Alternate names: Chrzanów [Pol], Kshonev [Yid], Krenau [Ger, 1941-45], Keshanov, Khshanov, Khshanuv, Krashanov, Kreshanov, Kshanev, Kshanov, כזשאנאװ-Yiddish.  50°08' N, 19°24' E, 23 miles W of Kraków, 19 miles SE of Katowice, 10 miles NE of Oświęcim (Auschwitz). Jewish population: 3,591 in 1880 and 6,330 in 1931. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, pp. 650-651: "Chrzanów". Yizkors: Sefer Chrzanow (Regensburg, 1948); Sefer Chrzanow; lebn un umkum fun a yidish shtetl (Roslyn Harbor NY, 1989); Sefer Chrzanow; Le-zichram shel kedoshei ha-ir she-nispu ba-Shoa (Ramat Gan, 1994); and Alon Chrzanów (Tel Aviv, 1971). This town in southern Poland with 39,704 inhabitants in 2006 in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 and the capital of Chrzanów County, from 1919-1939 belonged to the Province of Cracow (Voivodeship) in the Second Polish Republic. In the interwar years industrialization of the town increased. In 1939 the number of residents was 22.000. With outbreak of WW2 on 1st September 1939 the town was flooded with refugees from Upper Silesia. In the morning of 3rd September Polish local government was evacuated from the town, as well as many residents. The following day, after a number of short skirmishes with the Polish troops, the town was occupied by German troops. In November 1939 when the town with the western half of the county was annexed directly to the Third Reich Chrzanów was made a county town in the Katowice region of Upper Silesia.In 1940 better homes in the town were confiscated and given to German officials, military, policemen, and German settlers from Romania, renaming everything in German. In 1941 the town was renamed Krenau. Jewish residents imprisoned in the unwalled ghetto created in 1941. In 1942, Germans started sending Chrzanów's Jews to the death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau with the last transport in February 1943. German occupation ended on January 24, 1945 when Chrzanów was taken over by Soviet troops. About one quarter of the town was damaged and the population decreased by almost half. Local museum has Judaica collection. [April 2009]

CEMETERY: photos and photos. video In March 2009, vandalism took place at the Jewish cemetery when unknown perpetrators damaged 50 matzevot. The local museum staff reported the act to the police; investigation is underway. Necessary repairs may cost as much as 75 thousand zlotys. The cemetery in Chrzanow was renovated in 2007 thanks to the cooperation between the local authorities and the Jewish community. Located on Chrzanowie Street Borowcowej since 1763, the cemetery consists of two parts: the large and the small cemetery. "Large" still survives although not in its entirety. "Small" was the place where today is the gasoline station and road Podwale. Both cemeteries can be seen on the plans Chrzanowa from 1842, 1843, and 1848. A letter issued in 1961 by the Congregation for Religious Confessions Krakowska Jewish Association  to the Ministry of Economy stating that the municipal cemetery survived the Second World War in fairly good condition, but significant damage was done after the liberation, when - after the forced removal by the municipal caretaker living at the cemetery "both the building and the cemetery became the subject of brutal devastation. Broken windows, doors, roof, etc., which resulted in the destruction of ceilings and other equipment. At the same cemetery  most of the memorials were destroyed, the cemetery wall in many places demolished. " In the 1.6 hectares are approximately 1,500 gravestones, the oldest of which dates from 15 November 1802 year. An inventory of gravestonesis  available on his website. Two ohel were restored and are a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world. In the first is of Buchner Solomon ben Moses, the famous pupil of Samuel Szmelke Nikolsburg (Mikulov), from the year 1796 in Chrzanowie tzaddik died in 1828. The second family ohel remains from the tzaddikim dynasty Halberstam: those of Dawid Halberstam son of Chaim Halberstama from Nowy Sacz,  who died in 1894, the founder of the Chrzanowie tzaddikim dynasty and his sons Józef Zvi Halberstam,  Naftali Halberstam, and Mojżesza, and grandsons Józef Elimelech Halberstama ben Joseph Moses, and Baruch Halberstama son of Moses [April 2009]

CEMETERY: In the local museum, you can get the address of the person holding the keys to the cemetery gates. Photos [April 2009]

MASS GRAVE: At the cemetery there is a mass grave of 37 people shot by the Germans in 1939. [April 2009]

The US Commission is not finished rechecking this file. [2000]

REFERENCE: They Lived Among Us: Polish Judaica, a travel brochure: Arline Sachs, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

REFERENCE: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. pgs. 25, 74 CHRZANOW I:     US Commission No. POCE000541