The exact date of the first Jewish settlement in Gorzów is unknown. According to the estimates, Jews settled in Gorzów after 1350, after the fire which had destroyed the town earlier that year. In an attempt to provide relief to victims of the fire, Margrave Ludvig, the ruler of Brandenburg, exempted the town of all its obligations towards him. Jews were probably granted permission to settle in Gorzów at that time, and their financial assets expedited the process of town reconstruction after the fire. The arrival of Jews in Gorzów may also be linked with a document from 6 June 1350, in which the Margrave grants the towns of the New March permission to take in all the Jews who had been expelled from other regions.

It is assumed that the Jewish quarter was established around that time. It was located in the south-western part of the town. The ghetto boundaries ran more or less along the following current streets: Sikorskiego St., Spichrzowa St., Młyńska St., and Wodna St. There is no information on what the first Jewish quarter looked like and how it was organised because the first written account on the subject dates back to 1557, which was during a period in which there were no Jews left in Gorzów. It is safe to assume, however, that the community had all the standard institutions necessary for its routine operation, such as a cemetery, a synagogue and a mikveh. Even though Jews were also present in other towns of the New March, the formal name of Judenviertel (Ger.: Jewish Quarter) was applied only in Gorzów, referring to the section of town inhabited by Jews. This may be an indication of the significance and power of the local community; due to the lack of historical sources, however, one may only speculate on this issue.

The year of 1510 was fraught with many unfavourable consequences for the Jews in Brandenburg. They were accused of desecrating the Host and subsequently expelled from the March, and therefore also from Gorzów. It was the first time that Jews were expelled from the town. Curiously, even after the Jews had left Gorzów, the area of the former ghetto continued to be referred to as the “Jewish Quarter.” Still, Christians settled in the former Jewish section of town and tailored it to their needs. The mikveh, which was located next to the city walls, was transformed into a public bath, and is referred to as such in historical sources from 1525[1.1]. The Jews expelled from Brandenburg, including the expelled Jews of Gorzów, moved to the territory of independent Poland; the majority of them settled in towns of western Greater Poland, such as Skwierzyna and Międzyrzecz.

Jews had to wait until 21 May 1671 to be able to officially return to Brandenburg; on that day Frederic William, the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg, issued a decree lifting the banishment. In fact, however, Jews reappeared in Gorzów much earlier than 1671. The first mention of their presence dates back to 1649[1.2], and the earliest documents referring to the return of Jews to Gorzów date back to 1656[1.3]. It is not clear why Jews had been present in town 22 years before the decree was issued. Most likely the instability in the aftermath Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) and Swedish occupation of Gorzów created opportunities for Jews to return to the town. Whichever the case, the number of Jewish residents of the town increased each year and soon Gorzów became the seat of the third largest, after Frankfurt (Oder) and Berlin, Jewish community in Brandenburg.

Despite the traditional prejudices, Jews were appreciated for their mercantile and organisational skills. For example, nobles employed Jews at their courts despite their superstitions and phobias. The so-called Hofjuden (Ger.: court Jews), to whom special rights applied, often managed to become relatively wealthy and forge alliances with their rulers. Such was the case of Israel Aaron, who was a court supplier of the Prince-Elector Frederic-William and became close to him. Israel Aaron came to Gorzów (for reasons unknown) in mid-17^th century and purchased or built a large, two-storey building at 12 Luisenstraße, which was later referred to as the Judenhaus (Ger.: Jewish House). Before 1752, when the synagogue was erected, the house had been the centre of the reemerging Jewish community. On 20 February 1672, the Prince-Elector granted Israel Aaron the privilege for his “own” rabbi Chain, who already had been residing in Gorzów and worked in the New March. The privilege stated, amongst other things, that the Gorzów rabbi was everyone’s rabbi, the rabbi of all the Jews residing in the Brandenburg March, as well as those who were merely visiting; and no other rabbi could be appointed to his post. Thus Gorzów, not Berlin, became – for a certain period of time – a capital of the Brandenburg Jewish community. Winning Prince-Elector’s favours over the Austrian Jews who were arriving to Berlin at the time reflects Aaron’s fame, both for his skills and position in the Jewish community. Aaron’s success, however, was only one example of success in the Gorzów Jewish Community. The population had swelled significantly by 1690, boasting 21 Jewish families in Gorzów, that is ca. 200 people. The community did not, however, have a synagogue at the time because the decree of 1671 did not permit its construction. However, it was possible to gain individual permission for private services, and such services were held at the Judenhaus until 1752, when a new synagogue was erected. It was located in the middle of the medieval Jewish Quarter, possibly at the site of the old synagogue. Unfortunately, no depictions of the synagogue have survived. It was probably an undistinguished wattle and daub construction typical of the region. There was also a community cemetery, first mentioned in 1723, located south west from the town centre, in direction of Kostrzyn.

The economic and social position of the Gorzów Jewry was growing slowly but steadily. Its stages were marked by the subsequent legal regulations, which eventually, in 1869, granted Jews full rights and deemed them equal to all Christian citizens. From the second half of the 19^th century, conversions to Protestantism became more common, especially amongst the well-established Jewish families. There were even conversions in rabbinate families, as was the case of Rabbi Klemperer family. For example, his son, Victor, was baptised in 1906 and married a gentile. Victor Klemperer described the ambience of peaceful coexistence in Gorzów in mid-19^th century in his curriculum vitae. In such documents, Jews of Gorzów revealed that they did not just consider themselves Prussians or Germans – they took pride in being Prussians and/or Germans of Jewish descent.

Before the conversions and migrations to larger cities in the west (mostly to Berlin) introduced changes in the community, the kehilla of Gorzów, at the time the largest such community in the New March, managed to erect a new synagogue in 1854. The aim was to employ well known and well educated rabbis. Thus being a rabbi in Gorzów was considered a special honour. After the new synagogue had been established, Dr. Schwabacher from Skwierzyna was appointed a rabbi. He won the position over other eminent candidates, such as Dr. Jospeh Klein from Słupsk, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Apolant from Potsdam, and Dr. Moritz Kirchstein from Berlin. After Schwabacher left for Lviv and later for Odessa, where he established the first Progressive Jewish community in Russia, the post of the rabbi was conferred to Dr. Markus Jastrow, and later to Dr. Heinrich Reichmann and Dr. Wilhelm Klemperer. Klemperer held the post of the Gorzów rabbi for 21 years, until 1885. A year later the post was taken by Dr. Bernhard Elsaß, whose tenure lasted 42 years. He was succeeded by Heinrich Guttman, and the last rabbi, Fritz Plotke who held the office from 1934–36.

There was also a religious school next to the synagogue, established in 1866 on the initiative of the Talmud-Torah Union (Talmud-Tora Verein). The school statute from 1867 has survived until today. The Jewish community of Gorzów was a rather prosperous one. Many families belonged to the economic and cultural elite of the town. The most influential families were: Boas, Cohn, Groddeck, Herrmann, Heymann, Lemke, Mannheim, Obersitzko, Pieck, Reichmann, Scheibe, Schönflies, and Weil.

After World War I, relations between the Germans and the Jews of Gorzów began to deteriorate, mirroring the dynamics of neighbouring regions. Despite the unusual degree of assimilation that was uncommon in other European countries, modern anti-Semitism and old anti-Judaic demons gained a foothold in the German defeat in WWI. Reason gave way to political vitriol; according to Hitler, Jews yet again became Germany’s misfortune (“Die Juden sind unser Unglück!”; Ger.: “Jews Are Our Misfortune!”). Impoverished town residents rioted on 25–26 June 1919, protesting high prices of food articles and looting primarily Jewish stores and warehouses. A short-lived economic improvement in the 1920s only resulted in the crisis of 1929; by 1932, 6 million Germans were unemployed. In Gorzów, 4,500 people, 25% of the population, were idle. Anti-Semitic propaganda, which became increasingly aggressive, had a powerful influence on this group. In April 1932, members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party) in Gorzów assaulted Jewish carriers and accused them of the demise of inland shipping business. It was believed to be caused by the fact that Polish Jews were employed on German barges. According to the Gorzów branch of the Nazi Party, 99% of inland shipping was in the hands of Jews who were engaging in a “treacherous game”[1.4]. The Nazis were also responsible for the murder of merchant Alfred Mannheim in August 1932.

Jews were also attacked in the press, especially the local weeklies Landsberger Trommel and General Anzeiger. In January 1933 the leaders of Sturmabteilung (SA) – Rudi Arndt and Achutzstaffel (SS) – Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski visited Gorzów and attacked the Jewish press for the so-called “German Day,” accusing it of spreading communist ideas and being the root of all evil. Additionally, von dem Bach-Zalewski attacked the “traitors of 1918” and suggested disposing of them completely[1.5]. But before it happened, a boycott of Jewish stores, offices and surgeries commenced on 1 April 1933. Special organised groups put up posters with anti-Jewish slogans; SS and SA stands were put up in front of Jewish stores and offices. The introduction of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (7 April 1933) resulted in the dismissal of all Jewish officials. As a consequence, Jews withdrew from public life and became restricted to Jewish institutions which were still in operation at the time. Aside from the Jewish Religious Council, which was renamed the Denominational Association on 30 March 1938, there were other organisations, such as the Jewish Front Soldiers Union and the Jewish Retirement Home, which were still active. The Retirement Home, aside from its basic function, also served as a cultural and social venue. The Gorzów branch of the youth Zionist group He-Halutz gave performances there. In order to put a stop to this, the Town Council bought off the premises for a reduced price of 80,000 marks (the property was worth 360,000 marks) and turned it into a home for terminally ill. The 54 Jewish boarders were sent off to Berlin.

The process of the requisition of Jewish property began in 1933 due to Nazi pressure. The premises of a furniture store of the Lewinsohn & Söhne Company, established in 1864, were handed over to the Evangelical Rectory. Stores of Ms. Bergmann and Julius Heymann were also taken over. In 1938 the two last large Jewish companies in town were “aryanised”: a textile company belonging to Louis Cohn, established in 1862, and “Salamander,” a large footwear company owned by the Lemke brothers. The “Salamander” company produced 1,500 high-quality pairs of shoes daily. It employed over 450 workers and had a turnover of approximately 3 million marks[1.6]. The owners, Gerard and Horst Lemke, survived the war. When they were released from jail after being arrested, they left Germany and managed to reach the United States.

As mentioned earlier, Christian-Jewish relations in town did not take a turn for the worse. This fact was confirmed by the Evangelical bishop, Kurt Scharf, who served as the Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg from 1976[1.7]. Aside from the activities of NSDAP members, there were no hostile actions against the Jews. Perhaps that is why organised units of the SA had to be employed to burn the synagogue during the Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938).

Literary depictions of these events can be found in Christa Wolf's Patterns from the Childhood, also published in Poland. Born in 1929, Wolf wrote a semi-autobiographical novel in which the protagonist, Nelly, remarked:

The 9^th of November, it seems, was not particularly cold. Pale sunlight fell on the cobblestones, and on the grass which grew in-between the cobbles. The cobblestones ended where small, crooked houses stood. Nelly knew that she would like the small square surrounded by these houses were it not for the ruin in the middle. It was still smouldering. [...] To Nelly’s astonishment and horror, people started to come out of the door of the burnt synagogue. So the ground floor room, where the Jews had some sort of an altar, as is usually the case in other temples as well, possibly had not been completely burnt or demolished by the walls tumbling down. So one may still enter the smouldering building – all this was completely new for Nelly.

If it weren’t for those people – the inner picture, whose authenticity is undeniable – you could not state with utter certitude that Nelly, a child of vivid imagination, was in front of the synagogue that afternoon. But those silhouettes, running quickly – but not too quickly – from the synagogue door to the small half-timbered house opposite – four or five men with long beards, wearing black hats and long, black coats – Nelly has never seen such men before; neither in a picture nor in real life. She did not know who a rabbi was. The sun found a new target – it fell on the objects the men were carrying (“rescuing,” thought Nelly against her will). They were carrying a kind of goblet, and – is it at all possible? It was made of gold!

The Jews, legless in Nelly’s memory due to their long coats, risked their lives entering the burning synagogue in order to rescue their sacred treasures. The Jews, old men with grey beards, lived in the small, wretched houses in the square surrounding the synagogue. Their wives and children might have been sitting right now behind those small windows, weeping[1.8].

The text mentions the date of 9 November 1938, but the events in question took place on 10 November.

The partially burnt synagogue building was sold in December 1938 to the Moritz Company. It survived the war and stood there at least until mid-1946.

The German census from May 1939 listed 97 Jewish residents of Gorzów. The vast majority of them did not survive the war. It is estimated that the last Jews of Gorzów were deported from the town in 1942. Gorzów was once again judenrein (Ger.: free of Jews).

The history of Polish Jews who resided in Gorzów after World War II has not yet been well researched. According to the report on Jewish communities in the area of Zielonogórskie Province from 1962, 40 Jews resided in Gorzów at the time[1.9]. Similar document of 1967 indicates 70 Jewish residents of the town[1.10].

The inhabitants of Gorzów shared the anti-Semitic sentiments that prevailed in the country during March 1968. The largest protests were organised at the “Stilon” plant and at the Mechanical Works. Ca. 1500 people participated in the events. There were various slogans on the banners: “Israel’s supporters – to Israel!", “End to the lawlessness of Zionists in Poland!", “Cleanse the party off the Zionists!”. Welter, the head of “Stilon” at the time, apparently lost his job due to him being a Jew[1.11].

There is no information on Jews in Gorzów after March 1968; it can however be assumed that, as a result of the hate campaign, many left the town. Today there are several Jews living in Gorzów but they continue to conceal their identities.