a subcamp located closest to Lubycza Królewska to reinforce border fortifications; (3) In fall of 1940, the Nazis set up a forced labor camp in Tyszowce. Jews were used as labor on the Huczwa River. As a result of poor sanitary conditions in the labor camp, diseases rose up, including a typhus epidemic. The camp was closed in fall 1941. An article exists which details this forced labor -- focusing on Tyszowce and including a photo. Many other labour camps forcing Jews to work existed in the Lublin district.

Jews from Warsaw, Otwock and Lublin were brought to the Tyszowce Ghetto by the Nazis to engage in forced labor on roads and river control.

In Tyszowce, on the night of April 16, 1942, the Nazis launched a mass execution of the Jews of the city. They were brought to the city square near the former public bath, where several hundred were shot. The Nazis threw the corpses into a huge ditch. In May of 1942 about 1,500 Jews were deported to the Belzec Death Camp and another 800 were sent to the Sobibor Death Camp. Those who tried to protest were murdered on the spot. A small number of Jews were able to escape to the forests.

For the remaining Jews, a ghetto was established in the area between the old arm of the Huczwa River and Zamlynie. About 600 to 1,000 Jews were put there, including several Jews from Czechoslvakia. A new Judenrat was established, headed by Fishlieber (Fiszleber), a German Jew who was cruel towards the local Jewish population and collaborated with the Nazis. Near to the ghetto was a municipal detention house in which the Nazis kept several dozen Jews for weeks without any food.

In October of 1942, the ghetto was liquidated. Of those who had survived -- around 92 Jews -- 70 were sent to Belzec Death Camp and the other 22 were shot in the ghetto. The Jews of Tyszowce were no more.

NAZI PERPETRATORS

The head Nazi in Tyszowce and nearby Komarow was named Ernst Heinrich Schulz (Schultz). Other Nazi operatives in Tyszowce included: Albert Bar, Erwin Beier, Karl Ebeling, Robert Golke, Ludwig Heblich, Otto Volkmann, Herman Ernst Wiese, Christian Wild and Johann Zrenner.

Local collaborators -- identified by Jewish survivors -- included: Jan Bednarek, Anna Bednarek, Antoni Cieslik, Leon Jablonski, unknown Kotlitzki, Stefan Lepecki, Wladyslaw Machomet, Tadeusz Rak, Tadeusz Zdyb and Jan Zielinski.

JEWISH RESISTANCE

A handful of Jews from Komarow and Tyszowce managed to organize a resistance movement by creating a combat unit in the woods between the two towns. They gathered a few weapons, bought from Poles, and carried out attacks on the Germans. Among the fighters were Chaja Helfman (killed), Yeshayahu Sztengel (killed) — who later took part in the Warsaw ghetto uprising — and Tzvi Finger.

WHAT REMAINS

Of over 3,800 Jews living in town before the Holocaust, only 32 survived the duration of the war.

In 1937, American Phillip Putter returned to his hometown of Tishevits with his 8 mm camera to film street scenes and daily life. In 1982, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research invited two of Philip's former neighbors in Tyszowce, Esther Kizel (Kisel) and Paya Rosenzweig, to view his film and to talk about the people that appear in it. The film is available online via YIVO.

The synagogue in Tyszowce was burned and then bombed. No traces of it remain. The old Jewish cemetery on Koscielna Street has no visible grave markers, but a fence surrounds parts of it and a commemorative stone exists at the site. The new Jewish cemetery located northwest of Tyszowce has 14 visible grave markers as well as a monument to commemorate Holocaust victims.

Please review the site content below. Zachor - We Remember.

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[Surnames and Researchers] [History] [Tyszowce Yizkor Book (Hebrew)]
[Unidentified Photos] [YIVO Video Archives: Tyszowce]
[Political/Cultural Life] [Wikipedia - Tyszowce] [Old Synagogue]
[Cemeteries] [List of Martyrs] [List of Martyrs 2]
[Yahad-in-Unum Investigation in Tyszowce, 2012] [Nazis at Tyszowce]
[Project MUSE: Tyszowce] [Labor Camps Listing - Lublin District]
[Pinkas Tishevits - Yizkor Book (readable online)]
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LINKS

Join the Tyszowce group on Facebook!


City of Tyszowce:

- Belzec Death Camp
- Excerpt on Tyszowce from a book by David Roskies
- First Tishiritzer Benevolent Society - Staten Island, New York
- NN Theatre: Tyszowce
- Order Pinkas Tishivits (or order from another location)
- Pinkas Hakehillot Polin: Tyszowce
- Research Paper by Janusz Frykowski on Tyszowce (2011)
- Research Paper by Laura Crego on Tyszowce (2012)
- The Shtetl Book by Diane Roskies (includes Tyszowce)
- YIVO Video: Tishovits

Families of Tyszowce:

- Adler family
- Borg family
- Folk family
- Gelerter family
- Golomb family
- Rajs family
- Szerer family
- Zylberman family

Rabbis of Tyszowce:

- Avraham David Ber Moshe, rabbi until 1746
- Tzvi Hersz Baschko (surname also listed as Zamosc), rabbi until 1771
- Natan Nute HaKohen Szapira, 1773
- Zachariah Mendel Yaskis (Yaskes), 18th century
- Yehuda Leibush Segal Ettinger, 18th century
- Abraham Jakob Gelernter and his son Dawid, 1807-1814
- Jakob Eichenbaum, 1815
- Abraham Braff, mid-19th century
- Dawid Wahl, 1866
- Zalman Kaplan
- Moszek Icek Wielwelewicz, 1881
- Yoel Steinschreiber
- Shimshon Mordechai Josef Glanc
- Yehuda Leibus HaKohen Adamszik
- Moshe Yehuda Berger, cantor
- Yehoshua Flaks, cantor
- Judka Lejb HaCohen Adamschik (Adamshak)
- Lejb Aryeh Glanc, rabbi up to the Holocaust

Notable People

- Rabbi Tzi Hirsch Baschko
- Sender Sidney Licht
- Adolphe Milich
- Arnold Slucki (Aron Kreiner)
- Yankel Shtern (Jacob Ziper)

Survivors of Tyszowce:

- Michael Bergman
- Mala Biterman Lader
- Chawa Biterman Polik
- Abraham Borg
- Dora Drescher
- Izaak Folk
- Yaakov Folk (Polik)
- Sara Folk Nussbaum
- Szymon Frydlinski
- Roza Garber (liberated from Bergen-Belsen, 1945)
- Icek "Izaak" Gelber (liberated from Dachau, 1945)
- Michal Glowinski
- Arie Gutheit
- Ellen Hamer Herszenson (testimony)
- Esther Kizel
- Shmuel Knobel
- Ephraim Koppersztejn
- Shifra Krishtalka
- David Laks
- Moshe Laks (Morris Lax)
- Pinchas Landau
- Henia Dwora Marder
- Zvi Naor (video testimony)
- Moshe Peled
- Anna Rozen
- Paya Cwilich Rosenzweig
- Lejzor Rub
- Moshe Sachar
- Dov Szpic
- Israel Hirsch Sztern
- Moshe Umfasung
- Sheila Waichman
- Moshe Zimary
- Pinchus Zinger

Righteous Gentiles:

- Jozef and Marianna Holtzer employed
12 Jews at Celestynow near Rachanie.
The 14 of them were murdered on November 2, 1942.

Genealogy:

- Jewish Records Indexing Poland - Tyszowce
- Jewish Vital Records in the Polish State Archives

Remember Your Family:

Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors on Facebook
Guide to the YIVO Archives
Holocaust News/Events from Generations of the Shoah Int'l
JewishGen Family Finder
JewishGen Holocaust Database
JRI-Poland: Search for Your Family
Museum of History of Polish Jews Introduction
Yad Vashem Requests Photos of Shoah Survivors and Families


CONTACTS

U.S.: LublinJewish@gmail.com

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