I have updated this article and the table in it (in June 2024) to reflect changes to access these records. Fond 1731 in the Polish State Archives branch in Przemyśl contains vital records from the Jewish community of Kańczuga. The archive has scanned some of these records, and put them online. As the szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl site (the Polish archive’s search interface for all archival records in the country) expanded, the Przemyśl branch removed the part of their web site that hosted these images, and the images were moved to the szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl site.
When I originally wrote this article in 2017, there were only 13 sections (sygnatury) available. In 2019 I discovered an additional 7 sections were added to the national archive index, but no scans were available. After contacting the archive about these records, I discovered there were actually 35 sections, and added information about those sections here, before the Polish archive site had even mentioned them publically.
Recently I went to review which records were available on the main Polish archives site, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had 39 sections listed, including some new scans. At closer examination I discovered that 11 sections that had been moved from series 6 to other series (2, 3, 4, and 5). One section, number 33, was missing (as in it was listed in the letter I received from the archive in 2019, but wasn’t listed on the new Polish archives site. So in fact there are now 40 sections of Jewish records from Kanczuga. In addition to the scans of sections 1-13 which were originally scanned, there are now scans of sections 23-26.
A few notes on how the records are organized. Each set of records has 4 numbers connected to it. For example, the 1859-1876 marriage records are listed as 56/1731/2/7. Those numbers represent the archive, fond (zespolu), series and sygnatura (section). 56 is the Przemyśl archive branch, 1731 is the fond that represents Jewish records from Kanczuga, 2 is the marriage series, and 7 is the sygnatura (section).
You can see that series 1 is births, 2 is marriages, 3 is deaths, and 4 is indexes. It’s not clear what defines series 5 and 6.
The table below is sorted by series and then section. If you click on header of the sections (the # character) you can sort the table by section, which shows you that the section numbers don’t repeat, even if they are in different series. You will also notice that section 33 is missing. For historical purposes I’ve left in the eleven sections that were moved, but it is noted in the table, and if you sort by section, they will move to the bottom of the table.
Below is a table listing the sections of fond 1731. When there are scans available for the section, there is a link to take you to the files on the Polish State Archives web site.
Wypisy z aktu urodzenia oraz świadectwa urodzin osób urodzonych w latach 1878-1883, 1893, 1896, 1898-1900, 1902, 1905-1910, 1912, 1914-1915, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1931, 1933, 1937
Births
1931, 1939 i bez daty
5
14
56/1731/5/14
Wykazy akt urodzeń sporządzonych w IV kwartale roku 1935, I i II kwartale roku 1939
Births
1935, 1939
5
15
56/1731/5/15
Świadectwo ślubu oraz wypisy z akt zaślubin
Marriages
1896, 1905, 1912, 1922, 1935, 1937
5
16
56/1731/5/16
Wypisy z aktu śmierci, wykazy aktów śmierci
Deaths
1935, 1937-1938, 1942
5
17
56/1731/5/17
Okólniki, pisma starosty Powiatowego w Przeworsku dotyczące danych statystycznych ruchu naturalnego ludności
Population Movement
1935, 1938
5
18
56/1731/5/18
Wypis z metryki chrztu (urodzenia) chłopców urodzonych w latach 1887-1888
1887-1888
5
31
56/1731/5/31
Korespondencja z urzędami (starostwami w Łańcucie i Przeworsku) w sprawach metrykalnych
1867-1892
5
32
56/1731/5/32
Puste formularze pism dotyczących spraw metrykalnych
1930s
5
35
56/1731/5/35
Brudnopisy protokołów posiedzeń Zarządu Izraelickiej Gminy Wyznaniowej w Kańczudze z 15 i 16 II 1933 wraz z załącznikami
Jewish Community Board Meeting Protocols
1933
6
19
56/1731/6/19
Polisa ubezpieczeniowa Józefa Westreicha oraz koperta adresowana do Szmelke Westreicha
Rabbi Westreich insurance policy
1935
6
20
56/1731/6/20
Pisma w języku hebrajskim: m.in. dotyczące cmentarza żydowskiego w Siedleczce
Cemetery
1927, 1933
6
21
56/1731/6/21
Protokół podawczy z lat 1933-1939
Administrative protocols
1933-1939
6
22
56/1731/6/22
Księga zaślubin z lat 1877-1919
Marriages
1877-1919
56/1731/6/23 (moved to series 2)
Księga zaślubin z lat 1919-1937
Marriages
1919-1937
56/1731/6/24 (moved to series 2)
Księga zapowiedzi, tom II z lat 1896-1921
Marriage Banns
1896-1921
56/1731/6/25 (moved to series 2)
Księga zapowiedzi, tom III z lat 1926-1941
Marriage Banns
1926-1941
56/1731/6/26 (moved to series 2)
Księga zgonów z lat 1907-1922
Deaths
1907-1922
56/1731/6/27 (moved to series 3)
Księga zgonów z lat 1923-1934
Deaths
1923-1934
56/1731/6/28 (moved to series 3)
Indeks zmarłych z 1933 r.
Deaths
1933
56/1731/6/29 (moved to series 4)
Księga zapowiedzi – fragmenty z lat 1884, 1886, 1891
Marriage Banns (fragmentary)
1884, 1886, 1891
56/1731/6/30 (moved to series 2)
Wypis z metryki chrztu (urodzenia) chłopców urodzonych w latach 1887-1888 z lat 1887-1888
Births
1887-1888
56/1731/6/31 (moved to series 5)
Korespondencja z urzędami (starostwami w Łańcucie i Przeworsku) w sprawach metrykalnych z lat 1867-1892
Correspondence with authorities
1867-1892
56/1731/6/32 (moved to series 5)
Korespondencja z urzędami (starostwami w Łańcucie i Przeworsku) w sprawach metrykalnych z lat 1893-1937
Correspondence with authorities
1893-1937
6
33
56/1731/6/33 (missing)
Protokół czynności z lat 1894-1904
Protocol of activities
1894-1904
6
34
56/1731/6/34
Puste formularze pism dotyczących spraw metrykalnych z lat 1930-1939
Blank forms
1930-1939
56/1731/6/35 (moved to series 5)
Below are my original updates to this table:
[Update July 2019] Since this list was originally posted (on December 11, 2017), eight new sections have been added to the fond (sygnatury 14-21) information online, although they have not yet been scanned. I believe these records came from a fond in the Krakow National Archives (Fond 1592) that I had been trying to access, but which was eventually transferred to Przemyśl and added to Fond 1731 with the rest of the Jewish records from Kańczuga. I’ve added these new sections, but as they have not yet been scanned, there are no links to access the scans.
[Update August 2019] After further inquiries to the archive, I’ve been informed by them that there are in fact 35 sections in Fond 1731. They’ve sent me information on signatory 22-35, which I’ve added to this list. These are not listed on the main archive web site yet, so this page is the only place to see what sygnatury exist. Keep in mind that some of these are already known to researchers, and have been indexed by JRI-Poland. That’s because some of them likely were transferred from the Kańczuga civil records office (USC). It’s not clear if there are actually new vital records among these records that have never been seen. It seems there may be some previously unseen Marriage Banns, however, those are for years where there were already marriage records available. There are historical records which should be examined, and may provide information on the Jewish community in Kańczuga.
[Update September 2019] Shelley Pollero from Gesher Galicia shared with the Kańczuga mailing list that Gesher Galicia has their own Fond 1731 Inventory which includes a few new details, including confirming which new sections came from Fond 1592 in Krakow. I was glad to see my own inventory pieced together from PSA web sites and correspondence with the archive matches the inventory of Gesher Galicia.
[Update June 2024] Completely updated with 40 sections, new links to the PSA web site, etc.
During the summer of 1944 the Soviet Union made inroads into liberating Poland from Nazi occupation, which would be mostly completed on January 17, 1945 with the liberation of Warsaw. Kańczuga was probably liberated by the end of July, 1944 and surviving Jews who had lived in Kańczuga before the war started to come out of hiding and return. On January 24, 1945 a list of the Jews living in the town was drawn up. While there were nearly a thousand Jews in Kańczuga before the war, the list indicates only 35 Jews, some of which had already left the town again. Let’s call this the January List.
That number would go down, not up, as the massacre during Passover in the town would occur about two months later, which included people from this list, and any Jews who survived that night probably did not stick around much longer. The names of those killed, and subsequently buried in a mass grave, are listed in my earlier post Memorial for Jews murdered in Kańczuga in 1942 & 1945, although the list of names had at least one mistake which I discovered while putting this article together. That list was assembled at least partially from two contemporaneous lists of victims of the attack. One sent by the local militia to the Ministry of National Defense, listing seven names, and another in the testimony of Jakub Kesstecher, which lists five names. Let’s call these the Militia List and the Kesstecher List.
Another list was drawn up around July 1945 of survivors from Kańczuga. That list was submitted for publication in Israel by Aron Kramberg, who lived in Kfar Yekhezkel, but who had received the list from his brother in Katowice. The list is in Hebrew, although presumably it was originally sent in Polish. Let’s call this the Survivor List.
I found a copy of the January List in the Przemyśl archive, in a folder of records detailing the efforts to create a list of residents for the new government of Poland, which had just started under the control of the Soviet Union. Interestingly enough, there are no other lists in this folder other than the one of Jewish residents. It’s possible it was included as evidence of the fact they were not doing a very good job, as a note says they only found 14 Jewish residents, and the Jewish community had put together their own list which had 35. That said, it appears they blame the Jewish community for not coming forward to register properly, which frankly considering what they had just been through was probably understandable.
The list contains those Jews that were known to live in the gmina of Kańczuga, which also include some of the surrounding villages (see the Nearby Villages page for a list of villages nearby whose residents show up in Kańczuga records). In this list, that includes Żuklin and Ostrów. Some of the people were born elsewhere, including additionally in Zagórze (gmina Manasterz), Lelów, Przemyśl, Pantalowice (gmina Kańczuga), Łopuszka Wielka (gmina Kańczuga), and Jarosław.
There are some odd anomalies in the list. For example, many of the men on the list show birthdates that make them seem older than they actually were. Did they think their birth records didn’t survive the war? or were they just continuing to use an age that allowed them to live during the war years (if you were not old enough to work, you were killed)? Perhaps they were hoping to avoid getting drafted into the new Polish army? Note that the list is signed by Izydor Reitzfeld, although in the list itself he is called Israel Reitzfeld.
I spent some time figuring out the accuracy of the parents names listed. In most cases the surname of the father is left out. At first I thought the surname shown was that of the married parents (i.e. the father’s surname). I then recognized that many of the surnames belonged to the mothers (for example Mindla Salzman who I’ve written about before, see Tracking down a couple that disappeared during the Holocaust). One might assume that the person’s surname would match that of the father, but that isn’t always the case, especially in Galicia where many children were forced to take their mother’s surnames. In one case, #7, the addition of the father’s surname seems to point out that he had taken his mother’s surname at birth. However, assuming that the surname shown was that of the mother, and that the surname of the father matched the person (when not given as in #7) also didn’t work. Of course with some women the reason the names didn’t match was that they had married (in #14 this is specified), but this wasn’t always the reason. Researching the births of the people on the list whenever possible I tried to confirm parents’ surnames. If you see a surname in the table below that is not in the original image, then it was confirmed in the birth record index. If the name is shown in parenthesis, it is an educated guess. If there is no surname shown for the father, then an educated guess wasn’t possible and I left the name as shown in the image.
Below is the table of information transcribed and translated when necessary. I’ve also added some comments based on my research (you may need to scroll right to see my comments in the table).
#
First Name
Surname
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Profession
Parent's Names
Permanent Place of Residence
Comments
Philip's Comments
1
Juda
Ehrlich
13 Jul 1925
Kańczuga
buchhalter (accountant)
Dawid Erlich & Sheindla Horowitz
Kańczuga
-
2
Jakob
Goldman
15 May 1900
Gać, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Abraham Goldman & Lea Sigler
Kańczuga
-
3
Beracha
Goldman
18 Apr 1901
Zagórze, gmina Manasterz
przy gospodarstwie (housewife)
Aron (Goldman?) & Beila Adler
Kańczuga
-
4
Feiga
Goldman
20 Apr 1917
Zagórze, gmina Manasterz
hafciarka (embroiderer)
Jakob (Goldman?) & Regina Adler
Kańczuga
-
5
Natan
Goldman
12 Mar 1928
Kańczuga
robotnik (laborer)
Mendel Goldman & Klara Lampel
Kańczuga
-
Actual birth year likely 1924.
6
Beila
Goldman
11 Feb 1938
Kańczuga
-
Jakob (Goldman?) & Beracha Adler
Kańczuga
-
7
Pinkas
Herbstman
13 Mar 1902
Kańczuga
robotnik (laborer)
Josef Lampel & Freida Herbstman
Kańczuga
-
Father's name not listed on birth record. Likely parents were only married religiously, and not civilly, which would explain why he has his mother's surname.
8
Feiwel
Jakobes
7 Jul 1907
Kańczuga
rzeźnik (butcher, maybe shochet)
Mechel Jakobes & Aida Grundstein
Kańczuga
-
Full name on birth record is Chaim Feiwel. One of the victims of the massacre two month later.
9
Wolf
Kramberg
8 Aug 1921
Kańczuga
buchhalter (accountant)
Berl Kramberg & Cyrla Goldman
Kańczuga
Wyjechał kilka tygodni temu nie wymeldował się (Left few weeks ago, did not check out)
Some birth records list mother's maiden name as Schiffman. It seems likely one was her mother's maiden name, and one her father's surname.
10
Josef
Kessler
31 Dec 1910
Kańczuga
ślusarz (locksmith or ironsmith)
Moses Kessler & Chaja Weber
Kańczuga
-
Actual birth year likely 1912. Full name on birth record is Josef Izaak.
11
Pinia
Krieger
31 Dec 1929
Kańczuga
uczennica (schoolgirl)
Abraham Chaim Krieger & Chaja Sara Szafer
Kańczuga
-
One of the victims of the massacre two month later.
12
Moses
Rosenholtz
1 Oct 1878
Lelów
kupiec (merchant)
Chaim Rosenholtz & Chana Berkowicz
Kańczuga
-
Birth record shows full name as Moszek Aron Rozencholc.
13
Israel
Reitzfeld
22 Feb 1910
Kańczuga
dentysta (dentist)
Mendel Reizfeld & Amalfa? Brüll
Kańczuga
-
Birth record shows name spelled as Esriel, and mother's name as Sara Malka Brill (or Brüll). One of the victims of the massacre two month later.
14
Hania
Reitzfeld-Kreiger
5 Sep 1925
Kańczuga
trykociarka (knitter)
Mendel Krieger & Ita Mörsel
Kańczuga
Birth record lists name as Chana.
15
Feiga
Rosenblüth
19 Jun 1919
Kańczuga
krawczyni (tailor)
Isak Rosenblüth & Beila Langsam
Kańczuga
Temporarily left to Przemyśl
Birth record shows full name as Lazar Lipa, and mother's maiden name to be Elowicz. Later known as Fay Walker.
16
Lazar
Rosenblüth
17 May 1924
Kańczuga
stolarz (carpenter)
Isak Rosenblüth & Beila Langsam
Kańczuga
Wyjechał kilka tygodni temu nie wymeldował się (Left few weeks ago, did not check out)
Birth record shows full name to be Feiga Ruchla, and mother's maiden name to be Elowicz. Birth year likely 1923. Later known as Leo Rosen.
17
Jakob
Rutte
10 Jan 1924
Kańczuga
szklarz (glazier)
Moses Rutte & Etla Landau
Kańczuga
Temporarily left to Lublin
In birth record, father's full name Moses Dawid Rutte.
18
Mindla
Salzman
15 Jul 1886
Kańczuga
przy gospodarstwie (housewife)
Markus Thurm & Tauba Traurig
Kańczuga
Birth record indicates actual birth year likely 1885, and father's surname Thurm. One of the victims of the massacre two month later.
19
Genia
Silber
28 Jul 1924
Przemyśl
krawczyni (tailor)
Hersch & Etla Landua
Kańczuga
-
Father's name likely Chaim Hersch Goldmann. Other records show mother's maiden name as Risenbach.
20
Berl
Schiffman
16 May 1924
Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Abraham Schiffman & Frydka Ringel
Kańczuga
Was mobilized to the army last August in Krasnystaw
Birth record shows mother's maiden name to be Fradla Ringel.
21
Berl
Zwanziger
7 May 1919
Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Josef Zwanziger & Perla Westreich
Kańczuga
-
One of the victims of the massacre two month later.
22
Benzion
Zwanziger
1920
Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Josef Zwanziger & Perla Westreich
Kańczuga
Left last year in unknown direction
Birth record shows full name as Benzion Isaak, and actual birth year likely 1922.
23
Josef
Walker
27 Nov 1904
Kańczuga
krawiec (tailor)
Wolf Walker & Rojza Frommer
Kańczuga
-
24
Adler
Pesla
1926
Pantalowice, gmina Kańczuga
przy gospodarstwie (housewife)
Berl & Chava Adler (see note)
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
Birth record shows parents as Majer Adler and Chawa Hirschfeld.
25
Jakob
Charytan
7 Mar 1911
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Moses Charytan & Chana Nadel
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
-
Birth record show father's surname as Knöppel, mother's full name as Chana Sara, and birthplace as Łopuszka.
26
Hersch
Charytan
18 Sep 1918
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Moses Charytan & Chana Nadel
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
-
Birth record shows father's surname as Knöppel, mother's full name as Chana Sara, and birthplace as Łopuszka.
27
Scheindla
Herbstman
9 May 1908
Łopuszka Wielka, gmina Kańczuga
przy gospodarstwie (housewife)
Moses & Chana Fenig
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
-
Other records show Fenig as Fenik. There is a 1908 birth record for Chaja Itta born to Henoch Eisenberg and Estera Fenik in Łopuszka.
28
Chaim
Herbstman
25 May 1938
Jarosław
-
Jakob & Scheindla Fenig
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
-
Possibly the son of #27.
29
Moses
Goldberg
16 Jul 1909
Kańczuga
lakiernik (varnisher)
Chaim Goldberg & Sheindla Fink
Żuklin, gmina Kańczuga
-
Actual birth year likely 1912.
30
Baruch
Sauerhaft
1900
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Szaja Sauerhaft & Tauba Welc
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
-
Birth record shows full name as Jakob Baroch, and actual birth year likely 1901.
31
M. Josef
Sauerhaft
24 Mar 1907
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Szaja Sauerhaft & Tauba Welc
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
-
Birth records show a Moses Joel born in 1907.
32
Abraham
Sauerhaft
1910
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Szaja Sauerhaft & Tauba Welc
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
-
Actual birth year likely 1912.
33
Efraim
Sauerhaft
1915
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
rolnik (farmer)
Szaja Sauerhaft & Tauba Welc
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
-
34
Sabina
Sauerhaft
1917
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
przy gospodarstwie (housewife)
Szaja Sauerhaft & Tauba Welc
Ostrów, gmina Kańczuga
-
Couldn't find birth record. Maybe this is the wife of one of the brothers listed, and the parent's names are incorrect.
35
Dwora
Bierman
5 Jan 1912
Kańczuga
krawczyni (tailor)
Aron Biermann & Estera Ryfka Rosenblüth
Kańczuga
-
Birth record shows mother's full name as Estera Rifka, and her actual birth year is likely 1911.
Two month after the above list, the massacre during Passover occurred. The details are not so clear, but this was actually several different attacks on the same night (presumably by the same people). Attacks occurred in at least two houses on Węgierska Street (owned by the Krieger family), and in a house on Św. Barbary Street. A week after the attack the local militia sent the following note to the Ministry of National Defense:
Dnia 31.3.1945 r. w godz. 20-30 około 10-15 nieznanych sprawców uzbrojonych w automaty i karabiny oraz pistolety dokonało napadu rabunkowego i morderstwa w Kańczudze na obywatelach polskich pochodzenia żydowskiego. Zabici zostali Eizig Izrael lat 35, żona jego Krieger Chana lat 20, Krieger Sima lat 16, Zwanziger Berek lat 26, Salzman Mindla lat 55, Bergman Dojra lat 32, Jakubes Feiwel lat 33, wszyscy z Kańczugi. Sprawcy po dokonaniu czynu zbiegli w nieustalonym kierunku. Dochodzenie w tej sprawie prowadzi posterunek MO w Kańczudze oraz Ref. Śledczy w Przeworsku.
Roughly translated, it says: On March 31, 1945 about 10-15 unknown armed perpetrators committeed robbery and murder in Kańczuga of Polish citizen of Jewish origin.
Eizig Israel, 35, was killed, his wife Krieger Chana, 20, Krieger Sima, 16, Zwanziger Berek, 26, Salzman Mindla, 55, Bergman Dojra, 32, Jakubes Feiwel, 33, all from Kańczuga.
The perpetrators fled in an unknown direction. Investigations in this matter are being carried out by the MO police station in Kańczuga and an investigator in Przeworsk.
A few months following that report, a survivor named Jakub Kesstecher gave testimony that was written down in while he was a refugee in Bucharest. He described several crimes he witnessed, but ended his testimony with the following:
Ze znanych i pozostałych przy życiu osób pamiętam następujące nazwiska: KESSLER Jozef, ZWANCYGIER Benzion, KRAMBERG Wolf, ?Józef Chaskiel, GOLDBERG Mozes, GOLDMAN Jakób, CHANITAN Henek, CHANITAN Jakob,
Następujące osoby pozostałe przy życiu po wkroczeniu Sowietów, zestały zabite przez AK: ……… Jakobis Reiwel, Reizfeld Azri, Eisman Debora, Kreiser Hanka, ……… Salzman Mindla.
He starts by listing the names of known survivors. It’s not clear if he only heard these people survived, or if he saw all of these people. CHANITAN seems to be a typo for CHARYTAN. Note that in the January List there are two Charytans – Hersch and Jakob. Henek is a known nickname for Hersch. Therefore, all of those he listed are in the January List.
He then states, rather bluntly, that the following survivors after the Soviet invasion were killed by the Home Army. In the list there are those sections with periods, which might indicate he couldn’t remember two names, or may not have a meaning.
A few things to point out about the Kesstecher List. It seems clear that Jakobis Reiwel is a typo, and the first name is Feiwel. You may have noticed that Feiwel Jakobes shows up in the January List, and Feiwel Jakubes shows up in the Militia List. Similarly Kreiser Hanka is likely Hanka (Chana) Krieger. Azri Reizfeld is the same Israel/Izydor Reitzfeld in the January List. It’s worth pointing out that there is a lot of overlap between the Militia List and the Kesstecher List, yet Izydor Reitzfeld doesn’t seem to show up in the Militia List. Except he does. It hit me while reviewing these lists that in the January List, Israel Reitzfeld is listed right above Chana Reitzfeld, and it indicated her maiden name was Krieger. It doesn’t say the two are married, but it’s likely. If you look back at the Militia List, however, you’ll notice that it says Izrael Eizig, 35, was married to Chana Krieger. Israel Reitzfeld, as shown in the January List, was born in 1910. That would make him 35 at the time of the killing. Therefore it’s very clear that Izrael Eizig is a mistake and is actually Izydor/Israel/Arzi Reitzfeld. Now you might realize that all of the names and on the Militia List and the Kesstecher List match up except one, Debora Eisman. I can’t be sure about this one, but since all of the names have otherwise been on the January List I looked at the list and there’s only one Debora – Dwora Bierman. Could they be one and the same? There seem to be enough typos in that list to make it possible. It’s actually not that far off, just one different letter and one missing letter.
Lastly, Mindla Salzman, who amazingly shows up exactly the same in all of these lists, used the married name Salzman only when she moved to Germany after getting married. Before that, she needed to use what I can only guess was her husband’s mother’s maiden name, a common occurrence in Galicia. Before she moved to Germany, her married name was Kesstecher. So maybe Mindla’s husband, Aron Kesstecher-Salzman, was a relative of Jakub Kesstecher. For a story of Mindla and Aron Kesstecher-Salzman, see Tracking down a couple that disappeared during the Holocaust.
The Survivor List was probably compiled in July 1945, but wasn’t published until March 1946. The list was published in a newspaper put out by the Jewish Agency called לקרוב ולרחוק (LaKarov uLeRahok) which was put out between June 1945 and August 1947, totaling 74 issues. Each issue, usually 8 pages, contained a variety of lists collected from many places. Most of the lists were either lists of survivors found in Europe, or were lists of requests submitted to the Jewish Agency for information on a relative or friend. The Jewish Agency started the Search Bureau for Missing Relatives (in Hebrew, המדור לחיפוש קרובים) in 1945 after the war ended, and started publishing lists in local Israeli newspapers before starting to publish their own newspaper to handle the demand.
On March 24, 1946, issue 37 was published with a small list on the front page related to Kańczuga. This is the only list related to Kańczuga that was published by the newspaper. While the list itself doesn’t indicate when it was created, an index of the first 50 issues put out by the Jewish Agency lists the creation date as July, 1945, some eight months before it was published. The list was submitted by Aron Kramberg, living at the time in Kfar Yehezkel, a small village near Afula in what was then British Mandate Palestine, and now is Israel. The list is described as a list of survivors from Kańczuga, and it says the list was sent to Aron by his brother in Katowice (Poland). It’s very likely that this brother was Wolf Kramberg, who is on the January List. Since we know Wolf Kramberg was in Kanczuga some months earlier, and from birth records can confirm Aron and Wolf were brothers, it makes sense that Wolf Kramberg was the creator of this list.
Below is the list transcribed in the original Hebrew, with the English versions of the names added. On the far left I’ve added an asterisk if one or more of the names listed is also in the original list above. About half of the 24 names in this list are also present on the original list.
In both
English Given Name(s)
English SURNAME
Hebrew Surname
hebrew given name(s)
*
Jehuda
Erlich
אֵרליך
יהודה
Jehezkel
Bader
בּאדר
יחזקאל
Machla
Basowicz
באסוביץ
מכלה
*
Moses
Goldberg
גולדבּאֵרג
משה
*
Jakób, Meir, and Natan
Goldman
גילדמאן
יעקב, מאיר, ונתן
*
Josef
Walker
ואלקר
יוסף
Sinka
Weltz-Goldman
ואֵלץ–גולדמאן
סיאנקה
Osias
Westreich
ואֵסטרייך
אוסיאש
*
Genia
Silber
זילבּאֵר
גאֵניה
*
Hersch, Jakób, and Mania
Charytan
חאריטאן
האֵרש, יעקב, ומאניה
David
Thurm
טוּרם
דויד
Hersch
Jacobs
יעקבּס
האֵרש
Pinchas
Lampel
לאמפל
פנחס
*
Benzion
Zwanziger
צבאנציגר
בן–ציון
*
Josef
Kessler
קאֵסלר
יוסף
Jakób
Kesstecher
קאֵסטאֵכאֵר
יעקב
*
Fela (Fay) and Eliezer (Lazar)
Rosenbluth
רוזנבליט
פאֵלה ואליעזר
*
Moses
Rosenholtz
רוזנהולץ
משה
*
Benek, Haya, and Hudzia
Schiffman
שיפמאן
באֵנאֵק, חיה, והוּדזיה
Benzion
Stolzer
שטולצאֵר
בן–ציון
The Survivor List
Some notes on the above list. It’s worth comparing it as a list of known survivors to those listed by Jakub Kesstecher a few months earlier. Notably Wolf Kramberg is on Kesstecher’s list and Jakob Kesstecher is on Kramberg’s list. Everyone on Kesstecher’s list of survivors (other than Kramberg himself) is actually on the Survivor List. Others from the January List are also present on the Survivor List that were not on the Kesstecher List.
One other note of interest is the Fela and Elizer Rosenbluth. In Hebrew is clearly says Fela, which was probably a diminutive, but it’s also the same name that shows up in her two written testimonies (see Kańczuga Holocaust survivor testimonies). Also, her brother’s name is given as Eliezer, even though the January list lists him as Lazar (a diminutive of Eliezer) and was later known as Leo. In Hebrew their surname looks like Rosenblit, not Rosenbluth, which might be confusing if we didn’t already see their names elsewhere. They’re also siblings, not a couple, which you might think looking at such as list.
This is the story of the post-liberation Kańczuga Jewish community, told using four lists all created in 1945. Are you related to anyone on these lists? Please tell more of their stories in the comments below.
If you know of more lists or testimonies from this period, please share them so we can all learn from them.
Specials thanks to Łukasz Biedka and Patryk Czerwony. Łukasz provided several documents, including Kesstecher’s testimony and the article that contained the militia letter. Patryk helped translate parts of the January list.
There are a number of Holocaust survivors from Kańczuga that have recorded their testimonies of what happened during the war, in some fashion or another. This post is intended to be a list of those testimonies. None of these testimonies are available online, but by knowing that they exist, you figure out how to access them. Some are video testimonies from the Visual History Archive of the USC Shoah Foundation, where you can view them at partner libraries and museums. Some are written testimonies collected immediately after the war, and are collected at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Not all of these testimonies are from people born in Kańczuga, but all mention Kańczuga at some point in their testimony.
Note that some of the testimonies are by the same people at different times. For example, the first two written testimonies were by Feige Rosenbluth before and after her marriage, and she later recorded a video testimony over 50 years later. Similarly there is a written testimony by Jakub Kesstecher shortly after the massacre in Kańczuga in 1945, and fifty years later with the name Bernard Schanzer.
If you are aware of other testimonies by Holocaust survivors that relate to Kańczuga, please contact me and I will add it to the list.
Alan Gottlieb has shared an amazing photo from the 50th Anniversary Banquet of the First Kanczuger Society (a NY-based landsmanshaft) in 1950. He also has shared a program from the 60th Anniversary Banquet, which besides the menu, also includes a list of the officers in 1959. Alan found these in his mother’s possessions, who passed away a few years ago. The photo was folded and creased, but Alan had it restored and I am very grateful he has shared it with us.
The photo is a panoramic photo from the 50th Anniversary banquet in 1950. I can’t be sure by my grandparents and gg-uncle may be in the rear right corner of the photo. While for the most part the faces are sharp, in that corner it is too blurry to be sure. If you see your relatives in the photo, please post a comment.
Next, there is the program from the 60th Anniversary Banquet (which was only about nine and a half years later). The banquet committee included David Marsel, Charless Gross, Joseph A. Lustig, Ann Lustig, Max Silverman, Benjamin Kessler, Daniel Lusthaus, Jakob Silverman, and honored Nathan Brill on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Nathan Brill was the brother of Dr. Abraham Brill, one of the earliest American proponents of psychoanalysis, and one of the first people to translate Freud to English.
The menu is quite interesting. Take a look. It also specifies it was catered by Joseph Katz, and that it happened at a place called The Senate on East 188th Street in the Bronx. I found a photo from 1949 that was taken by the city for tax purposes, and shows it as Senate Caterers. Today that space is a beauty school.
The last page of the program lists the officers as of 1959. Those include Honorary Presidents Max Silverman and Irving J. Katz, Junior Ex President Benjamin Kessler, President Charles Gross, VP Joseph A. Lustig, Recording Secretary Ann Lustig, Finance Secretary Nathan Brill, Treasurer Marcus Mintzer, and Sergeant at Arms Moses Ezekiel.
Trustees included Leon Freund, Sam Silberman and Dave Marsel.
The Board of Directors included Chairman David Marsel, Secretary Nathan Brill, Sam Silberman, Harry Silberman, Max Greenbaum, Harry Landau, Louis Furst, and Abraham Silverstein.
I will mention two more people from the above program briefly. Joseph A. Lustig has shown up in my research. His WWI draft card shows him as having been born in 1891 in Kanczuga, and being a sign painter. His WWII draft card shows his permanent contact as Anna Lustig, that he lives in the Bronx, and that his employer is Longchamps Restaurants. Longchamps was a chain of fancy restaurants in NYC at the time that was founded by Henry Lustig, whose wife was Edith Rothstein, the sister of the infamous Arnold Rothstein. Henry’s mother’s name was Anna Drillman Lustig. It’s unlikely that Henry’s mother Anna Lustig is the Ann Lustig in the program, as she would have been quite old if she was even still living. So is Joseph’s WWII contact Anna Lustig – Henry’s mother, did he marry someone named Anna Lustig who was later known as Ann, or is the Ann in the program a completely different person? One of the more confusing paths in my family research. According to family lore, the Lustig and Traurig families were the same family, but the two brothers were assigned different surnames by an antisemitic bureaucrat who thought it was funny (Lustig means happy and Traurig means sad).
It’s also worth pointing out the names in the program above overlap quite a bit with the names on the cemetery section gate in the Mt. Lebanon cemetery that was erected four years earlier in 1955. See the picture below, or jump to the Mt. Lebanon cemetery photos to see all the photos of the section, which were published on this site four years ago.
First Kanczuger Society, cemetery section gate
One thing to note is the society was founded as the First Kancziger Aid Society, but by this point was known as the First Kanczuger Society.
The First Kancziger Aid Society was the NY-based landsmanshaft organization for former residents of Kańczuga. It was founded in Manhattan in 1902 with the purpose of helping the sick and destitute from Kańczuga, by members that lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The founding directors were Isaac Trauring, Aaron Wiesenfeld, Harris Rubenfeld, Marcus Trauring, Samuel Wiesenfeld, Nathan Schiffman, Pinkas Tarnowker, Philip Wolfman, and Max Frommer.
Below is the certificate of incorporation of the society, which was filed on Jan 8, 1902. After the cover, the first page has the name and purpose of the organization, the second page has the list of directors (with their addresses), and the final page has the signatures of the directors.
This document was shared many years ago in the Yahoo group for Kańczuga descendants, but as Yahoo is cutting back on group functionality, including deleting all files stored in the groups, I thought it would be useful to post it here.
This is the same society which created the cemetery sections for its members in the Mt. Zion cemetery in Queens, NY and the Mt. Lebanon cemetery in Iselin, NJ. Click on the links to those cemeteries to see photographs of the gravestones in them.
Now the certificate:
CoverPage 1, name and purposePage 2, board of directors with addressesPage 3, signatures
Are you related to any of the founding directors? If so, post a comment and tell everyone a bity about your relative.
I would like to point out the amazing work that Patryk Czerwony has been doing recently to restore the cemetery in Siedleczka, and his other efforts to remember the Jewish community that was a major part of the town of Kańczuga before the war. Here are some photos Patryk sent me, so you can see how it looked before and after they cleaned the cemetery. There is more information in this article (in Polish): Polak z Nowego Jorku zainicjował uporządkowanie cmentarza żydowskiego na Podkarpaciu and there is a page to donate to this effort here.
Before
After
It’s worth pointing out of course that this is not the first time the cemetery has been restored. The grounds were cleaned and the wall and gate built in 2008 with the first effort to restore the cemetery (see the Siedleczka Cemetery Restoration Project web site, and this contemporaneous article in the Jerusalem Post: Galician Jewish Cemetery Restored).
A stitched-together copy of the 1849 Cadastral Map of Kańczuga has been available since 2014 in the Gesher Galicia Map Room, which was scanned and stitched together as part of the Gesher Galicia Cadastral Map and Landowner Records Project, organized for Kańczuga and nearby villages through this site. This map was mentioned in the article 1849 Kańczuga cadastral map and house index.
While reviewing documents in the Przemyśl Archive recently, I came across their scans of the same map, in parts, and wanted to share the link to that version as well. Unfortunately those scans have watermarks from the archive, but I still think it’s nice to have another version of it for those who want to review the map.
1849 Cadastral Map of Kańczuga
You can see part of the archive’s watermark in the above image – the shaded square and the red square that both overlay part of the town name at the bottom of the map.
Due to the compression on the Przemyśl Archive version, and the way that Gesher Galicia does their zooming, you can probably still get a better up close look at the details on the Gesher Galicia version, so I would still suggest using the Gesher Galicia version when looking for specific locations on the map, but you can share the Przemyśl version, so it’s good to have both versions.
One of the interesting sources for the history of Polish towns is the Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland), which was a Polish gazetteer published between 1880 and 1902, with information on all the cities, towns and villages in Poland. The information includes data on the population such as how many people lived there, and of those what the breakdown was by religion. Also described is the economy of the town, and sometimes the location of the post office and other official information. There are two entries for Kańczuga, the second of which refers to the town this site is interested in: The page in Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego that shows the entry for KańczugaI’ve tried to transcribe the text, which follows:
K., mko nad Mleczka, w pow. łańcuckim, w okolicy równej, 233 ni. n. p. m. Mieszkańców 2292, z których 96 mieszka w zabudowaniach większej posiadł. Pod względem wyznań jest 1213 rzym. kat., 130 gr. kat. i 949 izraelitów; W miasteczku znajduje się kościół parafialny i kaplica murowana obrządku rzym. katol., cerkiew murowana gr. kat. przyłaczona do parafii w Krzeczowicach, szkoła ludowa dwuklasowa i fundusz ubogich utworzony od niepamiętnych czasów dla wspierania podupadłych, do pracy niezdolnych mieszkańców. Te n fundusz składa się z 40 mr. roli i 2000 zł. .w. a. Urzędów prócz stacyi pocztowej niemażadnych, ale mieszka tu lekarz i znajduje się apteka. Mieszkańcy trudnią się rolnictwem i drutowaniem naczyń glinianych; za tym przemysłem odbywają dalekie podróże i są znani w odległych miasteczkach. Mały to zarobek a przecież utrzymywało się z niego już na początku naszego stulecia sto rodzin, jak opowiada Bohrer w swej podróży po Galicyi (Bemerkungen auf einer Reise durch Galizien, Wien 1804). Dawniej wyrabiano tutaj koszulki druciane dla towarzyszy pancernych, kolczugi, sakiewki, teraz jeszcze druciane sita i rachwy do przesiewania ziemi. Kańczuga jest starą osada i w 1498 została zupełnie zniszczona przez tatarów. Na zachód od miasteczka, na gruntach wsi Sietesz, stoi mogiła, pod którą według podania polegli mają być pochowani. Założenie parafii przypisują Otonowi Pileckiemu z Łańcuta; odnowienie parafii datuje się od r. 1612, w którym ks. Anna de Stangenberg Ostrogska, wojewodzina wołyńska, dziedziczka Jarosławia, utworzyła kolegium jałmużników a proboszczowi dała tytuł przełożonego. Rok przedtem powiększony kościół kosztem tej księżnej poświęcił biskup Stanisław Sieciński. W końcu zeszłego wieku była Kańczuga własnością ks. Sanguszków. Zabudowania większej posiadł. leżą w południowej stronie miasteczka. Większa posiadł. spadkobierców Ed. Kellermanna wynosi 444 mr. roli, 46 mr. łąk i ogr. i 35 mr. pastw.; posiadł. mniej. 581 mr. roli, 91 mr. łąk i ogr. i 67 mr. pastw. K. ma dziewięć jarmarków i dwa targi w tygodniu: co wtorek i piątek. Graniczy na wschód z Żuklinem, na północ z Niziacicami, na południe z Łopuszna, a na zachód z Sieteszem. Mac.
One problem is the large number of abbreviations, which will need to be expanded to make it easier to understand. Looking at the first volume there is a list of abbreviations. I’ve tried to expand all of the abbreviations I could figure out. It seems some of the abbreviations are not in the list, and some are used for multiple words (such as ks. for księżniczka (princess) or książę (prince), or ksiądz (priest)):
Kańczuga, miasteczko nad Mleczka, w powiat łańcuckim, w okolicy równej, 233 m. n. p. m. Mieszkańców 2292, z których 96 mieszka w zabudowaniach większej posiadł. Pod względem wyznań jest 1213 rzymski katolicki, 130 greko-katolicki i 949 izraelitów; W miasteczku znajduje się kościół parafialny i kaplica murowana obrządku rzymski katolicki, cerkiew murowana greko-katolicki przyłaczona do parafii w Krzeczowicach, szkoła ludowa dwuklasowa i fundusz ubogich utworzony od niepamiętnych czasów dla wspierania podupadłych, do pracy niezdolnych mieszkańców. Ten fundusz składa się z 40 mórg. roli i 2000 złoty waluty anetryackiéj. Urzędów prócz stacyi pocztowej niemażadnych, ale mieszka tu lekarz i znajduje się apteka. Mieszkańcy trudnią się rolnictwem i drutowaniem naczyń glinianych; za tym przemysłem odbywają dalekie podróże i są znani w odległych miasteczkach. Mały to zarobek a przecież utrzymywało się z niego już na początku naszego stulecia sto rodzin, jak opowiada Bohrer w swej podróży po Galicyi (Bemerkungen auf einer Reise durch Galizien, Wien 1804). Dawniej wyrabiano tutaj koszulki druciane dla towarzyszy pancernych, kolczugi, sakiewki, teraz jeszcze druciane sita i rachwy do przesiewania ziemi. Kańczuga jest starą osada i w 1498 została zupełnie zniszczona przez tatarów. Na zachód od miasteczka, na gruntach wsi Sietesz, stoi mogiła, pod którą według podania polegli mają być pochowani. Założenie parafii przypisują Otonowi Pileckiemu z Łańcuta; odnowienie parafii datuje się od rok 1612, w którym księżniczka Anna de Stangenberg Ostrogska, wojewodzina wołyńska, dziedziczka Jarosławia, utworzyła kolegium jałmużników a proboszczowi dała tytuł przełożonego. Rok przedtem powiększony kościół kosztem tej księżnej poświęcił biskup Stanisław Sieciński. W końcu zeszłego wieku była Kańczuga własnością książę Sanguszków. Zabudowania większej posiadł. leżą w południowej stronie miasteczka. Większa posiadł. spadkobierców Ed. Kellermanna wynosi 444 mórg roli, 46 mórg łąk i ogr. i 35 mórg. pastw.; posiadł. mniej. 581 mórg. roli, 91 mórg. łąk i ogr. i 67 mórg. pastw. K. ma dziewięć jarmarków i dwa targi w tygodniu: co wtorek i piątek. Graniczy na wschód z Żuklinem, na północ z Niziacicami, na południe z Łopuszna, a na zachód z Sieteszem. Mac.
With that text, I’ve run it through on online translation service which gives the following rough text ink English (with a few obvious corrections):
Kańczuga, a town on the Mleczka River, in Łańcut County, in an equal area, 233 m. N. P. M. Dwellers of 2292, 96 of whom live in buildings with a larger property. In terms of denominations, there are 1213 Roman Catholic, 130 Greek Catholic and 949 Jewish; In the town there is a parish church and a Roman brick Catholic chapel, a Greek-Catholic brick church joined to the parish in Krzeczowice, a two-class folk school and a poor fund established from time immemorial to support the disabled residents. This fund consists of 40 mr. role and 2000 zloty anetraackié currency. Apart from the post office, there are no offices, but a doctor lives here and there is a pharmacy. Residents engage in agriculture and wiring clay vessels; they travel far and wide with this industry and are known in distant towns. It is a small income, and yet, at the beginning of our century, hundreds of families survived, as Bohrer tells in his journey through Galicia (Bemerkungen auf einer Reise durch Galizien, Wien 1804). In the past, wire shirts for armored companions, chain mail, purses, now wire screens and sacks for sifting soil were made here. Kańczuga is an old settlement and in 1498 it was completely destroyed by the Tatars. To the west of the town, on the land of the village of Sietesz, stands a grave, under which, according to the claim, the fallen are to be buried. The foundation of the parish is attributed to Oton Pilecki from Łańcut; the renovation of the parish dates back to 1612, in which the princess Anna de Stangenberg Ostrogska, voivode of Volhynia, heiress of Jarosław, created a college of alms-worshipers and the parish priest gave the title of superior. A year before, the enlarged church at the expense of this princess was consecrated by Bishop Stanisław Sieciński. At the end of the last century, Kańczuga was owned by the prince Sanguszko. The larger buildings lie on the south side of the town. Greater property heirs Ed. Kellermanna has 444 acres, 46 meadows and gardens and 35 acres of countries; He possessed less 581 acres role, 91 acres meadows and gardens. and 67 acres of countries. Kańczuga has nine fairs and two fairs a week: every Tuesday and Friday. It borders east with Zuklin, north with Niziacice, south with Łopuszna and west with Sietesz. Mac.
There is a lot of interesting information in the text, especially that as of about 1880, Jews made up 41% of the town. Obviously this translation isn’t perfect, and I’d appreciate Polish speakers posting corrections in the comments.
I wanted to share a list of records in the Israel State Archives concerning people who were born in Kańczuga. A little background – the Israel State Archives has been going through a major digitalization effort over the last few years, and has scanned over ten million documents. Those documents have been placed online, but are not always easy to search. Some basic information is sometimes included, such as one name, usually culled from OCR software, and that means that its really hard to find documents on their site, even if it has been scanned.
Some organizations have stepped up to fix this issue, such as the Israel Genealogy Research Association (genealogy.org.il) which has volunteers indexing British Mandate marriage and divorce records, and MyHeritage, which recently indexed naturalizations records from the British Mandate period as well. In fact, due to strict privacy laws, most of the useful genealogical records are from the pre-state period.
Naturalization of Isaak Thurm and Regina (Lustgarten) Thurm
Most of the records that follow are naturalization files, although a couple which are from 1950 are copies of passports used during immigration. You can click on the link to go to the page on the Israel State Archives where the file is located, and the site will let you download a PDF of the complete file for review. I’ve included spouse information if it exists, and while sometimes the spouses are also from Kańczuga, that’s not always the case. In files where the wife was from Kańczuga, and the husband (who the file is listed under) is not, I’ve listed the wife in the first column. One person (Isaak Thurm) shows up twice because it appears he naturalized twice (once when single and a second time when married). There is a lot of useful genealogical information included in these files, and I believe all of them have photos of the people mentioned.
In the future as more records are indexed, I think this list will grow. I’ll check back from time to time to see if there is anything new. If you want to help index these records, you can volunteer for IGRA and their indexing efforts. More information on IGRA’s indexing effort can be found on it’s web site.
Thanks to Raphael Thurm for pointing out this additional online database that includes people born in Kańczuga. The web site Tracing the Past has a database of the 1939 German “Minority Census”, which it describes as:
In May 1939 a census, or Volkszählung, was conducted in Germany (including annexed Austria and the Sudetenland) that required the head of each household to fill out a supplementary card, or Ergänzungskarte, which mandated marking the Jewish background of each of the resident’s four grandparents. By 1942, the cards of households with one or more residents with a Jewish grandparent marked on their card, the so-called “Minority Census,” were collected and and sent to the Reich Genealogy Office (Reichssippenamt), then located in a building seized from the Berlin Jewish Community, where the cards most likely survived through the end of the war.
By the 1980s, the cards were in the custody of the State Archives of the German Democratic Republic in East Germany, and in the 1990s the cards were in the custody of the German Federal Archives. It was discovered that the cards are about 87% complete, lacking only for Thüringen, the Rhine Province, the districts of Erfurt and Minden, and several districts of Bavaria. Many of the districts included are areas that are now part of Poland (such as Silesia and Pomerania) and Russia (Königsberg / Kaliningrad).
In the database, there are fifteen people listed as having been born in Kanczuga. There is clear overlap with those listed in the German Gedenkbuch posted earlier. Presumably those that are the same were killed by the Nazis, and those in this list that are not in the Gedenkbuch either survived, or were killed by other people (the Gedenkbuch seems only to list those people who both lived in Germany and were killed directly by the Nazis).
If you go to the database you can find the address associated with the person listed below.