Gorlice | Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Rabbi Elisha Halbershtam was the last rabbi of Gorlice. After September 17, 1939, he was among several hundred Jews sent by the Soviets to labor camps in the USSR. He died in exile. ©photo archive taken from jewishgen.org Krystyna G., born in 1928: “I remember going to school with Jewish children. Gorlice had a large Jewish community—they owned most of the shops, and many of the town’s professionals were Jewish”. ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad – In Unum Krystyna G., born in 1928: “At the beginning of the German occupation, the Germans stole all the furs from the Jews to make jackets for soldiers. They forced Jewish people to wear armbands and put up antisemitic posters all over town.” ©Victoria Bahr/Yaha Krystyna G., born in 1928: “I remember the Gorlice ghetto, which wasn’t fully sealed off. Jews had very little food, and many starved. They had prepared a bribe to postpone the ghetto’s liquidation, but to no avail.” ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad – In Unum Władysława Z., born in 1928: “About 700 Jews were shot in the Stróżówka forest during the German occupation. Most of them were brought there from Gorlice ghetto with trucks, during the liquidation of the ghetto.” ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad – In Unum Władysława Z., born in 1928: "Many Jews were shot by the Germans in Gorlice itself. One day, I witnessed the shooting of an elderly couple. Germans shot them at the sand quarry and left their bodies in one of the pits.” ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad – In Unum Jewish cemetery in Gorlice © Stratus169 – Own work, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 PL. Source: https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=21288275 The lapidarium at the cemetery, erected in 1947 from recovered gravestones. © רבקה ממט – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=112529242

Destruction of Jews in Gorlice

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Jewish cemetery
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1939-1944

Witness interview

Władysława Z., born in 1928: "Several hundred Jews from the Gorlice ghetto were shot during the liquidation in the forest near my home village of Stróżówka. Many Jews were also murdered in Gorlice itself—both before and after the ghetto’s liquidation, and even while it was still in existence.

One day, I went with my mother to church in Gorlice. I saw a truck from which two Germans got out, bringing with them a captured elderly Jewish couple. The Germans ordered them to walk toward the sand quarry, where sand was collected for bricks and roof tiles. The quarry was on a hill, and the elderly couple struggled to climb. The Germans drove them on, shouting: “Raus! Raus!”

I watched the scene as I walked down the road toward the church. When they reached the top, one of the Germans pulled out a pistol and shot them both. The elderly couple fell into the large sand pit. The Germans then drove away, leaving the bodies at the killing site.

That was terrible—because even a good farmer would bury his dog after it died, but they killed those people and simply left them there…” (Witness N°196P, interviewed in Stróżówka, on September 02, 2013)

Polish Archives

GORLICE (town/city)

 

· 1940-1941 :

The Nazis shot more than 30 men of Jewish nationality in the streets and in their homes. The murdered Jews were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Gorlice on ul. Świerczewskiego. [Source: AGK, Ankieta OK Rzeszów « Represje na ludnosci zydowskiej… » Gorlice, woj. Rzeszowskie.]

 

 

· 27 or 28 VIII 1942:

 

Gestapo officers shot at Szklarczyków’s farm two Jews. They died, among others: Nebenzahl Henoch, born 12 I 1904 Nebenzahl Tauba, born 5 II 1878 [Source: District Court in Gorlice, Zg 101/46, 103/46.]

 

· VIII 1942:

 

Gestapo, SS, Wehrmacht and gendarmerie officers shot at various points in the city, including in the Jewish cemetery and near the brickworks on ul. Korczaka, several hundred Jews, gathered in the so-called "Butchery". They died, among others:

Baldinger Chaja, born 27 I 1941; Baldinger Estera, born 24 X 1906; Baldinger Hinda, born 1912; Baldinger Ideses, born 1 IV 1939; Baldinger Izaak, born 12 XII 1905; Baldinger Josefa, born 20 VII 1909; Baldinger Markus, born 15 XII 1867; Baldinger Mendel, born 1903; Baldinger Mozes, born 10 IX 1936; Baldinger Ruchim, born 25 VIII 1907; Baldinger Sara, born 25 X 1911; Baldinger Sara, born 21 VIII 1935; Baldinger Synoche, born 8 X 1872; Baumring Debora, born 13 II 1886; Birman Małka, born 22 VI 1872; Birnzwelg Amalia, born 23 III 1903; Birnzwelg Markus, born 21 IV 1895; Bittersfeld Estera, born 17 VII 1887; Bombach Rozalia, born 4 IV 1916; Bruder Chana, born 13 IV 1895; Bruder Józef, born 12 III 1894; Bruder Pinkas, born 31 V 1906; Bruder Rozalia, born 8 IX 1900; Bruder Samuel, born 8 III 1890; Bruder Sara, died at G.Gelb?, born 1 III 1867; Bruterowa Gűssla, born 31 I 1877; Feber Gitle, born 23 IX 1901; Fortgang Halter, born 5 VII 1894; Fortgang Jakub, born 3 IV 1916; Fortgang Meilech, born 13 XI 1895; Fortgang Rozalia Debora, born 1 VII 1921; Fortgang Sara Debora, born 2 V 1918; Frankel Mendel; Freier Gitle, born 15 III 1886 in Dębów; Freier Natan, born 4 II 1885 in Niemirów; Friedmann [no first name], woman, born 1892; Gewirtz Bela, born 21 XI 1897; Goldberg Berisch, born 4 VII 1880; Grosz Sinicha; Hollander Anna, born 3 V 1882; Kant Mina, born 1904; Kleinminz Chaja, born 27 III 1872; Kleinminz Michal, born 17 XI 1886; Laufer Sara, born 7 VI 1897; Lesner Syda, born 6 X 1906; Lieber Benzion, born 2 IX 1902; Lieber Gecela, born 5 IX 1929; Lieber Izaak, born 27 III 1934; Lieber Meilech, born 17 VII 1935; Lieber Salomon, born 14 VII 1927; Lieber Sara, born 29 VI 1931; Maj Maria, born 29 VII 1924; Malk Abraham, born 1875; Malk Elka, born 1914; Małz Szyfra, born 1880; Miller Anna /died in Weil/, born 7 IV 1902; Nebenzahl Małka, born 14 XI 1908; Orenstein Chaim, born 16 X 1913; Orenstein Ite, born 10 III 1888; Orenstein Małka, born 22 IV 1884; Reab Pinkas, born 16 III 1889; Robak Mania Cyla, born 25 X 1900; Schmidt Hanna; Schmidt Nattali; Schmidt Oleg; Schwarz Natan; Schwimmer [no first name], daughter; Schwimmer [no first name], daughter; Starek Natan, born 13 XII 1879; Thim Joel, born 25 XII 1905; Thim Rozalia, born 25 II 1911; Thim Sara, born 28 V 1907; Weil Pinkis /died in Ulrich/, born 2 VII 1879; Wenzelberg Hudela, born 14 VIII 1882. [Source: AGK, Survey GK "Executions" Gorlice, province of Krakow; AGK, Survey OK Rzeszów "Executions" Gorlice, province of Rzeszów; AGK, questionnaire of E. Sygyn, born 33, from Gorlice, on 13/18/67 /w/ 531/; District Court in Gorlice, Zg 75-76/46, 102/46, 115/46, 117/46; 119/46; 123/46, 137/46, 149-164/46, 172/46, 275/46, 336/433/46, 629/46, 748/46, 893/46, 219/47, 26, 37/48, 51/48, 53/48.]

 

Historical note

Gorlice is a town and urban municipality (gmina) in southeastern Poland. It lies southeast of Kraków and south of Tarnów, between Jasło and Nowy Sącz, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship (1975–1998). It serves as the capital of Gorlice County.

Jewish settlement in Gorlice began relatively late, due to a privilege—likely dating from the 16th century—that formally prohibited Jews from residing in the city until 1860. By the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the Jewish community had established an independent kahal (communal organization), complete with its own synagogue and cemetery.

During the interwar period, Jewish life flourished. The community was centered around the synagogue on Mickiewicza Street and the newly built, impressive synagogue on Piekarska Street.

The Jewish population of Gorlice declined sharply during World War I as a result of military actions. Their numbers fell from 3,297 in 1910 to 2,300 in 1921, representing 41% of the town’s inhabitants. Despite this setback, the community quickly rebuilt its economic standing and came to dominate local trade and services. Between 1938 and 1939, several hundred Jewish refugees from Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia arrived in Gorlice, further strengthening the community.

Jews from Gorlice were remembered not only as talented merchants and artisans but also as professionals in other fields. According to Yahad witness Krystyna G., born in 1928, 17 of the 22 lawyers practicing in prewar Gorlice were Jewish.

 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The Germans entered Gorlice on September 7, 1939. Immediately after the outbreak of the Second World War, some Jews fled eastward into Soviet-occupied territories. From the outset, the German authorities imposed a series of restrictions on the Jewish population.

In mid-October 1941, a ghetto was established in Gorlice. It confined not only the town’s approximately 3,500 Jewish residents but also Jews forcibly relocated from surrounding towns and villages.

On January 3, 1942, the Germans shot about 20 Jews in the streets, claiming it was to halt the spread of typhus. Yahad–In Unum’s witness Krystyna G. (born in 1928) vividly recalled the antisemitic propaganda displayed in town: “The posters showed a dirty Jew and a louse, with an equals sign, meaning a Jew is a louse, and lice are typhus. It became clear that the Germans wanted to eliminate the Jews under the pretext of eliminating a typhus epidemic.”

Beginning in the spring of 1942, the Germans, assisted by Ukrainian police, initiated systematic actions to eliminate the Jews in the ghetto. On April 25, 1942, 70 Jews—primarily members of Zionist organizations—were executed in town.

The process culminated in the liquidation of the Gorlice ghetto in August 1942. Between August 14 and 19, the Germans, supported by Ukrainian and other auxiliaries, carried out mass killings, claiming the lives of roughly 900 Jews in Gorlice itself and in nearby locations such as Garbice and Buciarnia.

On August 14, about 700 Jews from the Gorlice and Bobowa ghettos—mostly women and children—were transported to the Garbacz Forest near Stróżówka, about 5 km from Gorlice. There, victims were forced to undress before being shot and buried in mass graves dug by young Polish men (Junaki) conscripted into the Baudienst (Labor Service).

The remaining Jews of Gorlice were deported to the Bełżec killing center, where they were likely murdered around August 20, 1942. A small group of Jewish laborers was initially spared and confined to a labor camp within the town, but they were later transferred to camps in Muszyna and Rzeszów.

A few individuals managed to escape from the deportation trains and found refuge with Polish acquaintances, though very few survived. From the autumn of 1943 to early 1944, German forces conducted intensive searches, hunting down Jews in hiding and punishing those who sheltered them.

After the liberation, the District Jewish Committee in Gorlice, led by Jakub Peller, oversaw the exhumation of Jewish victims from various execution sites. The bodies were reburied in a mass grave at the Jewish cemetery, where monuments were later erected in their memory.

It is estimated that about 200 Jews from Gorlice survived the Holocaust. After the war, around 30 Jewish families returned, though most soon emigrated, primarily to Israel. Witness Krystyna G. recalled a prewar Jewish lawyer named Aleksandrowicz, who—together with his daughter—was rescued from deportation by local railway workers. Aleksandrowicz hid in Kraków, while his daughter was sheltered in a convent. Both survived and briefly returned to Gorlice after liberation.

Additionally, about 100 Jews from Gorlice are believed to have survived in Soviet territories, having been deported to Siberia by the Soviets in September 1939.

For more information on the executions in Stróżówka, see the corresponding profile.

 

Jewishgen

https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/gorlice/gorlice.html

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