Bircza (Berch) | Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Destruction of Jews in Bircza

2 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:

Wierzysko hill (1); forest near Kamienna Górka (2)

Memorials:

No

Period of occupation:

1939-1944

Number of victims:

Around 1000

Witness interview

Tadeusz W., born in 1928: "When the Germans arrived in Bircza, they set up a ghetto for the Jews in the area where the bakery now stands. It was enclosed with a 1.5-meter-high net fence topped with a row of barbed wire. The Jews stayed in the ghetto for several months. When the Germans decided to carry out the killings, they transported the Jews from the ghetto to two locations: Wierzysko Hill and Kamienna Górka. I saw the Jews being taken to Wierzysko Hill by members of the Gestapo and Ukrainian policemen. Anyone who wasn’t walking fast enough was beaten. When they got to Wierzysko Hill, the Jews were lined up in front of a trench and shot with a machine gun. The trench, which had been dug earlier by soldiers, was very long. After the shooting, the bodies were buried in the same trench. After the war, the bodies were exhumed and moved to another location.” (Witness N°380P, interviewed in Stara Bircza, on June 30, 2014)

Polish Archives

1. Date and place of execution: May 1942 in Bircza/ Kamienna Górka (the forest), August 1942;

2. Type of execution/ shooting, hanging or other types: shooting

3. Data on executed victims: around 800 Jews from Bircza and neighboring villages were shot by the Gestapo, SS, police (German and Ukrainian) and gendarmerie and buried in military trenches in Kamienna Górka, in the Jewish cemetery and in other places;

[Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in Bircza village, Przemysl County, Podkarpackie voivodship; p.559-558; IPN RG-15.019M]

Historical note

Bircza is a town located in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. It serves as the seat of the administrative district known as Gmina Bircza. The town lies approximately 24 km (15 miles) southwest of Przemyśl and 51 km (32 miles) southeast of the regional capital, Rzeszów.

Bircza has a long and rich history, with records of its existence dating back to the 14th century. It was granted city rights in the 15th century and was officially recognized as a city by 1464, at which time it was known as Nowobród. The town included a suburb called Bircza, but by the following year, the entire settlement was referred to as Bircza. Over time, it developed into a local trade center, known for its horse fairs and its production of woven goods and glassware.

Jews have been present in Bircza since at least 1570. In 1577, there were only two Jewish families living in the town, but the population grew rapidly. By the early 18th century, a fully established Jewish community existed, complete with a synagogue and cemetery. The community also leased the town hall building. By 1785, there were 160 Jews living in Bircza, and a Jewish school had been operating since 1793.

In 1824, the town’s population had grown to 615 residents, including 144 Jews. In the mid-19th century, the town’s rabbi was Shmuel Shapiro, the son of Tzadik Elimelech of Dynów. By 1870, the Jewish population had increased to 528. In 1900, the number rose to 2,063 residents, with 1,050 Jews living in Bircza alone—comprising 50.7% of the total population. By the time the First World War broke out, the Jewish population had reached approximately 1,200.

In 1921, there were 1,038 Jews in Bircza, making up 54% of the total population. At that time, the town’s rabbi was Tzvi Elimelech Shapiro, who was later succeeded by his son, Mordechai. During the interwar period, several Jewish organizations were active in Bircza, including the Yad Charuzim Association of Jewish Reclaimers, the Gemilas Chesed relief fund, and the Merchants’ Association.

By 1939, Bircza had a population of 2,290, which included 370 Ukrainians, 770 Poles, and 1,150 Jews. The Jewish community had its own synagogue, built in the 19th century.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

In September 1939, during their invasion of Poland, the Germans occupied Bircza. The Jewish population endured two weeks of humiliation and degradation, marked by a complete loss of human rights. The Germans cut off the beards of Jewish men, forced them to dance, and subjected them to various forms of abuse designed to humiliate and degrade.

Almost three weeks later, on September 17, the Soviets entered Bircza, and the town fell under Soviet occupation. Some Jews from Bircza—as well as those expelled by the Nazis from western Poland and refugees from Austria who had sought refuge in the town after its occupation by Germany, totaling about 2,500 individuals—were deported by Soviet authorities to the interior of the USSR.

At the end of June 1941, the Nazis reoccupied the town and established a ghetto for Jews from Bircza and the surrounding villages, including Jews resettled from the ghetto in Pruchnik.

The first execution occurred in April 1942, when the Nazis, along with the Gestapo, SS, and German gendarmerie, shot approximately 50 Jews outside the town. In May 1942, 16 wealthy Jews were executed at Kamienna Górka. Between May and August, around 200 people were shot at the Jewish cemetery. Further executions saw over 150 Jews killed in Kamienna Górka. In July or August of that year, between 500 and 800 residents of the Bircza Ghetto were murdered on the slopes of Wierzysko Hill in Stara Bircza. In September, more than 100 Jews were again executed by the Germans in the forest near Kamienna Górka.

Shortly before the final liquidation of the ghetto, Jewish communities from nearby areas, including Pruchnik and Leszczawa Dolna, were brought to Bircza. The Bircza Ghetto was liquidated in the first half of August 1942. Forty-eight hours before the deportation, the Jews were ordered to surrender money, wedding rings, and jewelry. Once these were collected, the Jewish community was instructed to gather in the market square by 4 p.m. Those who did not comply were shot by uniformed men. All the ghetto’s inhabitants were forced to spend the night in the square. At dawn, they were marched to the ghetto in Przemyśl. Children and the elderly were transported in carts, but many elderly individuals were shot along the way.

Upon arrival in Przemyśl, around 150 people were selected for forced labor in a camp in Rzeszów. The remainder were soon deported to the Bełżec extermination camp.

In late December 1943, in the village of Łodzinka Górna, located about 6 km from Bircza, the Gestapo executed seven Jews who had been hidden by a Polish family.

Two brick synagogues in Bircza survived the war. One, located just a few dozen meters from the market square along the main entrance road, was used as a trading facility until it was demolished in 2005 following a fire. The second synagogue now serves as a primary school. The rabbi’s house and the mikveh also still exist, while the Jewish cemetery near the Municipal Cemetery has suffered significant damage. Approximately 70 tombstones and fragments of the original fence remain. The oldest surviving tombstone dates back to 1808. Many tombstones, however, were repurposed by the Nazis to construct bridgeheads over the San River.

Today, an obelisk with a commemorative plaque stands at Kamienna Górka, honoring the Holocaust victims from Bircza. In 1957, the remains of the victims were exhumed and reburied in a mass grave at the Jewish cemetery in Przemyśl.

Nearby villages

• Przemyśl
• Huwniki

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