Czestochowa

Częstochowa is a large city of 160 sq km and around 260,000 inhabitants in south west Poland, on the Warta River. It is a major railway centre, but above all Poland's religious capital. The city is the capital of Czêstochowa Province.

Czestochowa was established in the 11th century. The city is known for the famous Paulist monastery of Jasna Góra, on a hill overlooking the city, that is the home of the Black Madonna painting, a shrine of the Virgin Mary. Every year, millions of pilgrims from all over the world come to Częstochowa to see it. Czestochowa is also the seat of the Bishop.

Czêstochowa is a major industrial city. The principal industries include iron and steel, textiles and paper, and a trade in religious articles is centered here.

Shown in the picture: Town Hall

Shown in the pictures: The Black Madonna, Jasna Góra Monastery

A Jewish community developed in Czestochowa from the beginning of the 19th century. It quickly grew bigger due to the deposits of coal and steel around it, which brought to a development of a diversified industries in the city.

At the eve of World War II there were 28,500 Jews in Czestochowa (20% of the population). The city was occupied in September 3rd 1939 by the Natzis, who began a series of abuses against Jews which took the lives of 150 Jewish men.

In April 1941 a ghetto was built in the city. 20,000 more Jews were deported to the ghetto from the neighbouring area, as well as from Kraków and from the cities of Wesern Poland. Most of the Jews in Czestochowa were murdered between September and October 1942, in a mass deportation to Treblinka extermination camp.

The Jews remaining in the city were employed in forced labour. Rebellion attempts of Jews from an underground organization in January and June 1943 failed. Hundreds of Jews were shot on the spot or sent to Treblinka.

In January 1945, Czestochowa was liberated by the Red Army, and only a minority of the Jews (around 3,000) survived. A Jewish community existed in Czestochowa after the war , but most of the Jews left the city and immigrated to Israel or emigrated to other countries.