In co-operation of 2020 with cmentarze-zydowskie.pl

It is known that there was only one Jewish family living in Susz (Rosenberg) in 1793 and two in 1799. The number of Jews in Susz (Rosenberg) increased only after the emancipation edict was issued in 1812. In 1817, 81 people of Jewish origin lived here, in 1855 – 153. In 1861, there were still 181 Jews living in Susz (Rosenberg), but in 1885 – only 126 and their number was still decreasing, which was a result of economic emigration. In 1895, 105 people of Jewish nationality lived in the town, in 1900. – It is worth noting that in 1932, the number of Jews living in Susz (Rosenberg) was 50 “souls”, whereas, interestingly, in 1937 it increased to 72.

Plans to establish a Jewish cemetery in Susz (Rosenberg) were already born in 1803. It was then that Josef Elias Hirch bought for 6 thalers the land located by the road to Michałów, between Rożno and the Tannenbruch marshes. However, it was only when the land for the cemetery was handed over to Hirch’s heir in 1853 that its use began. In the same year 1853 some more land was bought in order to increase the burial area. Eventually its area was about 0.1 – 0.15 ha.

It’s hard to tell at the moment whether it was devastated during Crystal Night. The structures of the NSDAP in Susz (Rosenberg) were quite strong, however, as one of the pre-war inhabitants of the town mentioned, the relations between ordinary citizens and the Jewish population were good. The synagogue was not burnt down in Susz.

Unfortunately, there is almost no trace of the Jewish cemetery. At present, there is the Osiedle Leśne estate in this area. Only an alleyway and the outline of the fence have survived there. Eyewitnesses mentioned that many monuments were taken away from the cemetery by the newcomers in the 1950s and afterwards.

There was also a house of prayer in Susz (Rosenberg). It existed much earlier than 1821. The synagogue was not built here until 1868, on two plots of land near the then Schmalestraße (today’s Wąska Street), corner of the former Kirchenstraße. The synagogue building has been preserved in relatively good condition until today. In the mid-1990s it was handed over to the Jewish community in Gdańsk and unfortunately since then it has fallen into disrepair. Previously, it housed the seat of the Suskie Ośrodek Kultury.

Text & pictures: Seweryn Szczepański and pictures of webpage Museum Susz (Sebastian Zieliński)

News: The Regional Museum in the building of the synagogue of Susz (Rosenberg) was established in 2019 by the Historical and Research Association “Galea”. The regulations were accepted in November 2019 and in December of the same year the museum was included in the list of museums of the Ministry of Culture. On 19 January 2020, Sylwia Zielińska became the director of the Regional Museum in Susz by the decision of the Meeting of Members of the “Galea” Association.

• Deutsches Städtebuch. Handbuch statistischer Geschichte, Bd. I: Nordostdeutschland, hrsg.: E. Keyser, Stuttgart-Berlin 1939.
• Führer durch die jüdische Gemeindeverwaltung und Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland, Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der deutschen Juden, Berlin 1933.
• K. J. Kaufmann, Geschichte der Stadt Rosenberg in Westpreußen, Rosenberg in Wpr. 1937.
• S. Szczepański, Społeczeństwo Susza na przestrzeni dziejów, [w:] Susz. Z dziejów miasta i okolic, Olsztyn 2006.

Link to the original website of cmentarze-zydowskie.pl >>

Link to the website of the emerging regional museum in Sush (Polish) >>

Link To Jews in East Prussia Synagogue Rosenberg News >>

Link To Jews in East Prussia Synagogue Rosenberg, from the archive >>

In co-operation of 2020 with cmentarze-zydowskie.pl