Zary New Jewish Cemetery

In May 1939, 72 Jews and 18 people of partly Jewish origin lived in Żary (German Mischlinge). The latest data of November 1944 refer to seven Jews, who probably survived because they had Aryan spouses. As early as in 1945 Jews started to come to Żary. They were mainly Jews from the eastern borderlands, who survived the war in USSR, but also from the centre of Poland. According to many statements and studies, about 3500 Jews lived in Żary from 1945 to 1946. Abram Brand, who died in 2007, the last but one chairman of the Żary kehilla, talked even about 4000 people. Nevertheless, in 1946, out of 6000 people living in Żary, half of them were Jewish. Their relations with the Poles were not very good. There was a peculiar Polish-Jewish rivalry. Year 1968 was an important date in the history of the kehilla. As a result, in 1969 Żary was deserted by 90 people, and another 17 were going to leave. The most worrying was the fact that it was the well-educated and resourceful people that left Żary. It would have been an exaggeration to say that the kehilla lost its elites. However, the political situation and ‘outflow of blood’ played some role in this process.