Landau House in Bobowa

Museums

Rynek 7, Bobowa Tourist region: Pogórza

tel. +48 600567008

The Landau House (Dom Landaua) is a treasure trove of mementoes of Bobowa Jews. The exhibition, owned by Józef Gucwa – a passionate advocate of local history and people –is in a house that once belonged to Markus Jakub Landau, a Bobowa Jew. Here, you can listen to stories about the town's former Jewish inhabitants and their fate.

Bobowa is a town with Jewish roots. In 1732, the village's then-owner, Michał Jaworski, invited Jews to Bobowa to lift the town's trade out of its gloom. The Jews proved to be highly capable merchants and soon dominated commercial life in the village, and made it famous. In the 19th century, Bobowa was the largest Hasidic centre not just in the region but in the whole country, as well.

A unique event in the town's history was the wedding of a tzaddik from Bobowa, for which special trains carried guests from Kraków. The subject reigned supreme in the headlines! Although the wedding took place in 1931, it is still remembered in Bobowa. Not surprisingly, it was here that the idea of a 'little Jewish museum' was born.

At the Bobowa Market Square, you can visit a building to visit exhibitions concerning historical events. The Landau House, with its green shutters and real wooden planking, is now home to an exhibition entitled 'Crumbs of Memory'. It contains a trove of valuable Jewish memorabilia, everyday objects, notebooks, documents, and inkwells – real treasures the house has hidden over the years. When put together, all of this creates a unique atmosphere and allows you to learn more about Jewish culture and the history of the Jews of Bobowa, who contributed tremendously to the development of the village and its culture. The house recently expanded its collection with a genealogy written down in Hebrew of Chaim Halberstam, a tzaddik from Nowy Sącz. Józef Gucwa found the document in the attic at the bottom of a wicker basket where it had been placed as padding.