“Hunting of Jews”: case study of the fate of the Jews of Tarnów. – Politics

Agnieszka Wierzcholska describes the fate of the Jewish residents of Tarnów between 1918 and 1956. A brilliant case study about the Holocaust, which took place before everyone’s eyes – and which also contains explosive truths for non-Jewish Poles.

Tarnów is an Upper Silesian town located 25 kilometers north of Katowice. Jews have been attested here since the mid-15th century. Before World War II, half the population was Jewish. It was pious among the Jews of Tarnów. The synagogues and prayer halls were full on Shabbat. The city was then transformed. One rabbi recalls: “His majesty the shabes spread his kingdom through all the streets and quarters where Jews went about with silk kapotes and shtraymlekh.” The topography of the city was characterized by Jewish and Catholic places of worship, Shabbat was a well-known and visible holiday for Christians, and the church bells could be heard by the city’s Jews on Sundays.