Social, cultural and other secular activities are very vigorous among the Jews in Wroclaw, Poland, which is the largest center of Jewish population in Poland, but the synagogue can barely muster a quorum of 10 male adults for Sabbath services, according to a report in the latest issue of Folkshtimme, Warsaw Yiddish-language newspaper, received here today.
One of the two synagogues that were the pride of German Jewry when the city was known as Breslau, a part of Germany, is still in existence, according to the report. The “New” Synagogue of Breslau was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938. The synagogue in use now had been gutted inside under the Nazi rule. Services are held every Saturday, but the sexton complained to the Folkshtimme writer “it is difficult to assemble a minyan. “
The two old Jewish cemeteries in Wroclaw are intact, but many of the tombstones are reportedly in “sad” disrepair. Among famous men interred in one of the cemeteries were the Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz, who taught at the Theological Seminary in old Breslau, and the German philosopher of Socialism, Ferdinand Lasalle. The Theological Seminary does not function now.
By contrast with the situation he found at the synagogue, the Folkshtimme writer reported lively activities at the Jewish Folk Club, the local headquarters of the Jewish Social and Cultural Union, the Yiddish Theatre, and the vocational training classes conducted by ORT.
The writer reports that the Jewish library in Wroclaw contains 6, 000 volumes, of which 2, 000 are in Yiddish, and also displays Yiddish newspapers published not only in Poland but also in Rumania, the United States and Argentina. The library has registered 450 regular readers, of whom about a third read Yiddish.
Economically, the Jews of Wroclaw are reportedly “getting by. ” There are Jews at work in the big railroad car factory in the city, and in some plants making precision instruments. There are reported to be “many Jews” in the “free” professions, medicine, law, teaching, public service, etc. Some Jews are taxicab drivers.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
