Osięciny ( yi, אשענטשין) is a village in

Radziejów County __NOTOC__ Radziejów County ( pl, powiat radziejowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divide ...

, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

(administrative district) called

Gmina Osięciny __NOTOC__ Gmina Osięciny is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Radziejów County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Osięciny, which lies approximately east of Radziejów and south of T ...

. It lies approximately east of

Radziejów Radziejów (Polish pronunciation: ; German 1943-1945: ''Rädichau'') is a town in Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 45 km south of Toruń. It is the capital of Radziejów County. Its population is 5,804 (2004). History ...

and south of

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

. In 2006 the village had a population of 2700.

Jews in Osieciny

After the First World War there were 450 Jews in the village. In Osieciny were Jewish social aid institutions and branches of the Zionist parties and Agudat Israel. The Germans occupied Osieciny in September 1939. Community Judenrat was established and its main role was to provide forced workers. A ghetto was established in 1940 in the village. In April 1942, the Jews were gathered in the church and from there they were sent to Chelmno extermination camp. Extensive documentation of Jewish life before the Holocaust in Osieciny is in a book by Rafael Olewski - "The Tear" ebrew 1983, Tel-Aviv. Rafael Olewski was born in Osieciny in 1914, and his uncle was the last rabbi of the Jewish community. The synagogue is still standing, neglected and used by a commercial company. Beit HaMidrash is standing next to him and is used for other purposes. "Jewish Street" changed his name. The Rabbi house is occupied by non-Jewish residents of the town, as well as other houses of Jews. Jewish cemetery was desecrated by the Nazis, and tombstones were stolen by the Poles after the Holocaust and became stone pavement. The Cemetery now is occupied by a private person, and when telephone technicians dug there, bones and skulls were uncovered at a depth of only 30 cm... Beyond that there is no sign, monument or other memorial means for the Jewish ex-residents of the town. They faded and disappeared.

References

* Rafael Olewski - "The Tear", ebrew 1983, Tel-Aviv, . * The updated list of names of the Jews in Osieciny as from 1939 nd earlieruntil the annihilation of the whole community in April 1942, by Arie Olewski, Herzliya, Israel. Villages in Radziejów County Holocaust locations in Poland {{Radziejów-geo-stub