the Hasidic dynasty of Kuzmir in the town. Between the First and Second World Wars, the Jewish population was about 1,400, half the total population of the town. The town's picturesque surroundings were chosen to film scenes for the shtetl-based 1937 Yiddish film The Dybbuk. The Germans invaded Kazimierz Dolny in September 1939. The population at that time included about 1800 Jews, slightly less than 40 percent of the population. During the occupation, a Judenrat (Jewish Council) was established in the town which was forced to oversee the German requirements of forced labor of the town's Jews. This included road reconstruction, rock quarrying, and menial tasks serving the Nazis. They were forced to pave roads using tombstones from the local Jewish cemetery. In 1940, the Germans established a ghetto, bringing all the Jews from the surrounding Puławy County to live in the ghetto. In 1942, those Jews who had survived hunger, disease and slave labor were taken to Belzec where they were gassed on arrival. At the end of 1942, the town was officially declared "free of Jews". Fewer than twenty of Kazimierz Dolny's Jewish inhabitants are thought to have survived the war. After the Holocaust, a memorial wall was erected using tombstones from the Jewish cemetery that survived. One of the most famous Jewish residents of the town was the painter and sculptor Chaim Goldberg. Points of interest Notable historical buildingslocated in Kazimierz Dolny include: Parish church of St Bartholomew and John the Baptist (1586-1589), with 1620 organs, and 1615 pulpit, St Anne's Church (1671) and Holy Spirit hospital (1635), St Mary's Church (1589) and monastery (1638–68), Ruins of the castle (14th-16th century), Defensive tower (13th or 14th century), Several houses by the architect Karol Siciński, including one built by Kazimierz Ołdakowski Tenement houses (early 17th century), Several historic granaries (16th and 17th centuries). Synagogue. Film and Art Festival Kazimierz Dolny is also a place of a prominent Two Riversides Film and Art Festival ("Festiwal Filmu i Sztuki Dwa Brzegi") which is held every year during the month of August drawing many film lovers from around the world. The town has been the location of several films. Gallery Twin towns Kazimierz Dolny is twinned with: Szklarska Poręba (Poland) Hortobágy (Hungary) Staufen im Breisgau (Germany) Berlin-Steglitz (Germany) Pahiatua (New Zealand) See also Tourism in Poland References External links Information from About.com: Eastern Europe Travel Picture of the Holocaust memorial wall