We have little information about the Jewish population in Bolesławiec. The Jews probably established their community in the 14th century, locating it in the so-called Mikołajskie Suburb. They were engaged in petty trade, crafts and small-scale services.
Miners—gold prospectors—also lived in this suburb. The community’s cultural distinctiveness, religion, traditions and customs may have led to intolerant behavior on the part of the population and city councillors. A record has survived stating that Jews were expelled from the town in 1453, and in 1454 the Jewish community in the Mikołajskie Suburb was dissolved. Jan Kapistran is named as the main instigator. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation periods were not conducive to the development of Jewish communities. It can be assumed that Jews lived scattered throughout the town and were few in number. The existence of the Jewish Cemetery may attest to this.
The development of Germany’s capitalist economy after unification supported the economic growth of the Jewish population. In 1870, we have information about the construction of a funeral home at the Jewish Cemetery, and in 1876 construction began on a large synagogue in the Mikołajskie Suburb. Construction was completed and the opening (consecration) ceremony took place on 17 September 1878.
The synagogue and the Jewish community existed until the 1930s, when fascist antisemitism intensified. The synagogue was probably destroyed. An old photograph of it has survived.