We know Bilgoraj's river and forest from the stories of I.B. Singer, who spent his early adulthood here. Jews lived here since the late 14th century, and before the First World War, made up half its population. They owned grain and lumber mills, and worked as merchants, shoemakers, smiths, tailors, bakers, sieve makers, and printers. (The Kronenberg Press was known throughout Europe for its Hebrew books.)

During the early 20th century, the community supported a synagogue, dozens of schools, a public kitchen, an orphanage, a labor union, four Zionist parties, six theatre groups, and two libraries.

In September 1939 Bilgoraj was bombed, and much of the town burned. In the days afterward, Nazi soldiers began a program of beatings, killings, and forced labor. In June 1940 a ghetto was created; deportations to the camps began in spring 1942. With the liquidation of the ghetto and its last residents in January 1943, Jewish Bilgoraj ceased to exist.

But not to the creators of this book. On their behalf, editor Abraham Kronenberg wrote: “We worked hard and produced a picture of our city and its dear Jews, its parties, institutions, and personalities. May we not forget what we had, and what will never again be.”

Biłgoraj [Pol], Bilgoray [Yid], Bilgorai [Rus], Biłgora

Frampol 9 miles N
Goraj 12 miles N
Zwierzyniec 12 miles ENE
Tarnogród 13 miles S
Szczebrzeszyn 16 miles NE
Józefów 16 miles ESE
Chrzanów 17 miles NNW
Łukowa 17 miles SE
Janów Lubelski 17 miles NW
Krzeszów 19 miles SW
Ulanów 20 miles WSW
Turobin 20 miles N
Zdziłowice 20 miles NNW
Kuryłówka 20 miles SSW
Cieplice 21 miles S
Chłaniów 21 miles NNE
Modliborzyce 21 miles NW
Rudnik nad Sanem 21 miles WSW
Krasnobród 22 miles E