Photographs of post-war Jewish community in Dzierżoniów, Poland (Reichenbach, Silesia)

The photograph collection consists of photographs from the post-war Jewish community of Dzierżoniów, Poland (formerly Reichenbach, Lower Silesia, Germany). The images depict a gathering in memory of the murdered Jews of Biala (circa 1946), a New Year's greeting from the committee of survivors from Biala, and various unidentified family photographs. Following the end of the war, some Jews who had survived nearby concentration camps, such as Gross-Rosen, tried to re-establish an autonomous communal settlement in Dzierżoniów, under the leadership of Jakub Egit, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army. Initially the settlement was supported by the Soviet occupation authorities, but once it grew in size, they withdrew their support, Egit was imprisoned, and most of the residents immigrated to the United States, Israel, and other countries.