about the website

Bircza Online! is a ‘virtual shtetl’ of sorts. A shtetl was the Yiddish term for town or village in Galicia (a region situated at the northeastern part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, comprising of parts of present-day Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic), made up of a Jewish majority. The goal of this website is to preserve and describe life in Bircza prior to the Second World War, including history, culture, and Jewish society. This website is also dedicated to finding out what happened to the numerous Jews of Bircza—both the majority who suffered death at the hands of the Nazis and the luckier few who escaped or survived. Bircza Online! also contains old and contemporary maps and pictures of the Bircza area, both recreating the town as it was once and depicting it as it has developed today.

a bit about bircza

Bircza was a largely-Jewish community south-west of the city of Przemyśl (a former Austrian fortress now located in Poland). Although it was closer to Przemyśl in proximity, it was made part of the Dobromil District, after Poland was recreated in 1919. On the eve of the Holocaust, Jews numbered some 1150 residents out of a total of 2300 in the town of Bircza itself, and a majority of the inhabitants of the greater region. Villages and other sub-communities included in the ‘Bircza area’ are Andztonki, Boguszówka, Brzeżawa, Brzuska, Chominskie, Huta Brzuska, Jawornik Ruski, Kamienna Górka, Korzeniec, Korzenica, Krępak, Łeszcz Dolna, Leszczawa Dolna, Leszczawa Górna, Leszczawka, Lipa, Łazy, Łódzinka Górna, Łomna, Malawa, Nowa Wieś, Rudawka, Stara Bircza, Sufczyna, Wola Korzeniecka (Birecka), Żohatyń, and others.

For more information on Bircza, such as its history and community, please see the Testimonials, which include historical descriptions, comments and interviews with survivors of that region, as well as remarks by researchers who visited the area.

what’s ‘online’ at bircza online

There is a wealth of information contained within the pages of this website. On the left side of every web page, you will see a site map, in addition to the index below:

• Bircza area maps, containing both old and contemporary maps of Bircza and its environs.
• Images and photos of Bircza and the region.
• Testimonials given by residents (former and present), researchers, and visitors, as well as historical accounts of the Bircza area.
• Lists of names of inhabitants of the Bircza area.
• 1941 name directory, containing a list of people in the Bircza region on the eve of the Nazi German invasion, compiled from other lists and contributions by Bircza researchers and inhabitants.
• Association of Bircza Researchers, a group of genealogists and descendants of Bircza residents interested in the area. Click here to find out more information.

researching roots in bircza

Today, it appears that most vital records concerning life in Bircza before the Second World War have been destroyed. At the same time, discoveries of records in old archives have been made for many towns in Poland and it is possible that records will come to light in the future. According to the Routes to Roots Foundation website, four types of Jewish records for certain periods do exist (notary, immigration, tax lists, and jewish communal records). Furthermore, the State Archive in Przemyśl lists other records that can be found relating to Bircza. For further details, hover the mouse above file codes hyperlinked in green:

Type	Institution	Location	Years covered	File code(s)
Notary	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1909–1911; 1934–1944	728; 1075-1080
Immigration	Jewish Historical Institute	Warsaw	1929–1939	115
Tax list	Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People	Jerusalem	1772–1826; 1933–1935	HM2/8936.16; Source: DALO, LVIV, UW, LWOW
Jewish community	Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People	Jerusalem	1928–1930	Source: DALO, LVIV, UW, LWOW
Bircza municipality	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1944–1954	56:199/0 A, ref. 11-14, 26
Land office	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1944–1946	56:51/0 A & B, ref. 2-16
Catholic parish	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1784–1871	56:146/3; 437/0
Greek Orthodox Bishopric	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1784–1871; 1807–1844	56:142/0 A & B, ref. 6677-6700; 56:857/4 A
Court	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1940–1941	56:61/0 A
Political	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1952–1975; 1972–1989; 1977–1979, 1981–1982; 1959–1969	56:168/0 A; 56:1210/0 A; 56:1694/0 A; 56:1980/0 A
Economic	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1957–1960; 1957–1960; 1951–1960	60:256/0 A; 60:257/0 A; 56:515/0 A
Postcards	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1291–1946	56:1591/0 A & B, ref. 1-321
Other	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1569–1814; 1569–1814; 1784–1861; 1889–1939; 1578, 1591, 1744, 1784, 1810	29:121/0 B ref. 212-213; 29:121/3 B; 56:146/1 B; 60:463/0 B; 56:69/0 A, ref. 1

other bircza internet links

Although there does not exist another website devoted exclusively to Bircza, there are several sites with content that relates to Bircza:

• JewishGen All-Poland Database, with a variety of information on Bircza. (Click on the arrow to retrieve the data directly).
• Cmentarze żydowski w Polsce, a website of Jewish cemeteries in Poland, with a page containing several high-quality images of the cemetery in Bircza.
• Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, with information on the Bircza cemetery.
• IAJGS International Jewish Cemetery Project, a website devoted to documenting every Jewish burial site in the world, with a page focused on Bircza.
• POLIN: Polish Jews Heritage, a website containing information and material about Jewish life in Poland before the Second World War. A page is dedicated to Bircza with a number of photographs and a description of its history.
• Proszyk Centre for Genealogy and History Research, the website of Jacek Proszyk, with information on Bircza and Kanczuga.
• Wirtualny Sztetl (Museum of the History of Polish Jews), a collaborative website to share information on Polish Jewish history, with a page on Bircza that contains several high-quality images of the town’s cemetery.

contact bircza online

To contribute information or make contact with Bircza Online, please use this form below, or email bircza@reproots.org.