Alternate names: Biecz [Pol], Beitch [Yid], Beitsch [Ger], Baych, Baytsh, Beytch, בייטש-Yiddish. 49°44' N, 21°15' E, 64 miles ESE of Kraków, 23 miles SSE of Tarnów, 15 km. from Jasto and 13 km. from Gorlice. Jewish population: 397 (1880), 632 (1921). Yizkors: Sefer zikaron le-kedoshei ayaratenu Biecz (Ramat Gan, 1960) and Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 3: Western Galicia and Silesia (Jerusalem, 1984). Town and municipality in SE Poland in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Gorlice County in the Carpathian Mountains is located in the heartland of the Doły (Pits) on the Ropa River. In 1942, Germans murdered 200 local Jews on the market square. 2006 population: 4,585. Most young people of Biecz were sent to the forced labor camp called Prokocim/Plaszow. On Friday, August 14, 1942, the Gestapo surrounded Biecz and murdered a third of the Jewish population within three days. Remaining Jews were sent to the extermination camp of Belzec. Only a few survived. [April 2009]
REFERENCE: They Lived Among Us: Polish Judaica, a travel brochure.
REFERENCE: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe . New York: John Wiley &Sons, Inc., 1992.
WWI Jewish War Cemetery: Jewish military section at Jewish cemetery in Biecz (was destroyed. Kriegerfriedhof (War Cemetery) Nr.107 had three Jewish burials from WWI; source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. US Commission No. POCE000716
"There was only a small memorial structure built from gravestones." Source: Cohen, Chester G. "Jewish Cemeteries in Southern Poland" from `An Epilogue' in Shtetl Finder. 1980.
US Commission No. POCE000716
The cemetery is located at Tysiaclecia Street. 1991 town population: 1000-5000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta I Gminy, 38-250 Biecz, tel. #213, telex #65206.
- Regional: [see Baligrod] Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, mgr. Alojzy Cabato, ulica Bieszczadzka 1, 38-400 Jwesno, tel. 21-974.
The earliest known Jewish community was second half of the 19th century. 1921 Jewish population was 632. The unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery is isolated on a suburban hillside with no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous fence and a non-locking gate. Size of cemetery now: about 0.2 hectares. 1-20 gravestones,with 1-20 in original locations and less than 25% toppled or broken, are concrete and sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones with Hebrew and/or Polish inscriptions. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims and marked and unmarked mass graves but no structures. The site now is used for closed Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Rarely, private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. No maintenance or care. Weather erosion and vegetation are moderate threats. Vegetation overgrowth is a constant problem, disturbing stones. Piotr Antoniak, ulica Dobra 5 m 36, 05-800 Pruszkow who visited the site on 15 July 1992 completed survey.