Jacob (Yakov) (Jack)  Pinsler was born in Dukla in 1896. He said it was Austria. It was in Galicia, which was an Imperial Province of the Hungary Austria empire. In 1918 Poland was re-created, and Poland included Dukla.

Jack Pinsler’s father Max was born in Dukla. Max married  Rachel Zimet, who was born in Zmigrod, which is about 3 miles from Dukla. Jack’s fraternal grandfather is Solomon Joseph Pinsler.

Jack at age 6  emigrated to the United States, in 1902 or 1903, going to San Francisco just before the big earthquake there in 1906.

Most of the following information about Dukla, and the surrounding area, is from the web page Jewish Genealogy, Shtetyl Links.

Dukla is located in the southern part of Poland, at Latitude 49 degrees 24’, longitude 21 degrees 41’ From 1776 to 1919 it was part of Galicia, which was an Imperial Province of the Austrian Empire. Dukla was one of 20 district capitals of Galicia.

The towns surrounding Dukla, clockwise, are Iwonicz-Zdrij 7 miles ENE, Rymanow 8 miles East, Krempna 8 miles WSW, Zmigrod 7.5 miles WNW, Chorkowka 6 miles North, Jedlicze 10 miles North, and Krosno 9 miles NNE. Most of these towns had large Jewish populations until World War II.

The first mention of Dukla was in 1380. Dukla was a rich trading town, when the main Polish-Hungarian trade route went through the town In 1474 the town was destroyed by the Hungarians during war.

Larger numbers of Jews settled in Dukla during the 18 th Century. In 1895 a  Jewish school was established by the Baron Hirsch Foundation. In the 18 th Century there was a wooden synagogue, which burned down in 1758. In the same year a brick synagogue was built in the eastern part of town at Cergowska Street. The bimah was in the center between four columns. A gallery for women was on the north side.Only the walls of the main room have been preserved. The niche for the torah, and fragments of inscriptions on the walls, have been preserved.

There were two cemeteries. In the Old Cemetery there were 100 gravestones, and  in the New Cemetery 160. Parts of the gravestones were used by the Nazis to reinforce a stream embankment. There is a monument to 40 Jews shot by the Nazis. There is the Palace of the Mecinski family, which was destroyed in World War II, and rebuilt in the 1980’s. The Parish Church of the 18 th Century was renovated in 1907. It is Baroque architecture, with frescoes. There was a Saint Bernard Church, and a St. Maria-Magdalena Church, both built in the 18th Century.

There were fires in 1884, and again in 1891, which caused much destruction.

Dukla was the birthplace of Joseph Samuel Bloch 1850-1923, who was a rabbi and a representative to the Austrian parliament.

Some 1898 statistics of Dukla town: “2.10 square kilometers: 230 houses; 1446 men, 1560 women, together 3006 inhabitants of whom 520 Catholic, 24 Greek-Orthodox, and 2456 Jewish and other denominations.”

The Jewish population before the Holocaust, was 1,509. (Where Once We Walked)

In 1998 in Dukla  there are the restored Church, the Historical Museum, and the market place with a Town Hall. A 1994 book by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Upon the Doorposts of Thy House, said “at the edge of town, a few graves still stood in the Jewish Cemetery.

I have reviewed some lists of Surnames of Jews in Dukla, some before and some after 1900, and found no Pinslers.

The Dukla Pass is the lowest and easiest north-south route through the western Carpathian mountains. During World War II the Dukla Pass was the scene of bitterly fought battles between combined Czechoslovak and Soviet armies and the Germans. Dukla, to the north of the pass, and Svidnik, to the south, were almost totally razed.

A report about the Red Ruthenia part of S. E. Poland, said that “despite its strategic importance, Dukla has never been much more than a village, and it only has a couple of historic sights…the parish church…the former Mniszech Palace which is now a Regional Museum, whose historical displays predictably focus on the battles fought at the nearby pass”.

Krosno is today a major town, located so that Dukla is 9 miles S.W.of Krosno. It is located in the center of dozens of smaller towns. In 1900 the population was 3276, of which 567 were Jews.  By 1921 there were 1725 Jews. In August 1942, when 2900 Jews lived in Krosno,  almost the entire Jewish population were killed or sent to Belzac. A report written by William Leibner in 2000,  said August 10, 1942, all Jews were ordered to report at the Targowa railway station. “The old and sick were taken to the forest and shot, and about a thousand people were pushed onto a train that went to the death camp of Belzec where they all perished.” The report continued that “a small ghetto was established containing about 300-600 Jews, and Dec. 1, 1942 they were shipped to the ghetto of Rzeszow.”

 “With the liberation of the city, Krosno became a center for assembling Jewish survivors who were then sent across the border to Rumania where they sailed for Palestine. This semi-legal base operated until the borders were closed. The Jewish officials left Krosno, the Jewish survivors of the city never returned. Thus, ended the Jewish presence in the city.”

Zmigrod is 12 miles SW of Krosno, near Dukla which is 9 miles SW of Krosno. It is on the banks of the Wisloka River. These are some of the recollections of  Zmigrod by Max Findling. Zmigrod stood on a hill, and there were very big snows in the wintertime, so they used a table as a sled. They also played soccer in the streets. Most of the Polish townspeople were anti-Semitic. Every year before Good Friday, the locals would steel a hat from a Jewish man and use it for a puppet (the Judosz), ‘They made in life-size, dressed it in black, with peyes and a beard. Thursday night they would go to the Church and hang the puppet by the legs from the highest window of the church. This was followed by other anti-Semitic acts

Behind the shul were two buildings for Chedders. Boys wore peyes, and yamalkas. To walk home in the dark they would make a torch out of a potato and candle. The girls had separate schools. In Zmigrod most houses had dirt floors. There was no electricity: they used gas lamps and kerosene lanterns. There were no stoves; ovens and ceramic devices were used for hat and cooking. The shops were grain, fabric, food, iron pots and hardware, groceries, and clothing, a pharmacy, a Jewish club/bar. They had an arcade with stores inside. These were destroyed in World War I.

There was no hospital. There were two doctors, one Jewish. People died at home. The casket was carried on shoulders, stopping every few feet to pray, and a change of bearers. He described  the observance of Passover, Sukkot, Chanukah and Purim. There was a jail, a post office, school, City Hall. There was no train. Everyone wore a hat, but the women did not wear sheitels (wigs).

Other reflections of Zmigrod by Nathan Laks, born 1922. The Synagogue was built in the 1500/1600’s, had four huge columns and huge stone walls. He went to Chedar before and after school. Breakfast, and dinner, was only  slices of pumpernickle bread, and only the youngest children got a little jam. The main meal, with chicken, was lunch. A sign of wealth was daily meals of chicken soup.

Jews never bought ready made garments, got material locally, and clothes were made by a tailor. His father’s family would send used clothing from the U.S., and the tailor would re-sew it. They wore white shirts, no colors, and the old men wore stiff collars and cuffs. He discussed Passover. Some Jews had ranches, but if you had 2 cows you were considered a rich man. The Jews were small shopkeepers, never used a shovel. The only industry was a sawmill. Most children were raised in a religious way, and about 14/15 many would join secular Zionist organizations.

He said after World War I, Poland became independent, and Austria left. The poles looted Jewish houses and stores, and many Jews left. The Jews were always separate from the Poles. “Zit” was the word for Jews. In the 1930’s Poles  picketed and boycotted Jewish stores.

Max said in 1941 the Nazis took him away to work, and in the camps “they took every piece of clothing and every paper or picture” This is the account by Leo Rosner, of the following events. “Max Findling and I, were incarcerated in the Jaslo prison in 1942. “At the same time with us were , Max’s sister (Geitel Findling), my mother (Esther Tosner), and my younger sister (Malka Rosner), …Rabbi Chulno Halberstarm from Kolicice and Rabbi Meilech Rubin from Jaslo. There were 35 men in one cell; the women were in a separate cell. Max and Leo were chosen by the Gestapo for work, along with 14 other young men. The others were taken to the forest Warzyce, outside the town of Jaslo, where they were shot and killed and buried in an unmarked grave. Days later, as Max and Leo continued to work, cleaning out Jewish homes of clothing, furniture, and other items, we entered a warehouse and found the clothes of my mother, my sister and Max’s sister. It was the clothes they wore while in prison. This was the evidence for us to know the  outcome of our loved ones.”

On July 7, 1942, the Jews of Zmigrod and surrounding villages were taken to the mountain  Halbrow, where they were shot dead by the Nazis. 1250 men, women and children were massacred. In 1946 Max went to Israel. His sister went to Brooklyn N.Y., U.S.A.

“Pinchas Walmut returned to Zmigrod after the war and organized about 50 Zmigrodians from Israel, Europe and the US: he created the permanent concrete base and gates, and a monument in 1950 for the mass grave.”

“In 1991, 46 years after the Holocaust, I Leo Rosner, Max Findling and Shimshon Findling,.. returned to Zmaigrod Nowy, Poland. We were accompanied by Max’s son Michael Findling and Shimshon’s daughter Renine Findling The purpose was to search and find the locations of the burial graves of our beloved families who were shot and killed by the Nazis in the year 1942.”  “We were able to locate the mass grave, which was in the village of Halbuv.The grave is located about seven kilometers from the town Zmigrod on the way to the Czechoslovakian border about thirty kilometers ahead.”

In 1993 Leo Rosner and Max Findling returned to the mass grave and erected four monuments. “These monuments have inscribed the date and the year of the execution in three languages: Hebrew, Polish, and English. This mass grave is covered with a cement block measuring  30 feet long by 12 feet wide. There is a metal fence surrounding this entire site. In addition there is a road sign about two hundred and fifty meters from the gravesite.”

The Jewish Geneology Shtetyl Link has photographs of the monuments, and of 8 Naxi officers responsible, There is another  report of the Nazi massacre at Halbuv, by William Leibner who is a survivor. There are secondhand reports by W.S., and Einhorn Mojzesz, son of Schape Hirsch and Szajndla.

Zmigrod in 1992 had 9,821 residents, and unemployment of 15.4%. It has a City Hall, Police Station, Post Office and Family Medical Center, Cultural Center, Stadium, one restaurant, tow bars, a school camp. There is a drawing of :The Town Plan of Zmigrod Nowy”, showing the location of 18 places there.

The cemetery is 1500 meters off the market square.The cemetery has no sign, but is open to all, with no fence or gate. There are about 200 gravestones, most from 18th, 19th , and 20th century, with inscriptions in Hebrew. The owner of the cemetery is unknown, there is no maintenance, and security, vegetation, and vandalism, pose a very  serious threat.

Although the history of the Jewish community in Zmigrod goes back to the 16 th century, in 2002 there were no Jews living there.