About

The Jews of Stopnica (Stopnitz)

Researched by Esther Blatt

Presented at the SYMBA Annual Meeting on September 23, 2018

Jewish residents of Stopnica were first mentioned in the middle of the 17th Century.  In 1663 they were given the right to build a synagogue and to establish a cemetery.

 The Jewish community of Stopnica grew rapidly in the 19th century, and by the beginning of 20th century they comprised 70% of the total population

 In the 1920's and 1930's many residents, especially the young joined Zionist parties and movements.  Its members founded the Union of Jewish Workers in Stopnica.

 At the outbreak of WWII, local Christian residents took advantage of the opportunity to persecute Jew in the city, plundering shops and houses.  The Germans conquered the area on September 8, 1939 and immediately burned the Jewish quarter.  A ghetto was established.

 On September 6, 1942 1,500 able bodied men and women were loaded onto trucks belonging to the munitions company, Hasag and transported to a work camp in Skarzysko-Kamienna.  The rest, about 3,000- were marched and then taken by train to the death camp at Treblinka.

 Today there are no Jews in Stopnica.