Brzesko Nowe is situated in Miechowski District and was established on the hill over Vistula valley. It obtained civic rights in 1279. The characterist feature of the town is that it had two Main Squares. It was called “straw” because majority of the houses had a thatched roof. King Władysław IV allowed to organize a market and three fairs per year. The town was the Premonstratensian Monastery's property since 1223. Since 1818 it belonged to the public purse. There were 151 houses and 904 residents in 1827. It was deprived of its civic rights in 1869. There were 960 residents (only Poles), 5 brick houses and 141 wooden ones in the middle of the 19th century. In the 1880's 970 people lived in Brzesko Nowe, 17 of them were Jews.
Brzesko Nowe belonged to Gruszów community, Miechowski District in the interwar period. It had the population of 1845 people at the end of the 1920's. Residents made their living through trade, small craft and agriculture. In textiles traded: M. Elbinger, Sz. Liga, J. Szmulewicz; in skins: Ch. D. Horowicz; in food: T. Dajczer, S. Gdański, Ch. Ickowicz.
In 1923 Ministry of Religious Affairs ordered the Management to carefully deliver documents and advised that a budget and a list of contributions should be separately binded. The community seal was to be changed too. Slaughter fees were approved.
Rabbi Mordka Henoch Spiro leaved the town permanently (he moved to Cracow) in 1925, what made the Jewish population choose a new rabbi. The Ministry allowed a rabbi from a nearby village to commute to Brzesko Nowe due to hard economy situation of the community. Lack of applicants caused that Rabbi M. H. Spiro commuted from Cracow.
Jews prayed in a prayer house, because there were no synagogue. There was no mikveh so Jews used the private bath house that belonged to Symcha Gdański. Only part of the cemetery was used to bury people, the other – as arable field. The cemetery was fenced with a barbed wire and there was a pre-funeral house by it.
In 1927 County Office stressed the example of the Management's incompetence – the community's 900 roubles were still deposited with people since 1916. They should have tried to recover them after recalculation.
The income of 1725 zloty was planned to be collected in 1928. Surprisingly nothing was charged. It is interesting that members of the Management – Szulim Sztrosberg and Szlama Fifa – were expended from paying because they believed that they deserved this discount for the work they did. The contributions varied, for example shopkeepers: Berek Czosnek paid 60 zloty, Estera Elbinger 40 zloty, Moszek Lewkowicz 50 zloty; the owner of a mill Moszek Landgarten 50 zloty.
In August 1929 the community accounted for 450 residents. It included Brzesko Nowe, Gruszów, Igołomia, Wawrzeńczyce. 51 families were appointed to pay contributions. Rabbi earned 400 zloty per year, kosher butcher – 2600 zloty, personal assistant – 400 zloty, slaughter collector – 124 zloty. The community paid 400 zloty as a rent for a prayer house, 100 zloty as a rent for an office. Szulim Sztrosberg was the chairman of the Management, the members were as follows: Szloma Figa, Szmul Palacz, Wolf Nowotny. Trade agent Roman Mysztek worked as a personal assistant. The outstanding contributions from period 1927-1928 accounted for 217.20 zloty.
In 1931 M. H. Spiro, who lived permanently in Cracow, proposed that he could served as a deputy rabbi in Brzesko Nowe for free. The community didn't know if this proposition could be approved. The Ministry did not want to hinder the situation because the cooperation between the Management and M. Spiro was good and moreover he didn't receive the salary; 400 zloty was treated as reimbursement.
Accoriding to the audit conducted on January 21, 1931 the outstanding contributions from 1930 accounted for 150 zloty. It was assumed to collect 4000 zloty from slaughter but only 2934 zloty was charged. Josek Zilber worked as a kosher butcher. Contributions varied from 5 zloty to 60 zloty.
The 1931 budget predicted the incomes of: 2394 zloty – cattle slaughter, 1106 zloty – poultry slaughter, 1234 zloty – contributions, 20 zloty – the cemetery. The expenditures were planned as follows: 330 zloty – the salary of personal assistant, 100 zloty – maintenance of the office, 570 zloty – prayer house rent, 2408.70 zloty – purchase a building for a synagogue, 100 zloty – charity, 100 zloty – pensions for widows, 100 zloty – accommodation for poor people. There is no explenation how the community managed to purchase a file and two buildings.
60 people were obligated to pay contributions in 1932, in 1933 – 59 people, in 1934 – 57 people. The inspection of contributions showed that Jews that didn't live in Brzesko Nowe had to pay higher ones, especially residents of Igołomnia. It is not known what was the basis of that. Baker Eliasz Birbaum was to pay 18 zloty, kosher butcher Dawid Pióro – 5 zloty, tanner Fiszel Szmajser – 30 zloty, owner of lumberyard Chaim Szmulewicz – 15 zloty. In 1932 it was intended to collect 1125 zloty from contributions, 200 zloty from seats in the synagogue, 116 zloty from Seter Torah reading, 5 zloty from subscriptions on Haman's Day, 5.24 zloty from Day of Expiation subscriptions, 4000 zloty from slaughter, 50 zloty from graves and 10 zloty from monuments.
The expenditures included 2700 zloty for kosher butcher J. Zilber, 400 zloty for a rabbi, 80 zloty – renovation of the funeral house, 50 zloty – support for Interest-Free Cash, 50 zloty – charity.
According to the 1933 official census there were 401 Jews. It was intended to collect 1280 zloty from contributions, 3500 zloty from slaughter, 2724 zloty from other sources – 7504 zloty in total. The expenditures were planned as follows: 3100 zloty – administration of the community, 200 zloty – other costs, 3100.75 zloty – investments, 200 zloty – for institutions, 50 zloty – support for poor people, 853.25 zloty – other expenditures.
The community had the population of 356 Jews in 1937. 48 families were appointed to pay contributions. The movables were estimated at 3700 zloty, the realties at 8000 zloty. The indebtedness accounted for 1921 zloty. The Management comprised only Non-aligned Jews.
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