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.

Bircza was a largely-Jewish community south-west of the Austrian fortress of Przemyśl (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. 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 includes comments and interviews with survivors of that region, as well as other researchers.

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.
• Lists of names of former inhabitants of the Bircza area.
• Pre-1941 ‘phone book’ directory, containing a list of all people who lived in the Bircza region.
• Association of Bircza Researchers, a group of genealogists and descendants of Bircza residents interested in the area. Click here to find out more information.

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

• JewishGen Poland Database, with a variety of information on Bircza. (Click on the arrow to retrieve the data directly).
• Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, with information on the Bircza cemetery.
• Proszyk Centre for Genealogy and History Research, the website of Jacek Proszyk, with information on Bircza and Kanczuga.

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

Name:
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Names you are researching:
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What kind of information do you have? Have you been (or will go) to the Bircza area? Please be specific: