There were quite a few Jewish Staszowers who became well known or even famous. The Staszow Jewish community produced many talented artists and musicians as well as pasionate community activists.

Reverend Max Motel Goldfarb was a mellow-voiced baritone cantor, who studied at the Jewish Seminary in Budapest and later in Czestochowa. He also studied with Rabbi Graubart in Staszow. In 1911 he emigrated to Canada and in 1916 moved to the USA. He was renowned for his voice and religious zeal and knowledge.
On the Sabbath morning of July 26, 1946, Reverend Max was given the honor of conducting the services in the Toronto Staszower Synagogue.
While singing from the Book of Isaiah that morning, he suffered a heart attack and passed away in front of the entire congregation. He is buried in the Staszower Cemetery of Toronto.

Jescheskiel Kirszenbaum (aka Duvdivani) was born in Staszow ( 15.8.1900). In 1920 he went to live in Germany. In 1923 he went to Weimar and met Klee and Kandinsky. He followed several Bauhaus courses. In 1925 he moved to Berlin where he illustrated newspapers using the pseudonym Duvtivani.In Berlin you can find a street named after him: Kirschenbaumstrasse in Treptow-Koepenick. In April 1933 he was forced to emigrate to France and painted oil and watercolors inspired by Biblical scenes and scenes from his native Staszow. In 1941 he was interned in Verneuil. His wife was deported and murdered by the Nazis. Most of Kirszenbaum's work dating prior to his arrest was destroyed. He died in Paris (1.8.1954). He is famous for his paintings inspired by the Jewish folklore. His most famous work is called "The Messiah Arriving to Staszow."  

Zimra Zeligfeld was a famous folk singer, interpreter of Yiddish songs. She was born in Staszow as the oldest daughter of a heder teacher ("melamed"). Since childhood has she shown a musical gift and was blessed with a beautiful soprano voice. Later she moved to Warsow, where she became wife of Menachem Kipnis, who was one of the most significant experts and scholars of the Yiddish folklore. The couple Kipnis-Zeligfeld became the most popular singing duet in the Yiddish artistic and musical world. Zimra sang with ease, and her lyric soprano resonated pleasantly. She never sang out of her register, and various melismatas and embellishments she did softly and calmly. Her interpretation was thought through and well prepared and she has never acted on her whim. Zimra died in Treblinka in 1942.

Mordka Mendel Grossman - was a world famous photographer of the Lodz ghetto. He was born in Staszow (1913). Around 1918 his family moved to Lodz where he became a professional photographer. During the German occupation, he lived in the Lodz (Litzmannstadt) ghetto. He was employed by the Statistical Department to take photos for the IDs and catalogues of goods produced in the ghetto. Risking his life, he was also taking a pictures of everyday life in the ghetto. In August, 1944, shortly before final liquidation of the Lodz ghetto, he hid about 10 000 of his negatives, showing scenes from the ghetto. He died in 1945 during the evacuation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After the war Grossman’s photographs were published in a number of books, e.g.: “With a Camera in the Ghetto” and “My Secret Camera”.
A good selection of his photos can be accessed here.

Nathan Goldblatt was born in Staszow on March 24, 1895. He emigrated to USA in 1904. At the age of 19, he and his brother Maurice (born 1893 in Staszow) established a small dry goods store in Chicago with a capital of $2,000. They opened a second store in 1928, and others in 1929-30, and in 1936 acquired the Loop store known as The Davis Co. They established famous Goldblatt's Department Stores, one of Chicago's oldest discount retailers. Under the slogan "The Incredible Bargain Centers," Goldlatt's 14 stores primarily operated in inner city neighbourhoods and cater to poor and immigrant populations by offering goods at deeply discounted prices. At its height, Goldblatt Brothers Inc. operated 47 stores, including its 11-story flagship store on Chicago's State Street, and accounted for fully 15 percent of the Chicago area's retail sales. They were sons of rabbi Simon Goldblatt. Read more on Wikipedia.

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart (1862-1937) was the Stashever rebbi, chief rabbi to Toronto's Polish Jews, director of Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah, and a leading spokesman for Orthodox Jewry during the 1920s and 1930s. Rabbi Graubart was born in Sarinsk, Slutzk Province, Lithuania. He served in Staszow between 1910 and 1920. He was renowned for his religious knowledge and published works as well as for his efforts in creating rabbinical associations throughout Poland and Russia. On August 18th, 1920, Rabbi Graubart became the communal rabbi of Toronto's Polish Jews. He soon took charge of the Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah, and in 1922, he formed a Yeshiva called Shaarei Torah. Rabbi Graubart developed the first communal Eruv in Toronto. Toward the end of his life, Rabbi Graubart withdrew from communal work and concentrated almost exclusively on his writings and Torah study. He was renown internationally as a scholar and authority in his field. Rabbi Graubart wrote numerous holy books including Chavalim Ba'neimim.

      Reverend Max Motel Goldfarb
     photo courtesy of Jack Goldfarb

The Messiah Arriving to Staszow
   by Jescheskiel Kirszenbaum

                    Zimra Zeligfeld

Mordka Mendel Grossman

Goldblatt's Department Store

Rabbi Graubart with his family - photo courtesy of Jeffrey Graubart