The first Jews came to live in Dębno (German: Neudamm) probably already in the 18th century. As in other towns in the New March, they probably also settled down there thanks to special protection lists.
In 1801, there were five Jewish families living in Dębno. Anke Geißler-Grunberg assumes that they made their living by trading in cloth and wool. They probably had their own prayer room. On 21 February 1841, the royal cabinet approved the Jewish community's right to own a synagogue. The structure was probably built in the period from 1841 to 1843; however, its initial location is not known. The evidence of the existence of the synagogue is a report drawn up on 30 November 1843 by the department of church administration and education in Frankfurt (Oder), in which the synagogue is described as the property of the community. We also learn that it served the Jews of Dębno, as well as seven Jews from Namyślin (Neumühl) and Cychr (Zicher), for joint worship and as a school. A shochet and a teacher were also employed.
Despite the existence of the synagogue and cemetery, the community was small. In 1843 – it was 64 persons, in 1851 - 54 people (0.6% of the population). In 1871, it reached a record number of 71 Jews and it became smaller and smaller in the following years. The decline, associated with migration to larger centres, took place very early there. In 1890, only 52 Jews lived in Dębno, although the town had grown to over 4,000 residents.
By 1905, more than 8,200 people lived in the town but the number of Jews has not been recorded since that time. Therefore, the beginning of the 20th century should be considered as the last period of the presence of Jews in Dębno.
Bibliography
- Geißler-Grünberg A., Geschichte der Jüdischen Gemeinde in Neudamm (Dębno), Jüdische Friedhöfe in Polen auf den Gebieten der ehemaligen Provinz Brandenburg [online:] https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/juedische-friedhoefe-pl/friedhof-debno/geschichte-der-gemeinde [dostęp: 15.12.2022].
