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Parczew
Parczew is a district seat in the Lublin voivodship, with a population of approximately 11,000. It is situated on the Parczew Plain on the Piwonia River, a tributary of the Tyśmienica River.
Worth seeing
Sights worth seeing include the synagogue, the mikvah, wooden campanile (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), peat bog reservation, northern flower collections and Lake Obradowskie (surface area of 81.8 hectares), a dystrophic lake.
Historical background
The history of Parczew goes back to the thirteenth century, when a royal village by the name of Parczów existed at this location. This settlement received its town charter in 1401, which along with its advantageous position on the north-south trade route contributed to the town's growth. Soon, in 1413, it became the sights of Polish-Lithuanian congresses and regional councils, which took place there until 1564. Parczew was destroyed during the wars that plagued Poland in the seventeenth century. During the partitions, it shared the fate of many towns in the Lublin region, at first finding itself under Austrian rule, than for several years enjoying the relative freedom of the Duchy of Warsaw, and then after the defeat of Napoleon, becoming part of the Russian partition. Policies of the partition powers did not aid the development of industry in the region, which meant that the town experienced a further decline. During the Second World War, Parczew was occupied by the Soviet army, which was attacking from the east. The few Polish detachments that were there proved unable to provide effective resistance. In October 1939, the Germans occupied the town. During the entire occupation, the resistance was active in Parczew, and in the forests of Parczew, the AK partisans carried out a number of diversionary acts. The town was liberated by the Soviet army in July 1944.
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The Jews of Parczew
Jews began settling in Parczew in the sixteenth century, and were primarily involved in trade. Over the centuries, they usually comprised about half of the town's population. In the nineteenth century, the Jews of Parczew were for the most part Hasidim. When the Second World War began, there were about five thousand Jews living in Parczew. The Germans created the ghetto in 1942, and in October of that same year liquidated it and sent about seven thousand Jews to the death camp at Treblinka. The rest were sent to the ghetto in Międzyrzecz Podlaski.
Traces
The synagogue, ul. Piwonia 3. The synagogue in Parczew was built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It can be assumed that this was not the first synagogue, but no traces remain of the original building, which burned down in 1924. The local community, however, quickly rebuilt it. During the occupation, it was heavily damaged by the Germans. After the war, it was adapted for use as a clothing warehouse. This is its condition today -- only its external appearance recalls the building's original character.
The House of Learning (bejt ha-midrasz), ul. Piwonia 1. The House of Learning was built in about 1920, after Poland had regained its independence. It was heavily damaged during the occupation, and after the war was adapted for use as a cinema.
The Jewish Cemetery. The only trace of the former cemetery is a monument erected in 1979 along Aleje Zjednoczenia in memory of the war's victims. The cemetery was almost completely destroyed by the Germans, and the communist authorities gave permission for a city park to be made there. Not even a single matsevah survives today. The monument makes no mention of the fact that executions took place in the former cemetery.
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