Calendar of Jews from Nowy Sącz

1292 – Wacław II founded the city of Nowy Sącz.

The end of the 14th century – historical sources mention the first Jews from Nowy Sącz.

1673 – King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki of Poland issues a privilege allowing followers of Judaism to settle within the walls of the royal city of Nowy Sącz.

The end of the 18th century – construction of the great synagogue is completed. A Jewish district is established between the Market Square and the castle. Among other things, there is a religious school there. A cemetery is established on the escarpment, under the Pottery Tower.

1848 – a Jewish hospital is established (today’s Kraszewskiego Street), destroyed during World War I and the flood of 1934. Rebuilt in 1939, it serves to help Jews imprisoned in the ghetto.

Mid-19th century – a new Jewish cemetery is established in Przetakówka (a district of the city). In the old one – behind the synagogue – there is a shortage of burial space.

1868-1869 – a great conflict in the Hasidic world continues, fought between the Tzaddiks: Chaim Halberstam of Sącz and the Rabbi of Sadogóra. Called the „holy war”, it resonates widely throughout the Jewish world.

1876 – Tzaddik Chaim Halberstam dies, one of the most important leaders of Hasidism in Poland. His funeral is one of the largest in the history of the city.

1898 – Anti-Jewish riots, provoked by the emerging political movement of peasants, roll through the Sądecczyzna region.

1903 – The Załubińcze commune is incorporated into Nowy Sącz. Its residents constitute a large Jewish community.

1928 – Nowy Sącz is visited by the President of the Republic of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki. At the threshold of the city and the Jewish district, he is greeted by the Chief Rabbi Arie Leib Halberstam, who comes out with the Torah as a sign of respect for the head of state.

1934 – The Sądecczyzna region is devastated by a great flood. During the flood, many followers of Judaism living around the Kamienica and Dunajec rivers are also affected.

1939 – World War II breaks out. Many Jews flee to the east. Some of them return to the city, the rest stay in the Borderlands. It is them who are deported to Siberia by the Russians, as are thousands of Polish citizens.

1940 – The Germans create a ghetto in Nowy Sącz. They divide it into a part for the unemployed (between the Market Square and the castle) and for the employed (in the district called Piekło). In 1942, the district in the city centre is surrounded by a wall.

1942 – in the last days of April, a criminal action takes place, in which 400 people lose their lives. This is the largest crime in the history of Nowy Sącz, which takes place within the city limits.

1942 – Germans liquidate the surrounding ghettos: in Bobowa (August 14), in Stary Sącz (August 17), in Limanowa (August 18), in Gorlice (August 19), in Grybów (August 20). From August 23 to 28, a large-scale liquidation action of the ghetto in Nowy Sącz takes place. Around 17,000 Jews are murdered in the gas chambers of Bełżec.

1945 – around 200 Holocaust survivors return to Nowy Sącz. Most leave quickly. Those who remain secure the cemetery and other monuments. A warehouse is set up in the synagogue.

1968-1969 – in the wake of anti-Semitic events related to March 1968, most Jews leave Nowy Sącz. Only a few remain.

2011 – the Sądecki Shtetl is established, which brings the history of the multicultural city and region closer to its residents.

2015 – thanks to the efforts of the Bonei Sanz Foundation, the Sącz synagogue once again serves religious functions. In 2017, the Torah is ceremonially introduced into it.

2022 – as part of the Centrum Foundation’s „People, Not Numbers” project, the Holocaust Victims Memorial Site is established on the site of the former ghetto. The walls of the monument commemorate 11,966 names and surnames of Sącz Jews murdered by the Germans.