welcome to the bircza online website!

about the website

Bircza Online! is the ‘virtual shtetl’ for the Jewish community of pre-Holocaust Bircza, a small town (and its environs) in present-day south-eastern Poland, near the city of Przemyśl. A shtetl was the Yiddish term for a town or village in Galicia (the north-eastern region of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, comprising parts of present-day Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic), made up of a Jewish majority or plurality. The aim of this website is to preserve and describe (mostly Jewish) life in Bircza prior to the Second World War, including history, culture, and genealogy. This website serves also as a resource for the history of the Jewish community and its members during the tragic years of the Holocaust and thereafter—both the majority who suffered death at the hands of the Nazis and their accomplices 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:

If you have any information—images, maps, testimonials, and more—that you would like to contribute, please contact me. Collecting this information in one place is the surest way to facilitate research on the Bircza area and to keep the memory of this community alive.

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 1929–1939: Polish ʿaliyyah passports to Palestine
Tax list	Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People	Jerusalem	1772–1826; 1933–1935	HM2/8936.16; Source: DALO, LVIV, UW, LWOW 1722–1826: Lists of Jews by street for tax purposes 1933–1935: Community budget and a list of taxpayers
Jewish community	Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People	Jerusalem	1928–1930	Source: DALO, LVIV, UW, LWOW 1928–1930: List of donors from Bircza for a kollel from Galicia in Palestine
Bircza municipality	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1944–1954	56:199/0 A, ref. 11-14, 26 A full list of the contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website, however, of interest to Jewish genealogists is a list of returnees after the Second World War and subsequent censuses. Search the ‘Registers of Population in Archival Materials ELA’ database for separate entries for the various vital records.
Land office	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1944–1946	56:51/0 A & B, ref. 2-16 A full list of the contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website, however, of interest to Jewish genealogists are lists of abandoned property and tenants after the Second World War.
Catholic parish	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1784–1871	56:146/3; 437/0 This includes birth, marriage, and death records for the Bircza parish. A full list of the contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website. Search the ‘Vital records and civil registers PRADZIAD’ database for separate entries for the various vital records.
Greek Orthodox Bishopric	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1784–1871; 1807–1844	56:142/0 A & B, ref. 6677-6700; 56:857/4 A This includes birth, marriage, and death records for the Bircza parish. A full list of the contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website. Search the ‘Vital records and civil registers PRADZIAD’ and ‘List of archival fonds SEZAM’ databases for separate entries for the various vital records.
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 A full list of the types and contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website. Search the ‘List of archival fonds SEZAM’ database for separate entries for the various records.
Economic	State Archive in Przemyśl	Przemyśl	1957–1960; 1957–1960; 1951–1960	60:256/0 A; 60:257/0 A; 56:515/0 A A full list of the types and contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website. Search the ‘List of archival fonds SEZAM’ database for separate entries for the various records.
	YIVO Archives	New York City	1938–1939	RG 335.7 FA, Folder 25 Activities of the interest-free loan association in Bircza, 1939. Includes an appeal to the landsmanshaft in New York.
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 A full list of the types and contents of these records can be found at the State Archive website. Search the ‘List of archival fonds SEZAM’ database for separate entries for the various records.

other bircza internet links

Although no other website devoted exclusively to Bircza exists, there are several sites with content that relates to Bircza:

contact bircza online

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