Stare Bystre | Lesser Poland Voivodeship

/ Zofia M., born in 1945: “During the German occupation my parents helped a local Jewish couple, Adolf and Linka. They hid in our stable.” ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Zofia M., born in 1945: “One day the Germans turned up in the village and the Jews hiding in the stable decided to flee towards the meadow. Linka was caught and tied to a horse, dragged through the entire village. She died.” ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad– In Unum Zofia M., born in 1945: “Adolf escaped to the forest, where he hid in Wojciech Zielny’s hut. However, he was handed over and killed, his body was buried in a shallow grave by a stream”. ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Władysław M., born in 1938: “Two Jews were hiding at my parents-in-law’s house, a woman and a man. The woman’s name was Lidka. When the Germans arrived at my parents-in-law’s house, they both fled.” ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Władysław M., born in 1938: “I don’t know the exact circumstances, but both, Adolf and Lidka, were eventually caught and shot by the Germans. My wife knows this story because her mother was the one hiding them in her barn.” ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Władysław M., born in 1938: “I know that several Jews, at least, are buried at this property, although I’m not sure exactly how many. They were buried behind an old shed that no longer exists today.” ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Approximate location of the burial site of several Jews killed in Stare Bystre during the war. The victims were buried in a vacant lot behind a former pigsty. ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum Władysław M., born in 1938: "A Jewish man named Adolf, who had been in hiding in Stare Bystre, was buried here in the forest, near the stream. His remains were partially discovered thirty years later and moved to the cemetery for burial." ©Paweł Szupiluk/ Władysław M., born in 1938: "My father pointed out this spot to me. He remembered seeing a Jew buried here in such a shallow grave that his clothes were still visible, poking through the soil." ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum The approximate location of the burial site of Adolf Synaj who was caught in hiding in Stare Bystre and killed by the Germans. His remains were partially reburied at the local cemetery. ©Paweł Szupiluk/Yahad – In Unum

Destruction of Jews in Stare Bystre

2 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Behind a farm building (1); Forest (2)
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
At least 4

Witness interview

Zofia M., born in 1945: "During the occupation, my parents hid a local Jewish family—Adolf and Linka—in their stables. One day, the Germans turned up in the village. Fearing discovery, the couple fled toward the meadow but were spotted. Linka was captured, tied to a horse, and dragged through the village until she died. Adolf escaped to the forest and hid in a neighbor’s hut, but he was betrayed and killed. His body was buried in a shallow grave in the forest, by the stream.

Additionally, three members of another Jewish family are buried on my mother’s property, beneath the manure pit, where their remains still lie. My mother was taken to the Palace prison in Zakopane for helping these people, where she was so severely beaten during two months of interrogation that she returned home in a horrible way.” (Witness N°1415P, interviewed in Stare Bystre, on October 19, 2022)

Polish Archives

"Additionally, the Germans shot the following individuals in the surrounding areas: 2 people in Wróblówka: 1. Franciszek Krozel, 2. Jan Mazur; 2 in Podczerwone: 1. Tomasz Harbut, 2. Wiktoria Żegleń; 4 in Stare Bystre: 1. the Jew Adolf Synaj, 2. his wife, 3. an elderly farmer, shot by members of the Gestapo, 4. the young Galica. The Jews were shot by the ’Lagerführer’ (camp leader) of the sawmill camp in Czarny Dunajec, whose name I have not yet discovered. It is said that he is currently a starosta (district administrator) in Czechia." [IPNKrakowReport 1/11619/DVD/1 p. 27-34 of the PDF Report by Kazimierz Romniszyn, a farmer and head of the Commission for Nazi Crimes in Czarny Dunajec, regarding executions committed during the German occupation in the village.]

Historical note

Stare Bystre is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czarny Dunajec, within Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia.

Little is known about the specific pre-war Jewish community in the village of Stare Bystre itself, but the broader administrative context provides a clear picture of the local Jewish population. According to the Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland, published in 1880, the parish of Czarny Dunajec (which included Stare Bystre, Międzyczerwienne, and Ratułów, among others) was home to 280 Jews and 9,423 Catholics. By the interwar period, this population had expanded. In 1921, the Czarny Dunajec administrative district recorded 341 Jewish residents. By 1939, that number had reached 405, accounting for approximately 14% of the town’s total population. This community was deeply integrated into the local economy, primarily involved in trade, inn-keeping, artisanal activities (such as tailoring, shoemaking, and butchering), and local industries, including a sawmill operation and legal practices.

While comprehensive lists of every Jewish resident in Stare Bystre do not exist, field research conducted by Yahad - In Unum confirms their presence through the accounts of local witnesses, specifically a Jewish couple, a man named Adolf Synaj and his wife Linka (or Lidka).

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The German occupation of the Czarny Dunajec district began in the opening days of the Second World War in September 1939, as German and Slovak forces advanced into southern Poland. The Podhale region was quickly overrun and later incorporated into the General Government under German administration.

While it remains unclear exactly what happened to the entire Jewish community of Stare Bystre during the war, various sources, including historical archives and witness testimonies, highlight several specific stories that reflect the broader reality of the Holocaust in the region.

According to local witnesses, a Jewish couple identified as Adolf and Linka hid in a farm building belonging to a Polish family. Yahad interviewed the daughter of that family, Zofia M., born in 1945, along with her husband, Władysław M., born in 1938. They recounted that when German forces arrived in the village, the couple attempted to flee toward the meadows. Linka was captured and dragged through the village by a horse until she died. Adolf initially managed to escape to a nearby forest and hide in a hut, but he was eventually denounced and killed. This oral history is corroborated by archival records identifying the victims as Adolf Synaj and his wife, stating they were shot by the Lagerführer (camp leader) of the sawmill labor camp in Czarny Dunajec.

Adolf was killed and buried in a forest near the stream separating Czerwienne and Stare Bystre. His body was placed in a makeshift pit so shallow that his clothing reportedly protruded from the earth.

Witnesses also identified a second burial site behind their family’s farm building, where at least three members of another Jewish family caught in hiding were killed. They were buried beneath what was then a manure pit. Although the farm building has since disappeared, the Yahad team was able to identify the approximate location of the killing site, where the victims’ remains are still believed to rest today. It is, however, unknown if Linka was also buried at this location.

In addition to these testimonies, archival records from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) document another act of repression in Stare Bystre involving a different local family. On May 20, 1943, the Gestapo raided the farm of Jan and Karolina Bulas following a denunciation and discovered a Jewish woman in hiding there. Under the General Government ordinance imposing the death penalty on anyone aiding Jews, Jan, Karolina, and the woman they were sheltering were arrested and later killed. Their names are officially listed in the IPN’s registers of repressions for the Krakow District.

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