The history of the Jewish community of Włocławek can be broken down into four periods. The first lasted from the beginning of the 19th century until 1918, the second from 1918 to 1939, the third spanned the years 1939–1942, and the last one began in 1945 and ended in the 1980s.

In the old period of Polish history only temporary Jewish residents would come to live in Włocławek and for the most part they were traders. In 1660, Bishop Florian Czartoryski granted shoemakers the right of preemption for the purchase of leathers from Jewish traders coming to sell their goods during market days. In 1690, bishop Bonawentura Madaliński allowed the shoemakers’ guild in Włocławek to collect from Jewish travelling traders charges from leathers purchased in the town (from 2 to 4 grosze). There is no doubt that Jews who had grains and timber floated up to Gdańsk would stop in Włocławek.[1.1]

The beginning of the actual Jewish settlement has its origins in the secularization of the town towards the end of the 18th century. First Jewish families came to live in Włocławek in 1803–1805, while in 1845 there were already as many as 150 of them here. A Jewish district was formed in 1823 (encompassing the following streets: Żabia, Zapiecek, Brzeska, Cyganka, Przechodnia) and did not cease to exist until 1862. Jews started to play an essential role in farm produce wholesale trade. They also set out to establish first banks, factories and industrial businesses. The first publishing company was formed in Włocławek in 1875. Many Jewish physicians had their practices in the town in the 19th century.  

Supporters of Reform Judaism grew in number in the 19th century, when more and more Jews started to arrive in the town from the German territories. Assimilation tendencies started to be more visible, especially among wealthy residents of the town. Polish was used on a daily basis, and German was less common. Russian was not used at all. Loads of people used Yiddish. An influx of Lithuanian Jews took place in the end of the 19th century. Although they had constituted a small proportion of the population the Hasidim also managed to reaffirm their influence in the town. They were mostly supporters of the tzadiks from Góra Kalwaria and Aleksandrów. Supporters of the assimilation were a small, though a very influential group which prevailed in the synagogue supervisory board. A secular Jewish school was set up as one of the first of this type in the Polish territories in 1859.

One of the finest synagogues in the Polish territories (designed by Franciszek Tournelle and done in the Moresque style) was constructed in 1847–1854 thanks to the financial support that was given by both local tycoons and those from outside of Włocławek. Its opening was attended by preacher A. M. Goldszmit, the cantor and choir of the Warsaw synagogue. Another synagogue, built for money donated by the supporters of traditional Judaism (Józef Golde, Markus Engel, Rotter) was erected in 1908–1910. A Talmud Torah operated at the synagogue. Clashes between the Orthodox and Reform Jews came to the surface after Rabbi Józef Chaim Caro’s death in 1895. A few years of ferment went by before a choice was made to elect Jehuda Lejb Kowalski who, as a supporter of religious Zionism, turned out to be a perfect candidate, able to lead to a reconciliation between both factions.

First supporters of nationalism arrived in Włocławek towards the end of the 19th century, and in the early 20th century first organizations and political parties started to enter the Jewish scene. Among them were, for example, the Social Jewish Library and Reading Room, Bronisław Grosser Library, Bund, Poale Zion, Mizrachi, Agudath Israel (meaning Union of Israel in Yiddish). A male secondary school, a Jewish People’s School, and a kindergarten were all established in 1917.  The “Głos Żydowski” magazine was published from 1917 to 1918. An amateur Jewish theater staged its first play in 1907. A people’s choir was formed in 1911. An Orphanage and a Children’s Shelter were set up in 1914, a Jewish outpatients’ department (later made into a nursing home called Moshav Zkenim) was opened in 1915, and a Jewish Gymnastics Society came into being that same year.[1.2]

Jews played a significant role in the economic life of the town in the period between the two world wars. It was estimated that at the turn of 1919/1920 they owned 68% of big businesses, 48% of Jews were owners of small business enterprises, while 50% of businesses dealing with handicraft were in the Jewish hands. In 1921, 61.4% of industrial businesses belonged to them. That proportion changed to 61.1% in 1938. They gained a monopoly over timber and faience industries, metal industry, some branches of food industry and a few branches of industries specializing in particular fields. They gave employment to 26.7% of all the people working in the town. In the years 1928–1929, they constituted a significant proportion of town’s physicians and teachers [23 of 47 (49%) physicians and 70 of 283 (25%) teachers, were Jewish.]

In the years 1918–1939, there were a number of professional organizations and societies in Włocławek that were strictly Jewish in nature; apart from them, there were nationalistic and mixed organizations as well. Jews formed many cooperatives, like loan cooperatives, people’s craftsmen banks, societies, loan and savings funds, mutual loan societies, labor cooperatives. They were usually short-lived and included cooperatives founded and managed by various political organizations, like the Bund or Zionist parties.

Private religious schools were: Bejt Jaakow (Hebrew: Jacob’s School), Private Religious Primary School “Jesodej Tora,” progressive Mizrachi Private Jewish School “Cheder Metukan,” or a Talmud Torah. Secular schools included the I. L. Perec People’s Jewish School, Gąsiecki Jewish School, Jewish Primary School, Jewish Community Six-Grade Private Primary School, Private Coeducational Secondary School of Jewish Community of Włocławek. Initially, there were three Jewish public schools (school no. 17 at 17 Królewiecka Street, no. 18 at 63 Łęgska Street and no. 19 at 53 Łęgska Street), and from 1933 on there were two such schools (no. 9 at 54 Łęgska Street for girls, and no. 10. at 38 Starodębska Street for boys).

Cultural and educational organizations operated in the town. These were, for example, the Society of Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Society of Friends of the Jewish Scientific Institute, Jewish Theater Society, Union of Jewish Women for the Support of Female Workers in Palestine “WIZO,” Union of Jewish Schools and Society of Jewish Secondary Schools “Moriah,” Society for the Promotion of Professional and Agricultural Work among Jews “ORT.” There were charities that helped the sick, orphans and the poor by providing them with accommodation and inexpensive meals. Various Zionist circles supported the Alija Bet (Emigrant’s House), Central Emigration Society JEAS, League to Support People Working in Palestine, Keren ha-Yesod (Hebrew: The Foundation Fund), Keren Kajymet le-Israel (Jewish National Fund). General Zionists, jointly with Ha-Szomer ha-Cair, organized a kibbutz for craftsmen at 18 Brzeska Street. Supporters of the Al ha-Mishmar (On Guard) faction used kibbutz youths to create He-Chaluc ha-Klal Cijoni and Ha-Noar ha-Cijoni in 1932.

Ha-Szomer ha-Cair and Betar organized summer camps. Numerous sports, paramilitary and tourists groups operated in the town; they were, for instance, the “Maccabi” Gymnastics and Sports Organization, Jewish Gymnastics Society, Jewish Sports Club “Kraft-Siła”, Physical Education Worker’s Association “Jutrznia”, Physical Education Worker’s Association “Gwiazda” (“Sztern”), Włodzimierz Żabotyński Former Military Men Association “Brit ha-Chajal”, Association of Jewish Fighters for Polish Independence, a Club of the Association of Jewish Reserve Combatants, “He-Chaluc” (“Pioneer”) and He-Chaluc ha-Cair (Young Pioneer). A sports organization called “Shomriah” and a unit fighting anti-Semitic attacks (operating between 1932 and 1939) were created by the Ha-Szomer ha-Cair. The Jewish Sightseeing Society, on the other hand, would promote tourism.

Włocławek was one of the biggest publishing centers of the Jewish press in interwar Poland. From a quantitative point of view it held sixth place with its 40 publications. A characteristic feature of the periodicals, excluding two or three titles, was that they were ephemeral. Their readers were mainly Jews of Włocławek and neighboring Kujawy (Kuyavian) towns. 

Libraries influenced cultural life. Bookstores and second-hand bookstores were involved in activities that bordered on culture and economy. There were seven bookstores and two second-hand bookstores run by Jews in the interwar period in Włocławek.

Political organizations and parties were active in the town. Poalej Agudas Jisroel, Bnojs Agudas Jisroel, Ceirej Agudas Jisroel, Szomrej Szabes were all affiliated with the Agudath Israel. The Hasidim of Góra Kalwaria were most influential in the Agudath Israel. Similar views, although referring to the Zionist ideology, were shared by the Mizrachi along with its affiliated youth organizations: Ceirej Mizrachi, He-Chaluc ha-Mizrachi, Ha-Szomer ha-Dati. Poles apart from them were the Bund and its affiliated youth Cukunft and children’s Skif. The Jewish People’s Party and Poale Zion played their part in the political area of the town as well. Jews also belonged to the Communist Party of Poland and the Communist League of Polish Youth, as well as to Kombund and International Red Aid.

Branches of the Zionist Organization stood in opposition to the parties that have been just mentioned. The Organization of Zionist Revisionists (Brit ha-Zohar) and its affiliated Josef Trumpeldor Scout Association (Brit Trumpeldor) operated here, as well as did the Zionist Socialist Party “Ceirej Syjon,” which merged with the Poale Zion Right (with an active youth organization called “Frajhajt”) in 1922. There were also branches of the Poale Zion Left with a youth organization “Borochow Jugent,” and of the Zionist Labor Party “Hitachdut” with a youth organization “Gordonia.”

With more than 5,000 members, the Jewish community of the interwar period was considered big. Five tickets were proposed in the election to the community council on June 1, 1924. Zionists won 5 seats, Mizrachi along with traders and craftsmen – 3 seats, Poale Zion Right – 1 seat, Bund – 2, Orthodox Party – 4 (including 3 for Agudath and, unofficially, 1 for the Hasidim of Żychlin and Pravdinsk as independent religious Jews). Representatives of different political parties sat on the community board. Despite having created different tickets, there was cooperation between the Zionists and Mizrachi, as well as between the Hasidim and Agudath. For the elections on May 20, 1931 ten party tickets were created by the Zionists and Mizrachi (tickets number 1, 6, 7), independent and Orthodox party (tickets no. 3, 4, 8, 10, 11). The Poale Zion Right (ticket no. 2) and Poale Zion Left (ticket no. 5) had their own independent tickets. The Zionists and Mizrachi won 3 seats in the community council, Orthodox party (Agudath and Hasidim of Stryków) – 3, independent – 2, Poale Zion Right – 1. The Bund announced a boycott of the election. The Zionists dominated the board with their 3 seats, Mizrachi had 1 seat, Poale Zion Right – 1, Orthodox party – 2 (in fact, 3 with an assistant rabbi), independent (Hasidim of Stryków) – 1.

Another election to the community council took place on September 6, 1936. The seats were won by the Poale Zion Right – 2 seats (179 votes cast), Poale Zion Left – 1 (176 votes), Bund – 2 (226 votes), Zionist Organization – 2 (274 votes), Mizrachi – 1 (170), Agudath –2 (252), Orthodox supporters of the Stryków Rabbi – 1 (121), Zionist craftsmen – 1 (109), Revisionist Zionists (98) and Union of Jewish Craftsmen (83) won no seats. Agudath did not take part in the board election. The initial agreement that it had concluded with the group supporting the rabbi (tzadik) of Stryków was terminated. The Agudath withdrew its ticket. Ultimately, two electoral blocks were formed. The ticket number 1 constituted of the Zionists, Mizrachi, the group of the tzadik of Stryków, Poale-Zion-Right, ticket number 2 – Bund and Poale Zion-Left. The Hasidim of Stryków (independent Orthodox Jews) won one seat, Mizrachi won one seat as well, Zionists won 3 seats, Bund – 1, Poale Zion-Right – , Poale Zion-Left – 1. Economic and political problems contributed to the dissolution of the community board and to the introduction of a resolution committee as of January 27, 1939.

In the years 1899–1925, Rabbi Jehuda Lejb Kowalski was the head of the synagogue. Assistant rabbis were Mendel Kuczyński (1914–1937) and Jakub Unger (1912–1939), an assistant to the rabbi from 1917 to 1925 was Becalel Bieżyński (from 1925 on, served as a community secretary), Lejb Fuks (community secretary from 1925 on ). 

For the most part, Jews had lived on the streets that formed a Jewish district in the 19th century. Ten streets were inhabited by over 88% of the Włocławek Jews (Żabia Street – 6.5%, Kaliska St. – 7.5%, Piekarska St. – 10.1%, Tumska St. – 5.3%, Kościuszki St. – 4.3%, Plac Dąbrowskiego – 6.1%, 3 Maja St. –  26.3%, Łęgska St. –  6.4%, Cygancka St. – 8.4%, Królewiecka St. – 7.5%). Various institutions were also situated there: synagogues, one built in 1847–1854 and the other in 1908–1910 were situated at 14 Żabia St. and at 17 Królewiecka St., respectively; Talmud Tora (5 Królewiecka St.), mikveh (4 Królewiecka St.), an orphanage (5 Królewiecka St.), a nursing home at 35 Stodólna St., houses of prayer. The cemetery at 25 Nowomiejska St. and the house of prayer in Szpetal Dolny were the only ones that were located in the outskirts of the town. Excluding the private shtibl of the Hasidim of Góra Kalawaria (2 Kowalska St.) and several houses of prayer (situated at the following streets: 2 Kowalska, 33 & 38 Królewiecka, 8 & 18 Piekarska, 6 Zapiecek, 5 Żabia, 20 Szpichlerna, 64 Stodólna, 7 Kaliska, 15 Piekarska, and Plac Dąbrowskiego and Kokoszka), the community property was estimated at 349,000 to 475,150 zlotys in total in the years 1938–1939.

The Jews of Włocławek had their representatives in the town council. For instance, in the years 1927–1934, the Bund won 2 seats, Poale Zion-Left – 1, Poale Zion-Right – 1, National Group (Polish: Grupa Narodowa) – 3 and 1 deputy, Orthodox party – 1. A. Sztolcman, who was elected to the Town Council, was replaced by Józef Miedziński. In the by-election to the Włocławek Town Council, on October 28, 1932, the Jews proposed four tickets, among which only the Union of National Jewish Committee (Zionists) won three seats. By the end of the term of office, which was to end on March 28, 1933, the proportion of the parties in the Town Council was as follows: Poale Zion-Left, Poale Zion-Right, Agudah Israel and Bund won one seat each, while the National Jewish Block won six.

In another election that was held on May 27, 1934, the majority of seats were won by the Zionists affiliated with the National Group (Dawid Ersler, Lejb Fuks, Alfred Sztolcman). On July 7, 1936, Dawid Ersler was replaced by Sz. Roth, whereas on November 18, 1936, Alfred Sztolcman was replaced by Abram Kreisler. Józef Horn, an independent Jewish councilor, resigned from his seat. He was replaced (on February 9, 1937) by J. Miedziński, who joined the Group of Jewish Councilors. Not one Jewish councilor sat on the Board. In the election the Zionists put forward the Union of Jewish National Electoral Committee in Włocławek.

A United Jewish Economic Block (Józef Poznański, I. Rawicki, Salomon Wolsztejn, Jakub Brzustowski) was called into being as an opposition to the Zionists. The Block included: Agudath, Union of Retailers and Small Traders, Union of Jewish Craftsmen, Traders’ Assembly, Union of Jewish Fighters for Independent Poland, Organization of Zionist Revisionists, Group of Independent Jews. The Economic Block believed in cooperation with the Sanacja government, which was perceived as an effective barrier against nationalistic socialism and against the proliferation of anti-Jewish beliefs on the international arena, as well as in Poland. The last election took place on April 23, 1939. Jews proposed two tickets: United Jewish Blocks (which won 3 seats) and Bund (which won 2 seats). The ticket of the Poale Zion Union of Jewish Workers was annulled.

Anti-Jewish riots escalated in Włocławek on January 5-8, 1919, after being triggered by a rally of the Communist Workers Party of Poland (Polish: KPRP) that took place on the afternoon of January 5 in the hall of the Gymnastics Association at 13 Gęsia Street. Two groups of protesters, one consisting of Communists and the other of their opponents would shout “Down with the Polish Army and Police” and “Long live the Army and Police,” respectively. Panic spread among the people when three shots were fired around 4 p.m. Escaping Jews were stopped by bystanders who prevented them from leaving until gendarmerie officers arrived. Simultaneously, individual Jews were being assaulted and windows were broken in some Jewish stores. Over the following two days, small groups got together to beat up Jews and break both shop windows and windows in private houses on Nowa (3 Maja), Żabia, Zielony Rynek Streets.

The police intervened and recovered stolen goods, including leathers and clothes. A crowd consisting mostly of elderly people gathered on the last day and cried “Beat a Jew.” Plundering of Jewish shops was incited. Again, the crowd was dispersed by the police, which intervened an hour after the incident. Unlike the police, the army remained passive. The City Council which created a Committee for Anti-Jewish Riots, established that those who initiated the riots included not only Poles (Józef Kruszyński, Kryt, Maszewski), but Jews as well (Kino, Szubiński, Łęczycki). The tensions were intensified by inner affairs between fighting communist groups of Purman supporters and their opponents, as well as between Communists and Zionists. Over a dozen people took part in a fight on January 15, 1919, which played out between Communists and Zionists after an attempt to prevent the Zionist Organization from raising funds to support primary schools (no. 17 and 18) for Jewish children. Windows of the synagogue on Królewiecka Street were broken during the fight.

Another stage of the incidents took place at the climax of the Bolshevik offensive in 1920, when the Red Army soldiers positioned themselves across Włocławek and Nieszawa. The Jews waited in anticipation of the upcoming events, while still remaining faithful to the Polish state. The kehilla authorities called on the Jewish population to defend the country. For three days Paweł Golde provided money to support soldiers who were fighting off Bolshevik troops at the Włocławek embankments. The Jews did not avoid the burden of supporting the soldiers or working at the fornications.

The number of Jewish soldiers that deserted from the Polish Army was proportional to the percentage of Jews in the entire population of the town. A small number of left-wing youth that were communist sympathizers, got to areas occupied by the Bolsheviks and joined local revkoms (revolutionary committees) and militia units. Lieutenants Katz and Szymek distinguished themselves during the defense of Włocławek. A hostile attitude, manifested by Polish soldiers who had come from Wielkopolska (Greater Poland Region), was observed towards the Jews in 1920. During fortification works that were carried out on August 20-22, 1920, soldiers, in the presence of Col. Gromczyński, made the Jews who worked there cry out loud “Long live Poland, let the Jews die.”

Taking advantage of the tumult, people were made to pay money for being allowed to stop working at the fortifications, stores were plundered, beatings happened. In the years that followed the face of the anti-Jewish riots changed, anti-Judaism becoming a trigger. Flyers were put up by night. Some of them read “We will not allow the Jews to trade the blood of Jesus the Lord.” The idea to do this came from the “Rozwój” Society, whose Włocławek branch was in touch with branches in Łódź and Poznań. The persons responsible for putting up the posters were detained and examined, but no attributes of an offence could be proved, so they were released. “Pieśń Rozwojowców” (“A Rozówj Society Anthem”) was circulated in Włocławek and the area in 1923 (published in “Słowo Kujawskie” daily, November 16), 1925 (2,500 copies) and in November 1931, which may prove that this type of anti-Semitism was really popular.

The song was authored by Hilary Sowiński and remade by a person referred to as “Clarix.” Its tune was derived from Poland’s national anthem. It went like this: “Poland has not yet died, as long as we live./ What Judah’s betrayal has taken from us, we shall with work retrieve. / Down with the Jews…, /Who have taken our industry and trade, and are buying out our cities. / They will not celebrate Sunday, and their boldness is increasing. / While our soldiers bravely fought the enemy, bad Jewry, like apaches, fired shots at them…. /Our harvests are consumed by the summer and winter locust,/ the self-proclaimed national minority wants to rule us./ In its gold skin, crawls the Jewish viper. / Strangles Poland with its coils and kills it with its venom […].” To the Poles, patriotic attitudes represented by their Jewish neighbors were always something else that pure patriotism and would, for example, see them as a desire to make a profit. As stated by Rev. Józef Kruszyński, anti-Semitism started to take on a “practical dimension” by indicating traders and craftsmen’s religion and by avoiding a creation of religiously mixed partnerships.

The phenomenon was justified by the fact that Jews controlled the trade, industry and capital. A conception common at that time was that the Jews preyed on the country and did anything to make it weaker, not only in terms of economy, but also morally, by disseminating pornography, to name but a few. A fixed stereotype was to refer to a stereotype of a Jew, especially a young one, who had ties with communism. Addresses of companies whose Jewish owners hid behind Polish names would be purposefully published on a regular basis. It was frowned upon if a Pole sold a piece of real property, a store or a company to a Jew. It was viewed as something objectionable if people founded Polish-Jewish partnerships. The number of anti-Semitic riots rose in the 1930s. Flyers and posters were put up and slogans appeared around the town, calling on an economic boycott. An increase in the support by the citizens of anti-Semitic activities, which were propagated by various right-wing circles, took place during the Great Depression. Anti-Semitic riots that lasted a few days happened in November 1931. On November 11th and 12th anonymous authors sent around manifestos appealing for a participation in an “anti-Semitic rally” on November 15. The actions were coordinated by an Anti-Jewish Committee.

The wave of aggression grew bigger already on the day of the distribution of the manifestos. Small groups giving anti-Semitic cries would walk the streets, while in schools slogans would be placed on boards and cries like “Beat the Jews,”  “Down with the Jewry” would be heard. A climax of the events took place on 11th, 12th, and 15th November. After church services, small groups would gather and shout some things that were anti-Semitic in nature. The incidents were in large part instigated by students of a Trade School, J. Długosz Secondary School, and Ziemia Kujawska Secondary School. A crowd, joined by “scum bags,” got together in a few places on the evening of November 11 and started breaking windows in private apartments, in the synagogue situated on Królewiecka Street and in a Jewish secondary school. Fights took place during which Chaim Bieżyński, Dawid Dorfman, Moszek Majerczak, I. Kowalski, J. Włocławski were assaulted and wounded. Police detained 31 people, including 20 students.

The latter had their behavior grades lowered and were reprimanded at school. One of the students was expelled from school by the principal of the Ziemia Kujawska Secondary School, when he [the student] read out, on November 20, the circular letter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the chief education officer, and then gave a cry “Beat the Jews.” Consequences of the incidents had wide repercussions. A member of the Parliament, Icchak Grünbaum, submitted a parliamentary interpellation to the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding the case. The City Council made an announcement, expressing their regret, and a special committee was appointed (with the participation of councilors, first Ersler, Toruńczyk, and then Hiller) to investigate the incidents. The case of two J. Długosz Secondary School students, who beat up D. Dorfman and M. Majerczak, ended up in court, but thanks to an allegedly false alibi they were found not guilty.

Towards the end of the 1930s, anti-Semitic riots became even more aggressive and offensive. Exhortations to an economic boycott were included in virtually every issue of the “Dziennik Kujawski” daily. The local authorities gave their support to those initiatives. On February 11, 1937, the Town Council of Włocławek agreed for market days to be held on Saturdays as well. [1.3]

First persecutions took place when the German army entered Włocławek in September 1939. Twenty-three Jews residing on Kowalska and Łęgska Streets, who were praying in an apartment belonging to M. Dyszel, were arrested on September 22, 1939. Upon the arrest a few (7–10) of the Jews were killed by shooting or stabbed with bayonets and then their bodies were buried in the backyard of a townhouse located at 69 Łęgska Street. A great number of Jewish apartments on Łęgska Street were searched a day later. About 300 men were arrested. A “kloyz” (a prayer house) of the Hasidim of Góra Kalwaria on Kowalska Street and the synagogues on Żabia (at 11 a.m.) and Królewiecka (at 12) were all set on fire on the day that followed these events. In revenge for the alleged arson of the buildings by the Jews and their insolent behavior towards the Germans, the SS arrested the “arsonists.” A few hours into that, 800 to 1,200 Jewish people were taken hostage.

Upon the arrest or transportation to prison two Jews were shot dead and one was severely wounded. Individual murders, beatings of Jews moving around the streets by uniformed Germans and the so-called “plays” were all common. Contributions were a way of exploiting the Jews financially. In Włocławek, by November 1, 100,000 zlotys were paid as the first contribution (for “arsons and defiant behavior of Jews towards the German soldiers”), the second contribution in the amount of 200,000 zlotys was for “failing to abide by the regulations concerning walking the streets”), and the third one (250,000 zlotys) was for “failing to comply with the regulation on yellow patches”). Groups of Jews resettled from Lipno County and Toruń ended up in Włocławek in November and December 1939, and a group from Brześć Kujawski and Kowal were shipped off to Włocławek in 1940. Using a free workforce was common.

After the arrests in September 1939, and following a few consecutive selections, a group of several hundred men was spared and then sent for two months to barracks where they worked at removing war damage in town and its surroundings. At the same time others would clean the prison grounds and the barracks grounds, would take out trash and clean the streets. After releasing the arrested people, the Jewish community agreed that it would deliver a daily quota of 800 laborers, who, apart from a few exceptions, were refused to be paid for the work they did. The situation of craftsmen, like tailors, shoe and boot top makers, was relatively good before the ghetto was established. Members of the intelligentsia, as well as the old, sick and children were in the worst position.

First organized displacements were carried out in December 1939. Two transports, 500-550 persons each, were headed for Ożarów (December 1, 1939), Zamość and Włoszczowa (December 12, 1939). The third transport was on February 15, 1940 and sent to Tarnów. Large groups of refugees and displaced persons from Włocławek stayed in Włoszczowa in the first half of 1940 and in Warsaw towards the end of 1940 (2,097). Smaller groups would stay in Siedlce, Zamość, Tarnów, Szczebrzeszyn, Szczekociny, Skierniewice, Piszczacz near Biała Podlaska, Pruszków, Limanowa, Kozienice, Grójec, Góra Kalwaria, Łódź, Żychlin, Dąbie, Kłodawa. Small groups of Jews would be sent to forced labor camps in 1940.

A group of about 500 people were transported to work in Poznań Region on June 26, 1941. A week after that a similar number of people were sent to Chodzież (Kolmar). The last transport of men from Włocławek and the surrounding area was sent on April 26, 1942. The Jews were mostly transported to the Fort Radziwiłł in Poznań and to the City Stadium along with its pillars. Apart from the transports to German labor camps, Jews started to be sent to the Łódź ghetto as of September 1941. The first transport (937 people) was sent on September 26, 1941, the second transport (1,054 people, including Jews from neighboring towns) took place on September 28, the third one (approximately 1,000 people) was organized on September 30, 1941. I

n the Łódź ghetto they settled on the following streets: Przelotna (nos. 4, 6, 8), Przemysłowa (nos. 38, 39, 40) and Próżna (nos. 1, 7). Towards the end of the September 1941 there were 937 displaced persons (including 268 men) from Włocławek in the Łódź ghetto. A ghetto started to be established in Włocałwek in 1940.

The displacement was preceded by ousting Jews from representative streets and front buildings. They were displaced to annex buildings and alleys at Zielony Rynek, Królewiecka, Łęgska, Starodębska Streets. Construction of the ghetto commenced in the spring of 1940. The Polish population (in the amount of about 600 people) was displaced from the suburban district of Rakutówek.

In the official nomenclature it was called “a special residential district” (German: “besonders Wohngebiet”). A settlement started in the beginning of 1940, was a gradual process, and in the initial stage it was an open ghetto, which was turned into a closed ghetto in November 1941. The area of the ghetto was being decreased little by little. The process of liquidating the Jews of Włocławek started towards the end of April 1942 when its inhabitants began to be sent partly to the Łódź ghetto and partly to a German death camp in the village of Chełmno nad Nerem. The ghetto grounds were cleaned, and the buildings and other things were burned down.[1.4]

Following World War II, Jews reappeared in Włocławek in the spring of 1945. On the initiative taken by Anatol Szymański a Committee to Aid Jews was formed, and was soon transformed into a branch of the Central Committee of Polish Jews. Political parties like the United Zionist Democratic Party “Ichud,” a Jewish Faction of the Polish Workers’ Party at the Jewish Committee, Bund, Poale Zion-Right, Poale Zion-Left, Ha Szomer Ha Cair were set up. Two production cooperatives were formed. One made clothes and was called “Igła” (named after Gerszon Dua “Bogen”) and the other, called “Fajwel Botwin,” manufactured footwear and leather goods. A Fund for the Support of Preparing Jews for Work (from 1947 on operated as a Cooperative Bank for Preparation for Work) was brought into being in 1945.

A Jewish Congregation was called into being in 1946 and took control over the Jewish cemetery. Destruction of the cemetery started after its size had been reduced, and it lasted until the 1980s. A house of prayer was formed in a building of the synagogue’s caretaker at the corner of Królewiecka and Złota Streets. A man named Kluska would conduct services. The house was closed down in the late 1960s.

The taking by a few dozen Jews of politically exposed positions, especially in the security service and in the Communist Party (Polish Workers’ party, then the United Polish Workers’ Party) intensified anti-Jewish moods and attitudes. In 1948, Jewish Communists, who were striving for the supremacy in the Jewish circles, began to exert an even greater pressure on the operation of the Jewish organizations. They prevailed in the Jewish Cultural Society, which was absorbed by the Central Committee of Polish Jews, leading to the creation in 1950 of a Social-Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKŻ).

The years 1948–1949 saw the dissolution of the Association of Health Protection, a half-dormitory for Jewish children, kindergarten, library, choir and sports club. TSKŻ still operated in the early 1990s, but, its representatives were not delegated to the convention that took place in 1984. There were 70 TSKŻ members in 1963–1964, and 69 in 1966, including 51 residents of Włocławek. Despite criticism from the authorities and the Jewish circle, the Jewish Congregation was still a little active towards the end of the 1960s and it ceased to operate in the 1970s.

Bibliography

• Golon M., “Żydzi we Włocławku po II wojnie światowej”, “Zapiski Kujawsko-Dobrzyńskie” 1999, vol. 13, pp. 275–300;
• Kawski T., “Mniejszość żydowska w województwie pomorskim (bydgoskim) w latach 1945–1956”, [in:] “Kujawy i Pomorze w latach 1945–1956. Od zakończenia okupacji niemieckiej do przełomu październikowego”, eds. W. Jastrzębski, M. Krajewski, Włocławek 2001, pp. 205–228;
• Kawski T., “Żydzi z Kujaw, ziemi dobrzyńskiej i Bydgoszczy ocaleni z Shoah. Przyczynek do poznania struktury społeczno-zawodowej, zmian osadniczych oraz migracji ludności żydowskiej w Polsce po II wojnie światowej”, [in:] “Wrzesień 1939 roku i jego konsekwencje dla ziem zachodnich i północnych Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej. Studia”, eds. R. Sudziński, W. Jastrzębski, Toruń–Bydgoszcz 2001, pp. 365–392.]]