Alternate names: Ścinawa [Pol], Steinau an der Oder [Ger], Steinau am Oder, Steinau. 51°25' N, 16°25' E, 35 miles NW of Wrocław (Breslau), 19 miles NE of Legnica (Liegnitz), in Lower Silesia. Jewish population: 105 (in 1884), ~40 (in 1931). Ścinawa is a town and municipality in Lower Silesia on the Oder River. The Ścinawa train station connects Wrocław and Głogów. The town population is 6,053. Between 1975 and 1998, Ścinawa was in Legnica Voivodeship and now is part of Lubin powiat in Lower Silesian Voivodeship and is the seat of the municipality called Gmina Ścinawa. Apart from the town of Ścinawa, the gmina contains the villages of Buszkowice, Chełmek Wołowski, Dąbrowa Środkowa, Dębiec, Dłużyce, Dziesław, Dziewin, Grzybów, Jurcz, Krzyżowa, Lasowice, Parszowice, Przychowa, Przystań, Redlice, Ręszów, Sitno, Turów, Tymowa, Wielowieś and Zaborów. photos. videos. photos. [June 2009]
Until the second half of the 18th century, the Jewish presence in Ścinawa was limited to short-term stays in the village. The first Jew to settle in this city was a tobacco manufacturer named Borchard Loeser, when the privilege for Jews to settle anywhere in Sila was granted on February 27, 1772. In 1787, Loesera had ten employees, the first being Hirschel Michael Cohn (only Jew here then with German citizenship). Ścinawie Jewish community was established in 1812 and subordinate to Głogowskiej. In 1814 Samuel Wohlauer, in 1821 Moritz Altmann, and in 1825 his brother Julius joined Loeser's factory. Jewish population: 1829-12, 1830-16, 1832-19. On September 25, 1887 Ścinawska the kahal formed and again, in 1906 shared with Wolowska. Ścinawscy Jews have a prayer house from about 1829 Historical documents mention Markus Salza Kobylna from there as the first official employee. Slow population growth meant no synagogue was acquired until September 18, 1862 when a house was bought near the market house and transformed into a synagogue. In the 20th century, the number of Jewish residents decreased with immigration overseas. [June 2009]
In 1862, a synagogue was built. In 1871, 129 Jews lived in the town. In 1887, an independent kehilla was established with a synagogue and mikvah. In the inter-war period (1937), only 22 Jews remained. On the night of 9/10 November 1939, the Nazis burnt the synagogue. [February 2010]
CEMETERY:
(ul. Młynarska) The Nazis vandalized the 0.19 or 0.2 ha cemetery founded in 1842 on ul Młynarska, prior to which Jews buried their dead in Głogów. The first burial occurred in 1845. 61 gravestones remain, the oldest dating from 1863. Its northern boundary is the adjacent building with the other parts and a metal fence; the wicket gate from the street no longer exists. The sandstone arched or straight topped gravestones in seven regular rows of about nine graves in each. Several tombstones are pyramid shaped. Inscriptions are in Hebrew or German and Hebrew. When the gravestone is in Hebrew, a shorter inscription in German follows. Few matzevot have symbolic elements although some broken candles and palm fronds appear on a few. Restoration work in 1978 was done by several community organizations and school children. Kept in good overall condition, no vandalism has occurred although weathering is a problem. [June 2009]
Czerianwski, Eugeniusz: Cementarz zydowski w Scinawie, Warzaawa, 1982. Source: Angelika Ellmann-Krüger