Group photo of the members of the Education Committee who participated in the Mizrachi Conference in January 1919 in the town of Staszów, located in southeastern Poland.
Among them: Rabbi Kahana Shapira, Rabbi Amiel, Rabbi Y. L. Kowalski, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Zlotnik, and others.
In Staszów, in southeastern Poland, south of Kielce, approximately 4,800 Jews lived on the eve of World War II—about half the population of the town. Between the world wars, Zionist activity in Staszów reached its peak. Mizrachi was the first Zionist party in the town and one of the largest and most active. Its members were involved in education and culture. They supported the community’s Talmud Torah, established a modernized cheder where both religious and general studies were taught, and opened courses in Hebrew, Bible, the geography of Eretz Israel, and Jewish history for the town’s girls, most of whom studied in Polish schools.
After the German occupation of Staszów in September 1939, systematic persecution of the town’s Jews began: their property was confiscated, a Judenrat was established, and they were forced to wear armbands. Forced labor was imposed, and in 1942 a ghetto was established. During the Aktions, hundreds of Jews were murdered on the spot, and approximately 6,000 were deported to the Treblinka camp, while others were sent to Bełżec. Around 1,000 attempted to flee to the forests, but most perished.
See also Yad Vashem Photo Archive, record no. 737/54.
Size: 25×21 cm. Minor tear at upper right. Photograph printed on thin paper (rolled).
