Przedecz Shtetl

Memorial stone, Przedecz Jewish cemetery
Memorial stone marking the site of Przedecz Jewish cemetery. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Overview

History of Przedecz’s Jewish Community

Sources: Pinkas Hakehillot Polin: Przedecz and Memorial Book to the Holocaust Victims of the City of Pshaytsh

Called Pshaysth in Yiddish and Przedecz in Polish, the town is located on shores of Lake Przedecz, and traces its origins to the 12th century. The first Jews to settle in the town probably arrived there at the end of the 14th century. By 1793, Jews made up 139 of the shtetl’s 355 residents. At the beginning of the 19th century, Przedecz became an independent kehila that included the Jewish communities of surrounding towns such as Izbica Kujawska, Klowdawa and Dabrowice. As elsewhere in the region and in Poland as a whole, the beginning of the 20th century brought an awakening of social and cultural life in the town. In 1939, Przedecz had 769 Jewish residents. The German army entered the town in September 1939. During 1940, the Germans sent about half of the Przedecz Jews to forced labor camps around Poznan. The Jews remaining in Przedecz were sent to their deaths at the Chelmno extermination camp between April 21 and 24, 1942. READ MORE from the Pinkas Hakehillot Polin: Przedecz and READ MORE from the Memorial Book to the Holocaust Victims of the City of Pshaytsh

Resources