Bojanowo is a town at 51°42' N 16°45' E and seat of the gmina in Rawicz County, Greater Poland Voivodeship. During the Partitions of Poland, the town was in Provinz Posen. Gmina Bojanowo is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Rawicz County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. 2006 total gmina population is 8,938 (town of Bojanowo: 3,014). [April 2009]
1906 Jewish Encyclopedia: A town in the district of Ravditsch, province of Posen, Germany. A Jewish community of one hundred and forty-four souls dwelt in Bojanowo as early as 1793. They were under the protection of the Boyanowskis, the lords of the manor, who had founded the town in 1638. They received from the lords the privilege of free trade, the right to buy houses, and the right to pursue all handicrafts, for which they had to pay in per capita taxes twelve full-weight groschen to the king, eight thalers and ten silver groschen to the lord of the manor, and eight silver groschen to the city, for permission to reside in it. In the beginning of the nineteenth century Samuel Samwel Munk, "who knew how to read and write German, and was in the habit of reading German books and even journals in the hours that are neither day nor night," held the position of rabbi at Bojanowo, whence he was called to Wollstein (Graetz, "History of the Jews," index volume, p. 7, Philadelphia, 1898). The synagogue, built as early as 1793, was burned down during the great fire in 1857, but was rebuilt the following year. The Jewish cemetery was opened in 1817. In 1900 Bojanowo counted a Jewish population of only fifty-eight out of a total of 2,200.
CEMETERY: The 14.78 ha cemetery was located on ulica Drzymaly. Completely overgrown.[NOTE: 2009 photos of remaining stones. [Mar 2014]
US Commission No. POCE000307
Alternate German name: Schmuckert (lub Alt-Boyen). Located in Leszczynskie (Leszno province) at 51°42 16°45, 20 km from Leszno, 89 km from Poznan, and 76 km. from Wroclaw. The cemetery is at ulica Drzymaly. Present population is 1,000 to 5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Burmistrz: Jozef Zuter, zam. Golaszyn 60/13, 63-940 Bojanowo, tel. 498 and Urzad Miejski w Bonjanowie, ulica Rynek 12, 63-940 Bojanowo, tel. 230; 386; 393.
- Regional: Ewa Piesiewicz, Panstwowy Urzad Ochrony Zaloytkow w Lesznre, tel. 20-62-83.
The earliest known Jewish community dates from the mid-18th century. 1921 Jewish population (census) was 33 (1.8%). Living here were Moritz Rohr, Artur Loewenstein, Dr. Julius Teodor, and Nathan Krotoschiner. The last known Conservative Jewish burial was around 1933. This flat, isolated, rural site, with no sign or marker, is reached by turning directly off a public road and has no wall, fence, or gate. The size prior to WWII was 0.3 ha but today all of the land is under cultivation. There are 0 stones. The present owner is a private individual. The site and adjacent properties are agricultural. The cemetery has been used for crops for over twenty years and thus destroyed. Security and weather erosion are very serious threats.
Dariusz Czwojdrabe, ulica Lipowa 220/4, 67-400 Wschowa visited the site October 24, 1991 and completed this survey on October 25, 1991. He interviewed Jozef Zuter of Bojanowo on October 24, 1991.