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Wielopole Skryńskie, Poland

(District of Ropczyce, Region of Krakow)

Translated by Jerrold Landau

It was a town with the administrative status of a village. Wielopole Skryńskie was first mentioned in documents in 1357 as a town under private ownership of the nobility. The town served as a commercial and trade center for the agricultural hinterland of the estates of the nobility. Annual fairs and biweekly market days took place there. The development of the town was retarded during the 19^th century, and remained frozen until the Second World War. There were only 144 residential homes at the beginning of the 19^th century, and the number did not grow until the end of the period under discussion. The railway lines also skipped over Wielopole Skryńskie, which was located approximately 10 kilometers away from the railway station.

The first Jews settled in Wielopole Skryńskie during the latter part of the 17^th century. These were lessees and innkeepers on the estate of the nobleman. In 1765, 151 Jews lived permanently in Wielopole Skryńskie, and 158 Jewish residents of the surrounding villages were dependent upon it. The majority of the 35 heads of families earned their livelihoods from small-scale commerce and trade. In 1821, there were 20 Jewish workshops there, which provided the livelihood for 26 heads of families.

The Jewish community of Wielopole Skryńskie, like the town itself, remained frozen throughout the entire duration of its existence until the year 1939. Wielopole Skryńskie earned its livelihood with difficulty. In 1896, Baroness Hirsch donated 1,100 guilder to the Jewish poor of Wielopole Skryńskie. The situation of neglect and poverty also led to pogroms perpetrated by the neighboring villagers against the Jews of Wielopole Skryńskie in November 1918. There were 20 Jewish workshops in the town in 1921, including 9 tailors and hatmakers, employing a total of four hired employees. Not one hired employee was employed in the foodstuffs workshops.

The Jewish settlement of Wielopole Skryńskie was apparently formed into an independent community during the first half of the 19^th century. Rabbis of the Frankel family served there, and they also functioned as Admorim: Zalman Yosef (died in 1958 in Krakow), and later his son Rabi Avraham (died in 1906 in Tarnów), then Rabbi Shlomo Zalman who moved in court to Jodlowice and Dębica, where he died in 1938.

Rabbi Yitzchak the son of Rabbi Avraham Eisen served as rabbinical judge in Wielopole Skryńskie between the two world wars. During that period, we learn of the existence of the General Zionists and Mizrachi Zionist organizations. At the elections of the Zionist Congress in 1931, 27 paid members voted for the General Zionists; whereas in 1936, all 38 electors voted for the Mizrachi list.

At the beginning of September 1939, as the Germans approached Wielopole Skryńskie, several dozen young Jews fled eastward. Some of them remained in the area of Eastern Galicia, which was annexed to the Soviet Union, and others returned to their town and their families. Some of those who remained in Eastern Galicia were exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940.

The Germans imposed forced labor, monetary fines and restriction of movement upon the Jews of Wielopole Skryńskie. Their sources of livelihood were cut off in the wake of these degrees, for the connection between the Jewish tradesman and peddlers with the villages of the region was severed. In 1940, the J.S.S. set up a communal kitchen and offered material aid to those in need.

At the end of 1940 and in 1941, dozens of Jews of Wielopole Skryńskie were captured and sent to the Pustkow Labor Camp. Gestapo men from Dębica would come, deal treacherously with the Jews and pillage their property. In January 1942, two Jews of Wielopole Skryńskie who had been found in areas outside the town purchasing food from the farmers of the region were taken out to be killed. In May of that year, the Germans murdered another Jew who was condemned for returning secretly to Wielopole Skryńskie from the other side of the San River, which had been under Soviet rule until June 1941.

The snatchings for the work camps of the region increased in the spring of 1942. At that time, the Jews were forbidden from living in specific areas of the town, and were forced to concentrate themselves onto a few alleyways. Although this was not a closed-off ghetto, stringent restrictions of movement were imposed upon the residents.

The deportation aktion took place on June 26, 1942. During that aktion, 50 sick and elderly Jews were murdered on the spot. The rest were hauled to the Ropczyce Ghetto. The Ropczyce ghetto was liquidated about one month later, in July 1942. Its residents were sent to Sędziszów, from where they were deported to the Belzec Death Camp. Many met their deaths in these settlements during the time of the aktions.

Bibliography:

Yad Vashem Archives: M-1/Q 1616/319, 021/19.
AMT'Y HM/7101.
ATz'M Z-3/178, Z-4/226-24B, Z-4/234-13.
“Hamagid”, October 8, 1896.

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