· The Holocaust · Missing Pages · Searching the Database This
database contains the names, birthdates, street addresses and
occupations of 22,167 Jews, enumerated in a 1939 census of the
city of Będzin (Bendin), Poland. Będzin, Poland (In Yiddish:
"Bendin"; the Nazis renamed it "Bendsburg"). Located 38 miles
west of Kraków at 50°20' 19°09', in the inter-war Polish
province of Kielce. Before WWI, it was in Piotrków gubernia of
the Kingdom of Poland of Russian Empire. Będzin, a town in
Silesia, had Jews living inside the town as early as the late
13th Century. A cemetery was consecrated in 1592, which remained
in use until 1831. In 1765, the Jewish population was 446; about
90 years later it had increased to 2,440, almost 59% of the
population; in 1909, it was 22,674, close to 49% of the
population; and in 1931, 21,625. Many Jews were represented in
the town's developing industries in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Jews were involved in iron-ore mining, metallurgy, zinc and tin
processing, and the manufacture of