Alternate names: Brodnica [Pol], Strasburg [Ger], Strasburg im West-Preussen, 53°15' N, 19°24' E, 13 miles N of Rypin, 28 miles NNW of Sierpc. Jewish population: 571 in 1885 and 30 in 1931. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, pp. 362-370: "Brodnica". A town in northern Poland and previously in Toruń Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998, Brodnica is in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999 and is the seat of Brodnica County. town website. On January 15, 1945, 152 Jewish women at the Brodnica labor camp near Stutthof, Poland were murdered by their guards. A few escaped. [April 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000AS107
Brodnica is located in Torinskie region, 80 km from Torun. Cemetery address: ulica Podgorna, 1917 Bergstrasse. 1991 town population: 25,000-100,000, with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town official: Burmistrz Edward Semeniuk, town offices (Urzad Miejski) at ulica Kamionki 23, tel. 2361.
- Regional: M. Romaniszyn, Wojewodzki Konserwator, 87-100 Torun, ulica Lazienna, tel. 26 692. Wyd. Geodezji w Unjokie? Miejs. w Brodnicy
The earliest known Jewish community dates from the 1770s. 1939 Jewish population (census) was 132. By the outbreak of World War II, only two Jewish families remained. The synagogue was built before 1830. An 1858 law recognized the community. At the turn of the 20th century, many Jews emigrated to Germany. Living here were Louis Litmann and Wolff Seelig, board members in 1921; Jacob Cohn, Deputy, and Abraham Birkholz and Menachem Lewkowic, temporary board members, 1931; and Mojzesz Srebrnik, Rabbi, 1932. The Jewish cemetery was established at the end of the 18th century and also was used by Jablonowo Pomorski, Gorczenica, and Grabowo, 10-25 km away. The isolated urban flat land with no sign or marker has no wall, fence, or gate. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. The property increased from 0.09 hectares in 1882, to 0.28 hectares in 1890, and to 0.78 hectares in 1917. The cemetery was vandalized-destroyed during WWII. The fate of the gravestones is unknown. No known mass graves. Owned by the municipality, the property is now a furniture factory. Adjacent areas are commercial or industrial.
Marina Stocka, 87-100 Torun, ulica Lyskonskiego 37E m 185 completed survey on 25 October 1991. Scientific-historical documents were used to complete the survey. She visited October 1991 and conducted interviews.