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Poland was partitioned in 1772. Austria received the southern part of Small Poland except for Krakow and Red Rus. Both provinces which fell to Austria were designated with the name: Galicia. Together with other cities in Red Rus Lancut found itself under Austrian rule. In the summer of 1772 a division of the Austrian army occupied Lancut.

Fundamental changes took place with the new political government in the socio-economic structure of the population in Lancut and particularly essential changes in the relations between nobility which owned the town and residents of the town. The master no longer had the right to hand out fiscal, policing, administrative or legal decrees. The town's administration was now independent of the town's owners.

With regard to the economic situation of the town, it is worthwhile to know about the accomplishments of Stanisław Cetnarski who wrote in the previously mentioned monograph: “The Completion of the Construction of the So-Called Imperial Road, Vienna-Lemberg, the Lancut (in the years 1795-1810). This had great significance on the town, and although he saved the impoverished town from complete decline, he did not bring prosperity or profit. Even the abolishment of material and personal dependence on the feudal master of the town did not improve the material situation of the town. Economically poor, burdened by the occupying powers through taxes, persecuted by the German and Czech clerks, treated cruelly by the central authorities, the town did not have any chance to develop economically, especially due to the cheap handiwork from the large Austrian

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and Czech industry which took away the main source of income from the Lancut artisans. The small amount of handiwork, which still existed, like the weaving of linen and wool and bronze work also declined. The situation in town only began to improve in the second half of the 19^th century. The construction of the railroad which passed through Lancut contributed to this.”

This is how Cetnarski describes the general economic situation in Lancut after the partition of Poland. At the same time differentiates, as we see, between two periods: the first, up until the first half of the 19^th century, which was marked by a horrible economic decline in Lancut, and the second, since the second half of the 19^th century where we see the beginning of economic improvement.

Cetnarski describes for us other changes in socio- economic relations in Lancut: “After the decline in trade, when a portion of the population turned to working the land, a Jewish element arrived in town which was supported by the authorities, and which had previously existed in Lancut in moderate numbers.” In addition, Cetnarski emphasizes “the Jewish element had been supported by the masters of Lancut in the period when Poland was independent”. To support this fact we know from earlier, that one of the Lubomirskis gave the Jews of Lancut building material to build what is today the old synagogue. Finally, Cetnarski writes: “The Jews of that time where a small group which lived exclusively in the area of today's synagogue and the maps and lists of the population during the 18^th century contain only a few names of Jewish families. Only at the end of the 18^th century, under Austrian rule did Jews enter the marketplace, acquiring one house after the other, practically the entire market place as well as a row of houses on another street”.

As we see from the quoted “historical” examination of Cetnarski, until now, his description of the role of Jews in Lancut was not free of anti-Semitic “Endek” ideology and as a result his interpretations are filled with contradictions and false conclusions. Jews of Lancut did not necessarily have to “infiltrate” the marketplace because according to the privileges they received for when Poland was independent, both from Polish kings and the Lubomirskis, they had full rights to live and buy and build houses in Lancut along with the Lancut bourgeois who derived from the German colonists from “Landshut” and later at the end of the 18^th century under Austrian authority, had equal rights together with all the other inhabitants of Lancut to live, buy and sell houses in Lancut, in the marketplace as well as on all the other streets in town.

It becomes clear from Cetnarski's description of the economic situation in Lancut in the second half of the 19^th century, that the only factor which brought about the economic development of the town were the Jews of Lancut.

This is what Cetnarski wrote further about Jews in Lancut under Austrian rule: “Lancut, one of the most important cities in eastern Small Poland found itself in a terrible decline and was becoming an insignificant small town. Its population decreased within ten years now amounts to barely two and a half thousand people. The influx of Jews, who had the trust of the Austrian authorities has increased more and more. Clever, refined and satisfied with very little and supported by the government, the Jews captured trade in their hands under the slogan: Take all, give nothing. The Catholic population was becoming poorer and poorer every year, losing their status especially in the centre of town. This process lasted more than ten years and began with the catastrophic fire in 1820”.

Cetnarski wrote the following description of the ruins after the fire: “Jews from Przeworsk, Rzeszów and other neighbouring towns have thrown themselves on this impoverished small town, where other Jews have lived for a long time. They are buying up the burned houses from the ruined residents at half price, rebuilding them with inferior quality and with negligence.”

“This is the most difficult time for the town”, we continue to read from the same Cetnarski. “Handiwork is decreasing, there are only builders. There is a bit of large industry run by the Potockis, but without significance for the town which lives only from clerks and the military. The town's population can only find work in the municipal offices, but even there they are restricted to municipal matters and are not free to make any decisions”.

This is not the place to polemicize about the

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praiseworthy communal activist in Lancut, Stanisław Cetnarski. We would like here to describe the history of Jews in Lancut from the earliest period of Poland's existence until the time of their extermination according to historical truth. And where historical documents are lacking, we will support our hypotheses on the historic developments and the relations toward Jews in the periods of independence as well as dependence on foreign powers in Poland. It is however our obligation to show the contradictions and the false conclusions reached by several historians from Lancut.

A second historian from Lancut, Zenon Szust wrote about the significant improvement of the economic situation in Lancut during the second half of the 19^th century. He emphasizes that during the second half of the 19^th century there was continuous improvement. In addition, the population grew from 2,500 to 2,800, giving credit to the building of the railway from Vienna to Lemberg in 1859 which passed through Lancut. And finally, Zenon Szust mentions that by the beginning of the 20^th century the town developed at a fast speed and the population grew to 5,000, including about 2,00 Jews.

Dr. Władysław Balicki, mentioned earlier, described the role and relations of Jews in Lancut with much more warmth, insight, and respect.

A few details about the economic situation of the Jews in Lancut in the early years after the partition of Poland can be found in the above-mentioned inventory of property in town of Lancut and the villages which belonged to the Lancut district. This inventory was put together in the years 1775 and 1776-1777. We must thank Dr. Balicki for finding a copy of the original in the National Archive in Warsaw. In this copy we find 112 entries which contain the names of the owners of plots and houses or just the properties if the name of the owner was unknown. Of the 112 entries, 59 belong to Jewish owners. In addition, in other entries we find “the newly built synagogue”, the “column with the cross where the old synagogue once stood” the “Kosher Jewish Ritual Bath”, “The Jewish Hospital”, and “The Old Heder”. (School). Along with the names of the Jewish owners we also find their professions: this is how they appear on the list: 1 Rabbi, 2 lessees, 1 medic, 1 soap maker, 3 bakers, 3 tailors, 1 house painter, 1 butcher, 1 goldsmith, and 1 teacher. Understandably, this list only had names of Jews who owned property, therefore, helping us see which professions in Lancut were profitable, allowing them to buy or build a house which was not easy in those days. In any event, it is clear from this list that in the second half of the 18^th century, in the early years after the first partition of Poland, Jews in Lancut occupied an important position in the economic life since out of the 122 properties on the list, 59 belonged to Jews. From this inventory it is clear, in the second half of the 18^th century the Jewish community of Lancut was on a high enough level since they already had not only a brick synagogue but a Jewish hospital as well.

The few dozen Jewish home owners in Lancut in the second half of the 18^th century do not provide us with an exact picture of the general situation of the majority of the Jewish population in town after the partition of Poland.

Of course, at that time, there were Jewish merchants in Lancut who received their goods from the owners of the Lancut estates such as wood, flax, honey, eggs and grain and sold these products to the Austrian crown lands, and brought grocery and dry goods from there and earned a nice living. The number of exporters in Lancut was small. The majority of the Jews in Lancut worked in trade and handiwork and it was difficult to struggle with the new conditions and relations in the daily struggle of earning a living.

The economic situation of the Jewish population of Lancut after the partition was no different than all the other towns and cities in Galicia at that time. The country was economically weak and the feudal – noble influence was still very strong. The poverty and backwardness really incited the Kaiser, Josef II to try and industrialize Galicia, however without success because they lacked the demand for manufactured goods from home industries due to weak buying power of the population. These manufacturers could not compete with the cheaper products from Austrian lands.

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Soon the few factories which had existed in Galicia closed and only two state tobacco factories and a few alcohol refineries and liquor factories remained active.

The Austrian government tried various ways to improve the economic situation in Galicia, however where the Jews were concerned, they applied a system of decrees with the goal of, on one hand, to decrease the number of Jews in Galicia, and on the other hand, raise taxes on the Jewish population.

In 1776 a Jewish land administration was formed comprised of 6 land elders. The land was divided into 6 districts and 59 regions. The task of this general administration, which was chosen for 6 years according to a complicated voting system, was to allocate the taxes among the Jewish communities. The most important tax previously called the head tax which was now called: “The tolerance tax”. Poor people who could not pay the tax were forced to leave the country.

One of the most severe edicts against the Jews was the Imperial Patent of 1784, where all Jews had to three years to relinquish their leases on breweries and taverns in towns as well as villages. A year later Jews were forced to relinquish all leases, including state revenues, butcher shops, export of salt and more. These were the revenues of one third of Galician Jews. Kaiser Josef II saw this edict as a reform which was to force Jews into another social class, however he did not think about new means of income for the Jews who were pushed out of their professions.

Not all Polish property owners who employed Jewish lessees obeyed the decree and forced Jews out of their jobs. For example, the Lancut count Alfred Potocki, despite the decree of 1784, continued to employ Jewish lessees on his Lancut estates and as a result was punished and had to pay a fine.^[1]

In 1785 Josef II issued a decree which intended to settle Jews on state land near Galician small towns. They wanted to colonize 1,500 Jewish families. However, by 1826 these “plow Jews” barely numbered 724. In addition, according to this plan, it was decided to colonize 8 Jewish families from Lancut on 8 plots of land. However, truth be told, only 4 Jewish families were colonized in the Lancut district (12 men, 11 women and 8 children under the age of 18). In the entire Rzeszów region, instead of 98, only 60 Jewish families were colonized.^[2]

The imperial decree of 1788 caused turmoil among Galician Jews calling them for military service.

After the reform of submitting names of Galician Jews, the Austrian government, in 1785 put an end to the Jewish administration and the organized Jewish community, because according to Kaiser Joseph II this only strengthened separatism. In order to Germanize the Jewish population, he began to open German schools for Jewish children. A Czech Jew, Hertz Hamburg was involved in organizing these schools but the Jews did not trust him. In 1788 this type of German school opened in Lancut^[3]. A certain Shloyme Estreicher (The Austrian) taught there. The school remained open only until 1792.

The crown of Kaiser Joseph's reforms concerning Jews was the famous “Tolerance – Patent” of 1789, where in 64 paragraphs he created the foundation of a sort of constitution for Galician Jews. Firstly, the patent defined the Jewish religion, the emergence of district rabbis in the large Jewish communities and “Synagogue – Singers” (Chazanim) in the smaller towns. Separate paragraphs formulated the competence of the Jewish communities. The head of the community had to create a presidium comprised of three delegates. The paragraphs which dealt with Jewish livelihood were very important. Jews were permitted to participate freely in trade and handicrafts, however it was forbidden for them to run taverns in the villages or lease land or mills from farmers etc.… Form then on the Jews were directly dependent on the state authority. From this time on Jewish artisans were permitted to join the guild organizations. Jews were able to buy homes in towns owned by Christians and became equal citizens in these cities and all civil, political and economic restrictions were lifted.

This liberal patent was supposed to open the door for complete Germanization of the Jewish population of Galicia.

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In many ways however, this patent did not change the actual situation in which Galician Jews lived in independent Poland. As Rafael Mahler points out in his previously cited “Divrei Yemei Yisrael” p. 73) giving Jews equal rights in Galician cities was nothing new, because earlier, still in independent Poland, Jews had the right to participate in municipal elections, and as Mahler points out, in Lancut as well.

After all Kaiser Joseph's experiments, the Jewish population in Galician towns and cities became more impoverished. Under the worst conditions, Galician Jews did not waste any effort trying to create new occupations and workshops.

The Jews of Lancut adapted quickly to these new conditions. It suffices to mention that at that time when the once powerful weaver's guild was liquidated, the Jews of Lancut did not let this branch fail and found for themselves as well as Christian weavers new earning opportunities. Jews delivered raw materials to the Christian weavers and then took the goods and finished them at home. Then Jewish merchants sold the finished products.

To a larger extent, the Jews of Lancut worked at manufacturing silk articles such as silk ribbons and traditional silk belts. Jewish tailors in Lancut did not only work to order but also repaired old clothes which were sold at fairs in Lancut and other towns.

In general, in the second half of the 18^th century there was no Jewish industry in Galicia. The few “industrial” enterprises, in Lancut and the entire Rzeszów region, particularly the weaving industry only employed a small number of Jews since this profession also employed Christian workers.

Only trade, leasing taverns and the limited credit business remained for the Jews and as the decrees of Joseph II did not allow Jews to lease taverns, Galician Jews had to be economically active in fields open to them which did not have Christian competitors.

In the second half of the 18^th century there were very few Christian merchants. As Rafael Mahler^[4] tells us, according to the census taken by the Austrian government in 1777, there were in all of Galicia 315 Christian merchants. Almost all trade in Galicia lay in Jewish hands.

At this time there were opportunities in Lancut for wholesale trade. Foreign trade of products from Lancut fell when Danzig, the place grain and lumber was sent to in order to transport them further to western lands, was taken over by Prussia in 1772. There was now a high tax on these products. The Jews of Lancut established new business contacts with Jews in all places along the railroad from Vienna to Lemberg, including Przemyśl, Jarosław, Rzeszów [Yiddish: Raysha], Tarnów, Krakow etc. and took part in the large wholesale trade which began between Galicia and the Austrian crown lands, where Jewish merchants brought agricultural products and finished manufactured goods.

There was now a rise in the number of shopkeepers and market merchants in Lancut who looked for customers for their goods at fairs in Lancut and other towns. There were 80 villages in the Lancut district and the fairs, which played an important economic role, were held more often in Lancut than in larger towns in Galicia. (We know, for example, that in 1856^[5] there were 9 fairs in Lancut, 7/1, 3/2, 16/5, 17/6, 10/7, 25/8, 6/10, 11/11).

The general economic situation of the Jewish population of Lancut in the second half of the 18^th century was difficult. Due to the restricted earning opportunities, poverty ruled the Jewish streets. The few well -off Jews in Lancut, mainly worked in import of daily consumer goods, or served as middlemen for the nobleman, exporting products from Lancut estates, or worked in credit transactions, but this did not change the general picture of the economic situation of the Jewish population of Lancut. Despite these difficult conditions the Jews of Lancut created new jobs, revived trade and began to develop new industries. This is how things were

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until the fire in 1820 which destroyed the town. Houses burned down, as well as stores and shops in where Jews worked hard to earn a living for themselves and their families.

Practically the entire town burned down. The Jews of Lancut were impoverished and were left without a roof over their heads.

The impoverished Jewish community in Lancut now faced another difficult task. They had to resume their fight for work and residence.

On the eve of the March revolution of 1848, Galician Jews began to search for means to reform Jewish life. In 1847 a conference took place in Lemberg where representatives from the largest Jewish communities in Galicia gathered to consult about the economic situation of the Jews. According to reports from this conference, the economic situation of Jews in Galicia was very sad. They were taxed beyond their means and were not permitted to go into liberal professions. As for their work in artisan and clerical institutions, the Jews of Galicia worked mainly in trade where they were met with many obstacles as well. In addition, the large number of small shopkeepers could not earn a profit from their shops.

All plans and attempts to improve the Jewish standard of living in Galicia were now supported by hopes that the revolution, which broke out in Austria in March 1848, would open a new era for Jews in Galicia. Jews even participated on the Polish National Council and sent delegates to Vienna where they tried to make changes for the sake of the Jewish community, especially the abolishment on the taxes on kosher meat and Sabbath candles. Galicia sent 108 deputies to the democratic parliament in Vienna, with only 3 Jewish representatives, of which Rabbi Mannheimer from Vienna was elected for Brody and Rabbi Meisels for Krakow. They fought in the new Austrian parliament for equal rights as citizens and in October 1848, after a powerful speech by Rabbi Mannheimer, a law was passed repealing specific Jewish taxes.

The “Spring of Nations” in Austria in 1848 did not last long. The reactionary powers annulled all achievements of the March revolution. Galician Jews suffered more than most. In the constitution of December 1867 all restriction placed on the Jews of Galicia were lifted and complete civil equal rights were proclaimed for the Jews. The number of Jews in various branches of economic activity increased in all cities and towns. This brought about socio – economic changes in Galicia, and put and end to peasant slavery in 1848. With this, the entire noble feudal system broke down.

The rise of economic and cultural life in Galicia was greatly influenced by the building of the railway from Vienna to Lemberg in 1859, which connected Galicia with other crown lands of Austria and strengthened business contacts between Galician Jews and other lands of the Austrian monarchy. This allowed for more earning opportunities which had began to develop in the days of Joseph. The Jew was now the trade middleman for all of Galicia. The export of grain, cattle, eggs and horses lay exclusively in Jewish hands. Almost all exports from Galicia was controlled by Jews. Import to Galicia was also in Jewish hands.

Industry in Galicia was poorly developed and Jews were mainly middlemen for Viennese banks and Austrian factories.

It will be easier for us to create a picture of the Jewish community in Lancut at this time against the backdrop of socio-economic relations.

First of all, a few words about the general economic situation in Lancut at that time. We will concern ourselves with providing statements from both historians from Lancut, Stanisław Cetnarski and Zenon Szust who emphasized a significant rise of Lancut in the second half of the 19^th century.

Stanisław Cetnarski asserts, the decline of Lancut which was caused by the fire of 1820 lasted until the publication of the constitution in Austria in 1867, where Galicia obtained autonomy. In addition, Cetnarski points out this constitution “awakened national and civic self -awareness in the population which led to a strong social movement, both in cultural and economic spheres”.

Cetnarski emphasized, “the period from 1867 until the First World War in 1914

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is distinguished by strong economic development of the city of Lancut”.

Zenon Szust confirms this in his book: “Lancut and Vicinity” stressing the connection between the constitution of 1867 and the rise of social, economic, and cultural life in Lancut.

What do the statistics tell us about the Jewish population in Lancut at this time?

1880		1890		1900		1910
General	Jewish	General	Jewish	General	Jewish	General	Jewish
119,242	10,003	129,531	10,225	92,691	7,236	94,053	7,032

The percentage of Jews in Lancut district in relation to the general population is provided in table No. 2

1880	1890	1900	1910
8.4%	7.8%	7.8%	7.5%

The decrease in population can be explained in the census of 1900 when the court – district Przeworsk became an independent district.

As we can see there was a further reduction of the Jewish community in the ten years between 1900-1910 in the Lancut district which amounted to 2.8% - therefore, we can affirm in Lancut proper, there was a rise in the number of Jewish inhabitants at that time. However, at the same time, there was a relative decrease in the general population which went from 3,853 people in 1880 to 5,378 in 1910.

In tables 3, 4, and 5 we provide the number of residents in Lancut proper which does not include the accessory localities according to religion and nationality.

Year	1880	1890	1900	1900
Number	3,483	4,486	4,850	5,378

The Lancut district which included the town of Lancut and surrounding localities^[8], had, according to the 4 censuses the number of people provided in Table No. 1.

In the years	Catholic Poles	Catholic Ruthenians	Jews	Other religions
1880	1,837	149	1,587	10
1890	2,445	339	1,669	33
1900	2,853	39	1,940	18
1910	3,084	69	1,180	345

In these years:	1880	1890	1900	1910
	45.6%	37.2%	40%	35%

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The number of rural settlements in these years			The Jewish rural population in the Lancut District in these years:
1880	1890	1900	1880		1890		1900
			The absolute number	Percentage in relation to the number of Jews in Lancut District	The absolute number	Percentage in relation to the number of Jews in Lancut District	The absolute number	Percentage in relation to the number of Jews in Lancut District
103	103	103	3,105	31%	3,418	33.4%	3,644	33.6%

In the period from the end of the 19^th century to the beginning of the 20^th century the Jews of Lancut were fighting for economic survival, especially in trade which until then had been exclusively in Jewish hands. By the second half of the 19^th century even trade fell on difficult times as the new railroad, which brought the Lancut population closer to Rzeszów, which was 17 kilometres away, brought people from Lancut and the surrounding region to Rzeszów for everything.

Despite this, the Jews of Lancut sustained their economic positions. Mercifully, thanks to tireless work and perseverance, they influenced the economic and municipal life in town, especially the towns' administration. As we mentioned earlier, at the time of Poland's independence Jews had active and passive voting rights on city council and for decades participated on the management of the town's economy and helped in the development of the town which by the end of the 19^th century was showing a significant economic rise.

These accomplishments of the Lancut Jewish population and the significant role they played in the development of the town was salt in the eyes of the former mayor Stanisław Cetnarski. In recounting the destruction of the old city hall in the new Lancut marketplace in 1913, he blamed this decision made by the city council on the “mob element” in Lancut. Although he did not directly point at the Jews, we understand very well who he means when he writes: “The fate of the town always lay in the hands of the bourgeoisie who settled here, adjusted to the town, familiarized themselves with the needs and interests and always understood with experience and economic caution how to run the matters of the town”.

However, a few lines later Stanisław Cetnarski writes: “The majority of city council, supported by the Jewish part of the council, carried out the destruction of city hall. Consequently, it was not the “mob element” but the Catholic majority that decided to destroy city hall.

We learn about relations in town during this period from the second historian Zenon Szust. He writes that this period, meaning the beginning of the 20^th century, “was distinguished by a strong economic development of the town with great changes in its appearance and a rise in culture and education”. He also mentions the destruction of city hall was a mistake.

The economic rise which Zenon Szust wrote about was simultaneously tied to the decline of the Jewish population in Lancut. A large part of Lancut Jewry was in a difficult financial situation because the same socio – economic forces which were looking for means of expansion throughout Galicia in the second half of the 19^th century, were influenced by nationalist leanings and agitated the weak Jew, the Jewish merchants, artisans and shopkeepers and limited their existence.

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After Lancut received autonomy in 1867 Polish nationalist politics were crystalizing in Galicia. One of their main slogans was anti Semitism, especially economic. In the last decade of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century this anti Semitism took on organizational forms. The priest Stojałowski, who led the Christian – Social Movement in Galicia preached active anti Semitism. A conference of this anti-Semitic party took place in Krakow in 1906 where there was a proclamation not to buy from Jews, not to borrow money from them and not to serve or work for them. The congress demanded Christian Poles create their own businesses.

These slogans found favourable soil in Lancut. We know from Zenon Szust that during the transition period from the 19^th – 20^th centuries more economic organizations were founded in the region thanks to the efforts and work of the Polish Sejm deputy from the Lancut region Bolesław Żardecki, “the man of Providence for the town of Lancut”, as Zenon Szust calls him.

Zenon Szust tells us Bolesław Żardecki “transformed the modest loan bank in Lancut into a serious financial institution”. He founded a savings bank, the “Ziemski Bank” for the region. He was one of the founders of the large weaving factory and the weaving school in Rakszawa and the agricultural school in Albigowa. Zenon Szust emphasizes his most important achievements: “In the neighbouring towns of Albigowa and Handzlówka the local entrepreneurs focused on the agricultural institutions”.

It is clear, the goal of all these institutions was to make the Polish land owner non-dependent on Jewish trade of credit. No Jew from Lancut and the vicinity ever profited. According to the official Christian National Politic, these Polish economic organizations in Lancut and vicinity were the beginning of the extermination orientation against the Jewish population of Lancut, which in the most difficult times rebuilt the town after it burned in 1820 and with work and economic activity created the foundations for the economic development of the town.

Now the Jews of Lancut were no longer needed. Stanisław Cetnarski stressed that in the first half of the 19^th century they “captured trade in Lancut” and “infiltrated the market”.

How did the Jewish population in the cities and towns of Galicia react to these extermination tendencies? How did the Jewish community behave when the expulsion process took form under alleged national slogans enforcing economic activity which was expressed in the creation and development of a network of Polish economic and financial institutions?

The Jewish population at that time in Galicia was far from Jewish national awareness and independent Jewish politics which should have guarded Jewish interests in the land. Therefore, it is not surprising that at first, they received foreign Jewish aid and resulted in a wave of Jewish immigration from Galicia. They were looking for work and livelihood in Vienna as well as in Hungary and Romania. Many Galician Jews left for America. From 1891- 1900 70,000 Jews emigrated from Galicia.

In order to alleviate the suffering on the Jewish street, the “Alliance Israelite” founded savings and loan banks in Galicia which in 1913 numbered 30, but this was only a drop in the ocean.

The opening of an artisan school did not help because of the daily development of machine production which first and foremost employed cheap Polish labour who streamed from the villages into the towns.

The great work of the Baron de Hirsch Foundation did not help either. It was created in 1888 and in 1891 founded schools for Jewish children in the cities and towns of Galicia which taught trades.

It was believed there was no escape from the desperate situation the Jews of Galicia found themselves in, in the second half of the 19^th century. Economically weakened, politically disorganized. Until this time there had not been any communal power which could have organized the Jewish masses to defend themselves against these expulsion tendencies.

Until the end of the 19^th century,

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the important force in the Lancut Jewish community were the Hasidim, led by significant rabbis. The Jews of Lancut lived in a world locked in piety and Judaism.

The strengthening of Hasidism in Lancut is thanks to the righteous Reb Yaakov Yitzhak Hurwitz of blessed memory, who left Lancut early for Lublin. However, in Lancut he laid the foundation of his original folk – Hasidism. In the fields, not far from the former Pilecki castle, across from the old Jewish cemetery, this famous Torah scholar would walk with his followers, teaching them Torah. At the same time, he planted in their hearts a deep hatred toward the Jewish Enlightenment, which by then had begun to sprout roots in Lancut.

The only place where signs of Jewish communal life appeared in Lancut was in the House of Study. This is where boys secretly read Hebrew newspaper which they received from the first pioneers of the Enlightenment in Lancut, Yitzchak Weissman or Mordechai Salk, around whom a circle of brave curious boys gathered. Yitzhak Weissman, an educated merchant, published a few articles in the Hebrew Enlightened press of the day. Young boys would gather around him in his library in his private home. He had a great influence on them, spreading secular education and Enlightenment. Under his leadership, a group was formed of enlightened activists who began a fight against the intolerant orthodox leaders of the Lancut Jewish community. As a result, the Hasidim began a vigorous fight against both these brave cultural leaders in Lancut, and particularly against Weissman, who they persecuted without pity and without considering his livelihood.

The fight against Weissman was vigorously revoked in the Hebrew press. In 1876, Weissman himself published a longer article in “Ha Shachar”, where he took revenge on his opponents. Despite all disruptions and difficulties, the circle of Enlightened Jews was growing. When it became too dangerous in Lancut to read “Ha Meilitz” or “Ha Shachar” in the House of Study, the boys went out for walks on the Sanin Road, or gathered in the “Black Garden”, or even further on the hill across from the old Jewish cemetery, where they would discuss everything, they read in the newspapers. In 1881, Weissman left for Vienna, Salk took the position of teacher in Przemyśl and the young fighting enlightened youth in Lancut remained without a leader.

Meanwhile the boys from the House of Study joined other circles looking for education and contact with the outside world. They no longer had to hide in the Lancut synagogue or the Dzhikev [editor's note: Polish spelling could not be verified] prayer house. There were now respected householders reading German classics or the very popular “Neue Frei Presse” form Vienna.

A great supporter of the Jewish enlightenment pioneers in Lancut was the head of the Jewish community Reb Dovid, or as they called him, Duzhe Tannebaum. He succeeded in inviting the great Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem to Lancut for a literary evening for a small crowd in his own home.

Reb Duzhe Tannenbaum, the long serving head of the Jewish community of Lancut was rich, educated and far from being a fanatic religious Jew. He displayed great understanding and sympathy toward the new streams emerging on the Jewish street. Younger Jewish respected homeowners were attracted to him. For many years, members of the board of the Jewish community were recruited from this circle. Even before Herzl, the first Zionists in Lancut emerged from this group.

The young student Dr. Lanes brought the first Zionist slogans to Lancut which he learned in Vienna in 1894 at the first Zionist academic society “Kadima”. When he came to Lancut on vacation he used his free time for Zionist agitation among Lancut Jews. In 1894 he founded the Zionist society “Love of Zion” despite the ban placed on it by Rabbi Simcha Spira.

The head of the Lancut Jewish community, Reb Dovid, supported the first Zionists in Lancut. Thanks to him, respected Jews joined, expanding the Zionist society. In the first year there were already 45 devoted members:^[9] The chairman of the society was Elimeilech Perlmuter: Chaim Wolkenfeld, librarian: Sholem Rozmarin, representative: secretary: Dovid Pasternak. In 1885 Chaim Wolkenfeld led the society

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with Getzl Druker as his deputy. They established a Zionist youth group under the direction of Moishe Spira and Getzl Druker. Active members were Fried, Henryk Ramer and Mordechai Hitter.

These were the pioneers of the Jewish renaissance movement who very early on sprouted roots in the Jewish community of Lancut, when the Hasidic circle still had enough power to suppress every attempt made to spread Zionist ideas.

This struggle was not easy. Bans, denunciations, communal boycotts and even economic sanctions were the means used by the opponents of the young Zionist camp. Thanks to the passionate devotion to Zionism of the first brave fighters in Lancut, and thanks to sacrificial readiness to suffer and fight for the Zionist ideal which was taking its first steps in the Jewish streets of Galicia, Zionist influence broadened and deepened in all areas of Jewish life in Lancut.

A few years later at the second Zionist Congress there were slogans to conquer the organized Jewish communities. These slogans captured the Lancut Zionists who understood their task which weighed upon the Jewish community. With great passion from the devoted idealists, the leaders of the Lancut young Zionists began a fight to democratize the Lancut Jewish communal structure to which many social classes of the Jewish population had no access.

The strongest weapon in the hands of the old community board of directors was the aged, non- democratic electoral -ordination which in principle excluded almost the entire Jewish population from partaking in elections.

The Lancut Jewish community in the second half of the 19^th century was ruled by a so- called board which was comprised of 3 men and the Rabbi. At the time, Reb Dovid Tannenbaum ruled and at that time did not understand the need to open the gates of the communal organization wider. With the power of the old Lancut communal status (which existed in all Jewish communities in Galicia), anyone who received support from the community treasury lost his voting right. The old board would present a list of who could vote for the board. It was nothing more than simple comedy and the results of the elections was assured and predictable.

This voting scheme was possible thanks to the fact that on Passover, the board of the Lancut Jewish community would sell Matzah at a 5% discount to every Jew in Lancut. Everyone who benefited from this support was noted in the communal books and their names were erased from the voting list as they received a 5% discount from the community. For the most part, these were not assured voters for the ruling community board.

Around the second half of the 19^th century the board of the Lancut Jewish community was ruled by strong orthodox circles who were followers of the famous, righteous, Reb Naftali Zvi Hurwitz of blessed memory, from Ropshitz [Polish: Ropczyce], the son of the rabbi from Lesko, Reb Mendl of blessed memory. Extreme cruel slogans emerged from these circles to fight every sign of Enlightenment on the Jewish street. In the first decade of the second half of the 19^th century the group of Enlightened Jews in Lancut was very small and suffered greatly from the persecution on the part of Hasidic leaders in town.

Particularly strong was the rule of the militant orthodoxy in the Lancut Jewish community from 1816- 1865 under the leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Zvi Elimeilech Spira of blessed memory who had the last word on all communal matters and persecuted every step taken in the direction of the Enlightenment.

After he died, his son, Rabbi Simcha of blessed memory, displayed the same hatred.

In the second half of the 19^th century, as already mentioned, there was an active group of Jewish enlighteners in Lancut. 1897-98 when Reb Dovid Tannenbaum stood at the helm. Although he was close to the Enlightenment movement, the concept of a democratic Jewish communal organization was foreign to him. Besides him, the only ones who sat on the board in that fiscal year were Moishe Fried and Hersch Muehlrad.

The entire economy lay in the hands of these three board members

[Page 256]

of the Lancut Jewish community which was restricted to pure religious matters. The rabbi in Lancut that year was Reb Mendl Spira of blessed memory. At that time there were two philanthropic societies in Lancut: “Aid to the Poor” and “Visiting the Sick”.

The educational work of the first Enlightened Jews in Lancut was already bearing fruit, so much so that all elements of the Jewish population understood that one of the most pressing and vexed problems of Jewish life was to bring light into the Jewish community.

In order to put and end to the system of removing all the names of citizens who received the 5% Matzah discount from the voting list, a few serious communal activists in Lancut created a philanthropic organization in 1888. The “Aid to the Poor” was headed by the lawyer Dr. Alexander Herbst. Their main task was to distribute aid to poor Jews in Lancut so they did not have to go to the Jewish communal council and receive a discount in buying Matzah. As a result, this stopped the machinations with the voting lists and the rulers of the communal board had to allow a wider element of the Jewish community to vote.

Meanwhile, the Zionist movement was fortified in Lancut and the “Love of Zion” society became an important factor. However, it was not easy at the end of the 19^th century to come to the Jews of Lancut with slogans about a Jewish renaissance or about positive work for building the Land of Israel. The three Jews: Reb Hersh Tannenbaum, Getzl Druker and Chaim Wolkenfeld, together with a group of young idealists, took this difficult task upon themselves. With devotion, and self – sacrifice, they made a breakthrough in Lancut, a city with Hasidic power, backward and indifferent to politics. Wider elements of the community began to gather around these activists including merchants and artisans. Practically all the youth of Lancut joined the Zionist camp. A local committee of the Zionist organization was formed and chaired by Hersh Tannenbaum.

Jewish life in Lancut was now on new rails. The Zionists developed tireless activities in all aspects of Jewish life. Thanks to the effort and work of the communal activist Getzl Druker of blessed memory, a Hebrew school was founded which contributed greatly to enlightening the Jewish children of Lancut.

These communal activists placed great importance on social assistance for the poor Jewish population. To achieve this goal, they founded a few philanthropic organizations such as “Visiting the Sick” and others.

The Jewish community council in Lancut now looked different because the “Aid to the Poor” was established and names were no longer erased from voting lists eligibility to sit on the board. In the fiscal year of the Lancut Jewish community council 1909-1910^[10], there were already 580 communal tax payers from 1,500 Jews in Lancut.^[11] Now there were Zionists on the board who respected and trusted the former head of the Jewish community, Reb Dovid Tannenbaum, entrusting him with the management of the Lancut Jewish community. His deputy that year was Reb Meilech Perlmuter, the chairman of “Love of Zion” in 1894.

The Jewish community council in Lancut was comprised of two bodies: a narrower and broader board of directors. The following, besides those mentioned earlier sat on the narrow board in 1909-10: Hersch Estlein, Yehoshua Glanzberg, Chaim Wolkenfeld (chairman of “Love of Zion” in 1895). They had years of experience in communal work behind them.

The following belonged to the broader board (later the community council): Leib Zins, Yisroel Rosenblum, Dovid Pasternak (from “Love of Zion”), Joseph Meir Rozmarin (from “love of Zion), Eliezer Kresch, Yitzkhak Zawada, Levi Trompeter, Hersh Muehlrad, Moishe Spira, Joel Lifschütz. The rabbi that year was Reb Simcha Spira, and the secretary was Markus Hitter.

In 1909-10 the following social - philanthropic institutions existed in Lancut: an asylum for the sick poor, the philanthropic society “Tomchei Inyanin” (“Aid for the Poor”), the “Chevra Kadisha” (Burial Society) led by Chaim Wolkenfeld, “Bikur Cholim” (Visiting the Sick) chaired by Moishe Bogen, “Linas Hatzedek” (Rest for the Poor), a hostel to house and feed the poor, chaired by Leizor Schlechterman. Besides the old synagogue there was Beis Medrash (House of Study) and Kloyz (small Hasidic prayer house). At this time there was already a Women's Society in Lancut.

The community budget of 1909-10 reflects the activities

[Page 257]

of he Jewish community that year. The income of the community was 11,760 Austrian coronas and expenses amounted to 12,670 coronas, a large sum for those times, a sign that the Jewish community in Lancut developed significant activity.

The collaboration with the Zionists on the board of the Lancut Jewish community was fruitful. As a result, the Lancut Jewish community was one of the few exceptions with its straightforward and useful economy for the Jewish population in Lancut. In the first decade of the 20^th century the majority of Jewish communal councils in the towns and cities of Galicia were controlled by powerful influential men who did not want to open doors to elected representation. The Zionist were involved in a battle to conquer these councils. Against this, in 1909-10 the Zionists were already the deciding active force on the Jewish community board, although the chair of the board was the long-time head of the community Reb Dovid Tannenbaum, an old-fashioned activist who by now understood national leanings in the Jewish street. His son Hersh Tannenbaum was an active Zionist who chaired Love of Zion” in Lancut in 1904.

The general development of Lancut in the first decade of the 20^th century influenced the Jewish community. The town was developing at a fast speed with colonization and electrification in 1907, and the opening of a humanities high school which had a great significance in the town and vicinity as children for non-wealthy families could now receive a high school education. Together with the development of the town, which was then led by the mayor Jan Cetnarski, expulsion tendencies were emerging against the Jewish population. A large portion of the Jewish community in this city earned a living around the Potocki's castle as lease holders of their farms and deliverers of all types of articles for the court and its economy. With the rise of anti-Semitic agitation, the Potocki's, often against their convictions, had to remove Jews and stop employing them.

Despite the efforts on the part of the Polish clerical – nationalist circles in Galicia, these expulsion tendencies, until the outbreak oft the First World War were unsuccessful. Although they upset the Jewish economy and life in Galicia, the Jews, in this difficult struggle and facing external difficulties held their economic positions.

At that time, trade was still exclusively in Jewish hands. There were more Jewish food businesses, a few dry goods shops with cheap merchandise for the farmers. The Jews of Lancut still travelled to fairs in nearby small towns and would buy up chickens and eggs in the villages and bring them to the cities to sell. There were still a large number of grain merchants and the entire egg business, especially export, still lay in Jewish hands. Every week wagons of eggs would leave Lancut for Germany, England and even to Spain. Naturally, among the egg exporters there were 50 egg packer, carton builders, and as a result, more egg buyers earned a living.

In 1908 there wee 154 credit unions in Galicia, among which 83 were Jewish. In the Lancut region, 16 credit unions were active among which 12 were Jewish.^[12]

The cattle business in Lancut was still in Jewish hands. Jews who went to the villages to buy cattle for export also earned a living from this.

There were also many Jewish shoemakers, tailors, bakers, painters, tinsmiths, locksmiths, and other artisans, especially those employed for religious needs.

At that time in Lancut there were very few intellectual professionals. Jewish societal life in the first decade of the 20^th century until the outbreak of the First World War was on quite a high level. There were a few Jewish aldermen on city council headed by Getzl Druker. Undoubtedly, he rendered great services for the city council, and despite the anti – Semitic atmosphere,

[Page 258]

the Bath Street was renamed in his memory.

In the year 1912-13 the head of Lancut Jewish community was the popular Dovid Tannenbaum and his deputy Meilech Perlmuter. The following sat on the narrow board: Hersch Estlein, Yehoshua Glanzberg, Chaim Wolkenfeld. The following sat on the broad board: Leib Zins, Yisroel Rosenblum, Dovid Pasternak, Moishe Spira, Yitzkhak Zawada, Levi Trompeter, Joel Lifschütz, Shloyme Sprung, Beniamin Lorberfeld, and Chaim Zellner. The rabbi that year was still Reb Simcha Spira, and the secretary was Markus Hitter. Yitzkhak Ebner was the religion teacher in the public school. The following philanthropic organizations exited that year: the asylum for the sick poor, the society of “Gemilas Chasidim” (Free Loan Society), and “Hachnosas Orchim” (Providing for Visitors from Out of Town) chaired by Nisn Zysapel, the “Bikur Cholim” (Visiting the Sick Society) and “Linas HaTzedek” (Hostel providing room and board for the poor), chaired by Nisn Zysapel.

Besides this, Chaim Wolkenfeld was active in the Burial Society and Getzl Druker in the Talmud Torah. Hersh Tannenbaum was chair of the Zionist society “Love of Zion”. Mrs. Perlmuter was active in the Women's Society.

We get a clear picture of communal activity in the year 1912-13 from the Jewish communal budget^[13].

Stamp: Aid to the Poor, Accompanying the Dead, and Study of Mishna.

If the expenses of the Jewish community that year amounted to 29,643.14 Austrian coronas and the income amounted to 29,854.62, more than double from 1909-10, it is a clear indication that the Lancut Jewish community significantly broadened its activity, not only in religious matters but social matters as well.

In 1913-14 Yisroel Schickler was active on the broad board, and in place of

Rabbi Simcha Spira of blessed memory, who passed away that year, Rabbi Chaim Rubin Wagschal was hired.

After the death of Reb Simcha Spira, a dispute broke out in Lancut which lasted a long time. Some of the Hasidim decided to hand over the rabbinate to Reb Simcha's son, Reb Lozer from Brzeżany. The board of directors did not want to recognize Reb Simcha's son as rabbi of Lancut. The dispute divided the Jews of Lancut in two camps. Since the board did not pay the Hasidic rabbi Reb Lozer's monthly stipend, his followers placed collection boxes for him in the butcher shops and that's how he received his monthly salary against the will of the board.

This dispute lasted until the outbreak of the First World War. When the Russians approached Lancut, the wealthier Jews left for Vienna and ran into Reb Lozer who they did not want to accept as rabbi in Lancut. At the time Reb Lozer was receiving aid, money and food packages from friends and religious institutions. His opponents, the members of the Lancut Jewish communal board of directors found him in dire straights. Although they made him suffer in Lancut, he still had his Lancut citizenship. As a result, when the Russian invasion was over and the refugees returned from Vienna, they became passionate supporters of Reb Lozer Spira who was now officially recognized by the community as Rabbi of Lancut. Now, his previous followers turned away from him as they could not forgive him for making peace with the “Zionist” board of directors.

On the eve of the First World War there were no changes made to the makeup of the community board of Lancut. The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 interrupted the activity as well as almost all communal societies and institutions. The majority of Jewish citizens, and especially those who were communally active, left Lancut for Vienna before the Russian soldiers invaded, looking for safe shelter in Vienna or other Austro – Hungarian towns. Those who remained in Lancut faced the difficult task to protect the remaining Jewish population against the cruelty of the Russian occupiers and alleviate the suffering of Lancut Jewry who now remained without a livelihood.

Original footnotes:

1. Rafael Mahler – “Divrei Yemei Yisrael, The Last Generations” Third book, p. 31. (History of the Jews) Return
2. Dr. Gelber: History of the Jews in Lancut Return
3. Ibid. Return
4. ”The Jews in Galicia” – published in “Jews in Poland” – New York, 1946. Return
5. Jahrbuch fur Israeliten Wien” – 1856-1857. Return
6. We took these figures from: Materiały do kwestii żydowskiej, Lwów 1910, Dr. Stanisław Grudziński. Return
7. Published in Warsaw 1923. Return
8. Kańczuga, Leżajsk, Przeworsk (until 1900) and Żołynia. Return
9. Galicia Chapters. The Zionist Movement in Galicia – Mordechai Ehrenpreis, “Am Oved”, Tel – Aviv, 1956. Return
10. 1909-10 Kalendar für Israeliten Return
11. This number is not exact. Return
12. Dr. Stanisław Grudziński, Lwów, 1910. Return
13. Kalendar für Israeliten 1911/13 Return

[Page 259]

Translator's note: The major part of Dr. Chomet's article was written in Hebrew by Dr. Gelber, which is translated on page 8, however, part 20 “Under Russian Occupation” begins on this page. Harry Langsam z”l

In August, 1914, the Russian army occupied for the first time Lancut and remained there until the middle of October. During that short period of occupation, a temporary city administration was created which consisted, mostly, of Polish-Russian sympathizers from the National Democratic party, headed by the “Endek” reactionary lawyer, Dr. Shpunar.

The relationship between the Russian occupants and the Jewish population was the same as it was in many other occupied cities in Galicia, i.e., hostile! Every Jewish social and communal life ceased to exist and a terrible hardship reigned everywhere. The Jews lived in constant fear because the Cossacks, as soon as they came, went wild and began robbing in the Jewish neighbourhood, burnt down the spirit factory, Tenenbaum's home in the marketplace and a few more small homes. However, the excesses against the Jewish population in Lancut were not as serious as in other Galician cities because of the proximity to the Count Potocki's palace, which had been respected by the Russian ruling circles. After the Austrian army liberated Lancut at the end of October, the temporary “Endek” reactionary rulers of the city were sent to an Austrian concentration camp in Thalerhof.

On November 16, 1914, the Russian military occupied Lancut for the second time. The second invasion lasted until May, 12, 1915. The leadership of the city administration was taken over by the Lancut social activist, Stanislaw Centnarski, who later became city mayor of Lancut for a long time.

In his book: “Miasto Lancut” (The City of Lancut) that was published in 1937 and which was already mentioned in this book in previous articles, Centnarski told us certain details about the situation of the Jewish population under the Russian occupation during World War I. In his memoirs, there is a noticeable intention to downplay the injustice and troubles which the Jews of Lancut had suffered during that period. He described the situation in a very mild form, the oppression that the Jewish population suffered, sparing the honour of the Russian occupants and the local robbers.

And here is how Stanislaw Centnarski reported: Because of the financial shortage, city administration was not able to guard the citizens' property because the Russian peasants from the vicinity looted everything they could and it was hard to guard the widespread city which was mostly abandoned by its residents.

Understandably, Stanislaw Centnarski did not mention that the looters were Ukrainian and Polish peasants from the vicinity and not the “Russian peasants” from the vicinity that looted the homes of Jews who had left Lancut before the invasion.

Stanislaw Centnarski continued his story saying that the Russian occupiers were very tolerant toward the Lancut city administration and even helped the population, but a minor event occurred, namely: the “Russian Rulers demanded cleanliness in the city and herded the residents, especially the Jews, with whips to work without consideration of age or social position”. But thanks to the intervention of the Lancut city administration, this uncultured activity stopped. Centnarski says in his book that because the city had obligated itself to take care of the cleanliness of the city. In general, Stanislaw Centnarski pointed out that the city was tranquil during the Russian occupation, although, there was no electricity, no kerosene or candles but there was unity and brotherhood among the different segments of the population, and even among people from different religions, which in normal times, we could only dream about.

It was true that, compared to other places in Galicia, Lancut had suffered less from the war and after a few weeks, the Russian occupants stopped the mistreatment of the Jewish population. But the hardship in the Jewish quarters were horrible because there was no commercial activity. The craftsmen were jobless, and to put it simply, there was starvation in Jewish homes.

A detailed report about the situation in the big and small cities in the part of Galicia that was occupied by the Russian army during World War I, can be found in the memoirs of Sh. Anski (Shlomo Rapaport) which was published in his book: “The Destruction of Galicia”.

During the Russian invasion of Galicia, Anski was delegated by the Russian Jewish Rescue Committee with the rank of an officer, as a member of the official Russian Help delegation. He travelled to every city in occupied Russian Galicia.

Anski wrote in his memoirs as follows: “The Jewish population in the conquered territories is completely ruined and cut off from their country and from Russia, and are starving to death”.

Anski continued: “A large Jewish area, with a million Jews, who just yesterday had all the rights as human beings, are now engulfed with a ring of fire, blood and steel, isolated from the rest of the world. They were handed over to the wildly enraged Cossack and soldier beasts”.

Reb Yitzhak Zawada with his three sons in the Austrian Army in 1917 Seated from left: Reb Yitzhak Zawada. Standing from left: Shmuel and Rabbi Abraham. Seated from right: Hersh.

The Russian army had retreated only after the German-Austro offensive near Gorlice, in May, 1915. Then, Galicia was liberated from the Russian invasion. Lancut was liberated on May 12th, 1915 and the German-Austro army returned to Lancut followed by the Austrian civilian administration who immediately took over the reign of the city.

By order of the Austrian District Governor, Adam Bal, Stanislaw Centnarski was told to continue to administer the city with the help of nominated advisors by him. According to the report that Centnarski had told in his above-mentioned book, the next three war years, he experienced many hardships administering the city. There were shortages and war restrictions with all kinds of requisitions. All the food products were rationed. Bread and sugar and other necessary food products which were distributed only with coupons, and the situation was getting worse day-by-day.

With the return of the Austrian military to Lancut, many Jewish soldiers and officers had arrived with them and were warmly welcomed by the Jewish population. Among the Jewish military men were a few Zionists who, together with the local social activists, renewed the Zionist-Cultural institutions in town which had stopped at the outbreak of the war.

Jewish social-cultural life in Lancut had been normalized anew.

[Pages 261-270]

In November, 1918, after the German-Austro military forces fell apart, Poland became an independent country. Galicia became a part of the new Polish land.

The Jewish population in Galicia had put great hope in the newly established independent Poland and was soon disappointed in their belief that it would be a free and just government. A wave of excesses, pogroms and robbery engulfed the entire country. They were encouraged by the anti-Semitic leaders. The anti-Semites took advantage of the lawlessness that reigned during the first period of Poland's resurrection. In the villages that bordered with cities, bands of demobilized soldiers joined forces with the peasants and attacked the Jewish residents in the nearby cities, looting their property and merchandise.

Dr. Abraham Chomet

When the war ended, a change in the mood on social life had taken place among the Jewish population in Lancut. Between the Jewish soldiers and officers that had returned from the front, were active members of the “Ahavat Zion” Organization and they had brought a new life into the Jewish quarters in Lancut. Under the leadership of the devoted public activist, Shlomo Greenbaum, a Jewish National Council was organized to which most active leaders of the Lancut Jewry had joined under the auspices of the local Zionist Organization movement.

The Jewish National Council in Lancut had faced three objectives: 1) to organize strong self-defence which would guard the physical and economic existence of the Jewish population in the city. 2) Introduce changes in the old elective community administration, which, in reality, did not represent the Jewish population in Lancut. 3) To begin an administrative activity with the goal of helping the impoverished Jewish population and at the same time, to secure the existing economic institution and to create new ones.

The heroic position of the Jewish militia in Lancut which, under the leadership of the brave Jewish officer and social activist, Henrik Ramer, managed to defend the lives and property of the Jewish population in Lancut which was already described in the “Yizkor” Book by Nachman Kestenbaum in his article entitled: “The Self-defence”, how, in the faithful days in Lancut, the village elements from the surrounding villages, together with the local underworld and demobilized Polish soldiers, attempted to provoke riots and rob Jewish stores and homes. Thanks to the determined stand of the self-defence and under the leadership of Henrik Ramer, they repulsed the attempt. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the Polish economic circles had helped a lot to subdue the anti-Jewish excesses and robbery.

The mayor of the city, Stanislaw Centnarski, did not mention at all in his book on the dangerous situation that prevailed in the city for the Jewish population. The only remark that he made about that time was that: “in September, 1918, the falling apart of the Austrian army had begun and an independent Poland came into being, and from the ruins and empty vacuum that existed at that time, a new order gradually came into existence. The beginning was really hard because,” according to his version: “The poor peasants from the villages approached the city with the intention to rob, which was a residue of the horrible war”.

Stanislaw Centnarski, the historian of Lancut, called the mob of robbers and hooligans: “poor peasantry” and the demobilized soldiers that came from the villages with sacks and baskets, to fill them up with robbed belongings of the impoverished Jews he called them: “war survivors”.

The second objective that the Jewish National Council in Lancut faced was the necessity to introduce in the Jewish Community a new system because the leadership that had been elected in an outmoded system and not in a democratic way, did not befit the new conditions in which the Jewish population found itself after the war.

We already remarked in another place in this book that the Lancut elective Community was exceptional because, in the first decade of the 20th century, the community was headed by Reb David Tenenbaum, and after the Russian invasion, by Hersh Estlein. The secretary was the religion teacher Ebner helped by Rabbi Elazar Spira and his admirers. The Zionist had very little influence in the Community administration. At that time, most of the elective Community administrations in Galician cities were ruled by extreme fanatical Orthodox circles which, with the help of assimilated individual intellectuals, had no consideration for the national, cultural and social needs of the widespread Jewish masses. They limited their activities strictly to religious needs only. Besides, a seat in the committee was seen as an inheritance object for a few influential citizens.

Therefore, the action of the Lancut Jewish National Council to form a new elective community committee, which would represent all segments of the Jewish population, was of specific importance. There was no need to break the gates of the old- fashioned elective community committee, which was occupied by older Zionist veterans who understood that they were elected only through a non-democratic election ordinance. They understood the need to widen the representation with people from all segments of the Jewish population. To the representative of the existing community committee, Hersh Estlein, credit must be given for his understanding of the new spirit of the times. When a delegation of the Jewish National Council came and demanded to broaden and to democratize the elective Community Committee, he was ready for new elections in all community institutions. Therefore, it was decided to leave him at his post as the chairman of the community administration.

However, the existing election ordination had put the Lancut Zionist activists in an awkward position to find a way on how to organize a wide national front from all democratic elements in the Jewish quarters in order to secure a majority in the elective community committee and to enable them to have an administration favourable to the entire Jewish population.

The above needed a united front put together only during the election to the committee in 1924. According to the Krakow newspaper “Nowy Dziennik”, the elections to the elective community committee took place on August 3rd, 1924, during which the national religious block, consisting of Zionists, Mizrachists, small store keepers and craftsmen were victorious in the elections. The opposition list that represented all the opponents of a Democratic Jewish National Community administration, suffered a defeat. From the fifteen seats in the Community Committee, thirteen were elected from the Zionist block and all five deputies from the same list were elected.

The Jewish National Council had developed an economic activity, established with the help of the American Joint Distribution – a cooperative that sold to the members food products at a lower price. They also created a cabinet-making workshop where, under the supervision of a qualified instructor, Mordechai Faster, prepared many young people for productive work.

The help of the Lancut Jewry from the American Jewry played an important role. The economy of the Polish government at the beginning of its existence, was in a critical situation, simultaneously demonstrated the beginning of extermination tendencies toward the Jewish population. Heavily struggling with inflation, the independent Poland looked for ways on how to monopolize certain products which, as a result, deprived many Jews of their livelihood. The government supported the big cartels and the cooperative movements in the villages, in addition to the export limitations. They unrealistically taxed the Jewish commerce and trade and at the same time, they strengthened, through low credits, the development of the Christian commerce. All of the above factors caused the pauperization of the Jewish masses in the small and big cities in Galicia. If, to take into account the limited emigration possibilities, the anti-Semitic boycott propaganda supported by the majority of the political parties (except the Polish Social-Democratic Party), it is easy to get the picture in what a bad situation the Jewish population was in the first years of Poland's independence.

And that was also the situation of the Jewish population in Lancut. Thanks to the fact that the Jewish population in Lancut stood on a higher social level, there was the possibility here to develop and create new economic self-help institutions which put a stop to the increasing poverty among the Jewish population. The Jewish social activists in Lancut had devoutly fulfilled their obligation and stood guard at their positions watching over the threatened Jewish population. During the election to the city council in Lancut in 1923, the general Zionists, in cooperation with the “Poaley Zion”, managed to win the seat of two councilmen; Getzl Druker and Chaim Wolkenfeld. Both energetic and experienced social public servants who did not spare their effort and energy, striving to protect the interests of the Lancut Jewry.

During one of the meetings in the city hall in 1924, councilman Chaim Wolkenfeld, of blessed memory, collapsed and died. Wolkenfeld was active as a member of the elective community committee since before World War I. He belonged to the first founders and leaders of the young Zionist movement in Lancut, before the Dr. Herzl era, and until his last day of his life, he devoutly served the Zionist ideology. The Lancut Jewry mourned the loss with great sadness and pain.

The Lancut historian, Zenan Shust, pointed out that World War I stopped the development of the city and the brutal attack of Hitler's army had cut off the “vegetation” of the provincial city* (he meant Lancut). *Lancut I. Okolice-Warszawa, 1959). Zenan Shust, who knew well the history of Lancut, forgot to mention that the Jews in Lancut had led an effervescent economic activity after World War I and developed a lively commerce on a big scale with grain, eggs, cattle and fruit. That the export of these items brought big benefits to the surrounding village population, to the city and to the state. Understandably, until the time when the anti-Semitic boycott propaganda had spread with the official support of the Polish government authorities, the economy in Lancut rose, to the benefit of every segment of the population in the city. The Lancut democratic minded intelligence was cognizant of that fact, especially the democratic minded intelligence, emphasizing the necessity and the usefulness of a peaceful co-habitation between the Jewish and Christian population.

A distinct expression of the above Jewish-Polish population relationship in Lancut was visible during the election to the Lancut city council that was held in February, 1928.

The Jewish National blocks, under the auspices of the Zionists, had proclaimed their open and brave Jewish National slogans on their agenda and strove to create a strong foundation for peaceful cohabitation between the Jewish and Christian residents. The leader of the Jewish National list, headed by Getzl Druker and Hersh Estlein, came out with their slogans about the need for an independent Jewish National policy. These appeared at election campaign meetings before the Polish voters where they daringly explained the Jewish National political platform. During one such meeting, organized by the democratic Christian candidate, Jan Januszewski, the incumbent mayor of Lancut to which the Jewish voters were also invited, Dr. Druker, appeared with a magnificent speech which aroused general recognition from the Polish citizens.

In connection with the above appearance of Dr. Druker, the mayor Januszewski had sent him a letter which, because of its interesting content, was published in a report from Lancut on the pages of the Jewish-Polish newspaper: “Novy Dziennik” in Krakow. We bring here a few remarks in the Jewish translation, published on October 2, 1928, edition N°41. Januszewski wrote to Dr. Druker the following: “Your words were an expression of the aspirations of an intelligent young Jewish generation for which you deserve a Jewish mandate. The government, as far as I know, does support this aspiration. I hate to delude myself with the idea that Jews will vote for the non-Jewish list of candidates and since with both share the same opinion, it remains only to clarify two points: 1) Why have I invited Jewish residents to my meeting? 2) About my contention that I do consider the Jews as Poles, ignoring the fact that their aspiration is to preserve their religious culture”.

“Concerning the above-mentioned points”, Januszewski declared in his letter: “It is my opinion that the government circles should relate to the Jews in this country as Poles (meaning from a political view) which means to give them their rights, which is rightful of theirs, according to our constitution, which should be done by the state. Whereas the city council is concerned, our opinions do not differ”. In his letter, Januszewski mentioned the crisis in Eretz Israel, expressing his conviction that the Jews were capable of becoming farmers and “I know many such people”. Concluding his letter, he declared: “I can proudly point out that they have achieved a big progress, which led to a change of their character”. The elections to the City Council in Lancut ended with a big victory for the Jewish National block, which brought in two mandates. Getzl Druker and Hersh Estlein were elected as city councilmen. Soon after the elections to the Polish Parliament took place. The Zionist propaganda in Lancut used the same pattern as they had during the elections to the city council. Their main slogan was to underline the necessity of having an independent Jewish National policy during the elections to the Parliament, which had also brought positive results.

The cities of Rzeszow, Lancut, Jaroslaw, Przeworsk and Nisko belonged to one voting district, N°47, in which the Jewish National list N°17 was headed by the famous and revered Zionist activist from Krakow, Dr. Bulba. The Lancut Zionist leaders had enthusiastically thrown themselves into the election campaign, with devotion, appealed to the Lancut Jewry to unite in order to help the Jewish National list of candidates victoriously win the election. However, this time the campaign was much harder because the leaders of the pro-government party from the “Sanacia”, headed by the incumbent mayor of Rzeszow, Dr. Kragulski for whom the extreme, the assimilated and the Orthodox Jews had strongly campaigned in the Jewish quarters.

The election campaign to the Parliament had, in Lancut, turned into a grandiose enlightenment action for the Jewish National and Zionist ideology. Mass meetings were held in the Beit Hamidrash, in the Kloiz and outdoors where popular speakers had made their speeches. Dr. Bulba, the candidate, Rabbi Meshulam Klieger from Krakow and local speakers had fought off the last Mohicans from the bankrupt assimilatory movement and the destructive politics of a small group of Orthodox intercessors, explaining the Zionist truth.

In a report that was published in the Krakow Polish-Jewish newspaper, “Novy Dziennink” on February29^th, 1928, n°59, on the results of the Parliament elections in the Rzeszow region was as follows: The Jewish-National list garnered in the entire Rzeszow District, 12,765 votes and were short to win a mandate by 1,267 votes. Interesting were the numbers in relation to the results of the Parliament elections in the Lancut district which consisted of 89,000 residents from which 6,408 were Jews, which was 7.2%. Eligible voters in the Lancut District were 41,218 from which 2,968 were Jews. The Jewish National list in Lancut district received 2,689 votes, which was a 90.6% turnout, while in other places of the Rzeszow region, only 73.33% votes were cast for the Jewish National list from the eligible votes.

In the Parliamentary election, the Lancut Jewry had shown a high standard of political maturity, national consciences, devotion and loyalty to the Zionist ideology.

During the general development, the Polish State had, in the meantime, occurred faithful changes. A bitter struggle flared up in the entire country between the semi-fascist government block, the so-called “block of the cooperation with the government”, (Block Wspolpracy Rzadem) who exhorted the urgency of strengthening the power of the government and change the constitution and the pro-democratic parliamentary system to which almost all simple folks with a democratic political outlook belonged.

In November, 1930, the third Polish Parliament was dissolved and new elections were proclaimed to the “Seym” and to the Senate. Since the task of the newly elected body was to change the constitution and adopt a new election ordinance, these were two items of an extraordinary importance to the Polish Jewry. That is why the government had fought all opposition forces in the country, aiming to secure a victory for the government candidates. A wave of terror, oppression and arrests began against the Polish opposition leaders with the famous trials at Brest Litowsk in October of 1930 as the main event.

In the Jewish quarters, the Jewish National groups headed by the Zionists, strove to consolidate the Jewish forces to create a united, all-round Jewish Block which had only partially succeeded, but still, a joint election block of Western and Eastern Galicia was created.

The Zionist candidate list in the Rzeszow region, of which Lancut was a part, was cancelled by the administrative rulers which resulted in a disorientation of the Jewish voters which did not vote in solidarity. In Lancut itself, the government circles used all kinds of means to scare the Jewish citizens, and at the same time, the government circles had benefitted from the help that came from the Orthodox circles who urged the Jews to vote for the government candidates.

Only during the elections to the Senate did the Zionists in Lancut, together with the Jewish National forces, pull through a brave and hard fight for the Zionist list to the Senate which was headed by Dr. Shreiber. The local ruling authorities in Lancut used terror and repression against the Zionist agitators, who called the Jewish voters to stand fast and demonstrate solidarity with the Zionist ideas and for the Jewish National slogans. The backward elements from the extreme Orthodox circles helped the regional governor of Lancut who used his authority to work for the government list. They allowed the Polish candidates to use the Beit Hamidrash to campaign for the government candidates who did not try to hide their anti-Jewish economic slogans.

According to a letter dated January 11, 1931, written by Leyzer Fas, one of the most active leaders of the election campaign in Lancut, the governor of the Lancut region and the mayor of Lancut had organized an election meeting in the Beit Hamidrash in Lancut a few days before the elections to the Senate. The Zionist youths had occupied all the seats before the meeting and when the two officials arrived to make their propaganda speeches, a big racket and disturbance took place and they were not able to make their speeches. All the threats of the governor to trouble makers that they would be arrested, did not help. The meeting did not come to order and had to be cancelled. On election day, the police followed the young Zionists propagators who devoutly campaigned and also arrested a few. During the day the campaign headquarters had to move to different locations to avoid the police interceptors. According to Leyzer Fas, the following persons outstood in their election campaigning for the Zionist candidate's list to the Senate: Joseph Celner, Menachem Baumel, Shmuel Greizman, Dr. Knepel and Leyzer Fas.

The Zionist candidate list had garnered a lot of votes in that campaign but because of the election geography, the Rzeszow election region was cut to size with special intention to take away the chance from the Jewish population to elect their own representative. The election campaign, however, had strengthened the Zionist ranks in Lancut and had also shown how important it was to increase the explanatory work among the Jews and point out the importance of having an independent National Jewish policy because during the latest elections, the Polish authoritative power houses had, in an old- fashioned way, tried to win votes with pleading and threats.

In the meantime, the economic situation of the Polish Jewry was getting worse day-by-day. During the general hardship and catastrophic situation in the commerce and industry in the entire country, the Jewish merchant, labourer, craftsmen and the intelligence suffered the most. The situation of the Polish Jewry was gloomy. The tax nut was tightening, the extermination politic against the Jewish population and the discrimination by not hiring Jews to government jobs, all the above factors caused a general economic crisis which badly affected the Jewish livelihoods.

The Lancut Jewry had also found themselves in the same critical situation. The city, where for many years the Polish-Jewish cohabitation was based on a harmonious cooperation between the Christian and Jewish residents and worked for the benefit of the entire city population, was more and more swamped by the reactionary “Endeks” with anti-Jewish propaganda and slogans urging to boycott Jewish commercial enterprises.

This horrible situation became even worse because of the discriminatory taxation which oppressed the Jewish merchant and craftsman. The government tax functionaries had done everything possible to not permit any defence action, to protect the Jewish taxpayers. The tax assessment office in Lancut understood well the government's extermination politics in relation to the Jews, and in order to discourage any possibility of protest against the unfair taxation of the Jewish merchants and craftsmen, no Jewish representative was allowed to be a member in tax assessment commission in the assessor's office. In a report from Lancut, the Jewish-Polish newspaper, “Novy Dziennik” wrote an article on January 4, 1932 on the bestial treatment of the Jewish taxpayer which read as follows: “The local (meaning Lancut) Jewish merchants are angry because of the removal of the Jews from the assessment-commission in the tax office. “Until recently”, the article continued, “There were always two Jews representing the Jewish merchants and now they have been removed. There is no Jewish merchant representative in the assessor's office in spite of the fact that 85% of local commerce is in Jewish hands”.

When the situation of the Jewish population became even worse and want and hunger engulfed some wider segments of the Lancut Jewry, according to a report in the Krakow newspaper dated January, 25, 1933, a Jewish citizen committee was established with the goal of helping the impoverished merchants and victims of the crisis by distributing bread.

“It is characteristic”, we continued reading in that newspaper, “that from 350 Jewish families in Lancut, about 150 families have benefitted from this charitable act. But the tax office”, the correspondent further pointed out, “without consideration of the critical economic situation, sends out daily their energetic executors to confiscate the Sabbath candlesticks and similar items” from Jewish homes for delinquent taxes.

Having the Lancut Jewry in such a terrible situation, the elective Community Committee was forced to widen their social activity. It was fortunate that the Lancut Jewry took over, in 1929, the administration of the committee and it was, at present, in the hands of the capable and devoted Zionist public activist, Dr. Spatz, who did not spare his effort to alleviate the need in the Jewish community of Lancut.

Not only were the elective Community Committee facing problems but the Zionist representatives had also encountered hardship because it was not easy to stand daily on guard to defend the Jewish economic positions which had suffered not only from the general economic crisis but also from unjust taxation and the official extermination politics of the Polish government.

At the end of 1933, new elections were ordered to be held for the city council. The Jewish National and social circles, together with the Zionists of all political views, came out with a slogan called to create a strong, united front of all creative forces in the Jewish Community. The goal was to secure for the Jewish population a proper representation by people who understood and possessed the necessary courage to protect Jewish interests in the city, within the framework of securing the continuation of the common Polish-Jewish cooperation for the benefit of the entire city.

This happened at a time when the “Sanacia” (Reactionary Party) was in power – the so-called “Block of cooperation with the government” and amidst the Jewish community, there was a branch of that block consisting of remnants of the bankrupt assimilated Jews and some splinters of the Orthodoxy. In their opinion, Jews were supposed to support any government, even if they were antic-Semitic minded, even when the government was threatening the livelihood of the Jewish population.

In 1933, the position of the official Polish government was already famous for its “Why Not” (Owszem) policy in relation to the Jewish population. It was declared by the Polish Prime Minister, General Skladkowski, who said from the speaker dias in Parliament: “Fighting economically the Jews? Why not?”

The bad situation that existed in the whole country had impacted Lancut as well where the “Sanacia” strove to overtake the City Hall and for that purpose, the incumbent administration, had Jewish population, Zionist and non-Zionists according to a report in the Jewish-Polish newspaper, “Novy Dziennik” on November 17th, 1933 headed by the public activist, Engineer Spatz (General Zionist) chairman, A. Katz (Mizrachi), vice chairman, F. Ebner, secretary (impartial) and Leib Krancler (impartial) as treasurer, with eight more representatives from different social circles in the city.

The elections to the City Council were held on December 10, 1933 and according to the report on the election results, published in the Jewish-Polish newspaper “Novy Dziennink” on December 16, 1933 sixteen councilmen were elected of which ten councilmen were from the “Sanacia” party; one seat from the impartial Polish list; one seat from the P.P.S. (Polish Socialists-. The general Jewish block won three mandates and the Orthodox list (Agudah) one mandate.

Taking under consideration the great influence and strong pressure from the authorities who supported the senatorial list, the general Jewish block under the leadership of the Zionists had done remarkably well. Adding to the three Zionist mandates, the four other Jewish mandates from the second and third election regions where there were a much smaller number of voters (intellectuals, home owners and high tax payers), there they had an agreement with the Christian voters, which was a good reason why they managed to elect four Jewish mandates which were as follows: Engineer Spatz, Dr. Markel (both Zionist), Yechiel Nusbaum (Mizrachi) and Simcha Sapir (impartial). The Jews also got an assessor in the city office.

After the elections, the Jewish councilmen in the Lancut City Hall were facing heavy responsibilities because this was already during the period when Hitler's hatred for Jews had spread like an epidemic throughout Poland and kept increasing day-by-day. Anti-Semitism had adopted an inhuman and bestial form. In a city like Lancut where even the “Endeks” had shown some respect toward the Jewish population, the more aggressive reactionary forces, encouraged by the official extermination policy toward the Jews. These elements had started picketing Jewish stores, scaring away the Polish customers from buying from Jews.

These boycott actions were connected with wide, branched-out anti- Jewish hate propaganda campaign in the city and villages from which the Jews were hurting badly. It hurt first the small and medium merchants whose stores were able to cater only to credit customers. The effort by the anti-Semitic groups to hurt the Jewish export commerce had, for the time being, not been successful. The Jewish egg exporters in Lancut stood fast on their positions. Against them, the boycott campaign did not show any hurting results. Even though there was some action to interfere with the buying of eggs from the peasants in the villages. Nonetheless, the egg export remained in Jewish hands and Jewish exporters like Shlomo Greenbaum, Weisman, Abraham Katz and others, still had a meaningful place, exporting wagons of eggs weekly to England, Germany, Spain and other countries. Many Jewish families were employed in the export enterprises. There were thirty packers and box workers that even had their own professional section within the Polish professional union in the city.

The fruit exporters and the cattle dealers were also doing well, despite the boycott campaign, and they employed many Jewish families.

However, most Jewish livelihoods such as merchants, craftsmen, storekeepers who used to sell their ware on market days in Lancut and vicinity, had encountered hardship. On the one hand because of the increased anti-Semitism and on the other hand, because of the oppressive taxation which used all kinds of ordinances and exaggerated tax impositions and as a result, pushed the Jewish population into a hopeless situation.

The most deplorable act in this sad situation in which the Jewish population in Lancut had found itself was the brutal treatment of the Polish craftsmen union in Lancut that had allowed themselves in an illegal way to exclude the Jewish craftsmen from the guild. They refused to register Jewish apprentices that were engaged by Jewish masters becoming a way to deprive these Jewish apprentices a chance when the time would come to receive an official Master Certificate.

The Jewish craftsmen in Lancut had immediately organized their own guild which included the Jewish watchmakers, cabinet makers, tailors, shoemakers, sheet-metal workers and bakers. It was led by the devoted and energetic social activists from among the craftsmen circles in Lancut, such as: Emanuel Sandauer, Davis Just, Moshe Flashen, Leib Anmut and Shmuel Kezshtecher (senior). After their status was approved by the administrative authorities, the guild held its meetings in the elective Community Committee offices in Lancut.

After the new decree concerning the religious elective Community Committees in Poland was decreed on January 18th, 1928, which, accordingly new election regulation to the Community Committees was established.

The election had to be discreet and every Jewish man aged 25 had the right to vote regardless of whether he paid community taxes or not. As a result, the effectiveness of the community organs had widely progressed and the efforts to democratize the Community Committee, her main function was to satisfy the religious, national and social needs of the entire Jewish community.

Thanks to the new status of the Community Committee, elections to a new administration in Lancut was held and Dr. Lotringer became the head of the committee. The new community administration made an effort to alleviate the needs of a big segment of the Lancut Jewry even though the income of the committee had barely covered the expenses needed.

Elections to the elective community committee in Lancut was held again in 1937 and this time, the same incumbent members were elected, mostly Zionists and engineer Spatz became head of the committee. This time, the Poaley Zion in Lancut came out with their own list of candidates and two representatives of their party, Leizer Popiol and Israel Kezshtecher were elected.

The Jewish councilmen in Lancut were having a hard time in the City Hall. The influence of the official extermination politics against the Jewish population was seriously felt locally. The big wave of the peasant strikes that broke out in the Eastern part of Poland had spread into the villages around Lancut, but the government instantly suppressed the rebellion with bloody pacification and ended with the incarceration in concentration camps of the radical Polish and Ukrainian leaders.

The reactionary pogromists, which until then had concentrated around different Fascist organizations, blamed the Jews for the rebellion of the peasants and called the Polish population to fight against the Jewish merchants, Jewish craftsmen and Jewish storekeepers.

We have in our possession a letter dated July 18th, 1938 written by a young pioneer from the “Hashomer Hatzayir”, Shimon Walzer, to his brother in Eretz Israel, Michael Walzer, which is kept by him as a sacred remnant from his old home, from his only dear brother, from his parents who perished for the sanctification of his Holy Name.

And here is an excerpt from that letter in which there is a description of the situation in Lancut after the peasant's strikes: “A few weeks have passed since the strike which gave the wrong people a toy to play with. The reactionary party of the “Endeks” awakened from their lethargic sleep and keep blaming the Jews for everything. They threw stink bombs into Jewish butcher shops to ruin the meat. They are daily skirmishes with the Endeks and a new law is being enforced which took away the bread from thousands of Jewish mouths. This is the new Jewish Kosher slaughtering law which forbids the Jews to peddle in the villages. The price of kosher meat has doubled and now costs 1.80 zlotys a kilogramme. The situation in the Jewish community is very sad when you stay in your store and the door doesn't close because many poor people keep coming in and asking for alms”.

Telling about the panic in connection with the invasion of General Zeligowski into Lithuania, Walzer junior wrote: “It became an occasion for the “Endex” hooligans to go wild. They put pickets at each store and did not allow entering of customers into the Jewish stores. The “Owszem” declaration by the Prime Minister in Parliament became a reality”.

“You can imagine”, Shimon Walzer wrote to his brother, “the anger of the Jewish masses. On main Street in the marketplace, a sign was hanging with the slogan: Anybody who is not buying in a Polish store is a traitor”.

Describing the fear and the pogrom mood in the city, Shimon Walzer continued to tell, in his letter: “I cannot forget the Saturday night when the electricity in the city station was damaged – the city went dark and rocks were thrown into Jewish homes. In the streets, we heard wailing and anti-Jewish slogans addressing those who visit Jewish stores. All window panes in the Beit Hamidrash were broke, and in the Kloiz, the kept smashing the windows daily. The Jewish Community was forced to ask the local priest to intervene because, at that time, the priest was not infected so much with anti-Semitism. I was appealed to his conscience, which helped somewhat”.

Shimon Walzer

However, the Lancut Jews did not give up their struggle and did not lose hope. They used every opportunity to gather forces and be strong in their fight against the “Owszem” politics of the Sanacia ruling party and against the “Endeks” against their bestial propaganda. Such an occasion came through during the elections to the City Council, which took place in January, 1939, based on a new decree about City Council elections issued on August 16, 1938.

The Zionist organization in Lancut came out with a call to create a strong, united Jewish front which would include all creative forces in the city because only such a front could secure a proper Jewish representation in quality and quantity. Under the leadership of Engineer Spatz, a united election block was created, joined by the general Zionists, the “Poaley Zion”, the Eretz Israel Labour League and the Orthodox circles. Besides the chairmanship of Engineer Spatz, the following people were elected to the committee of the united block: Dr. David Druker, Dr. Leon Markel, Yechiel Nusbaum, Meir Estlein, Simcha Sapir, Leizer Popiol, Leibish Wiener and Nachman Kestenbaum.

The United Front, however, was torn by a small group of Jews with Professor Fabian Ebner as the leader who came out with their own candidate list, but they completely failed even though they did take away some votes from the United Front.

As reported by one of the active members of the United Front, the Poaley Zion activist, Leibish Wiener who now resides in Israel, the following people were elected to the Lancut City Council in the last elections: Yechiel Nusbaum, Meir Estlein, Simcha Sapir: Their deputies were: Engineer Spatz, Dr. Druker and Leibish Wiener. This was the last act of the Jewish political activity in Lancut. The Jewish Councilmen and the Jewish residents in Lancut still lived with the illusions and hope of a possibility that they would be able, with refreshed energy, protect the interests of the impoverished Jewish population in Lancut. No one believed in such a quick outbreak of World War II.

When the catastrophe was nearing and the Hitlerite beasts attacked Poland in September, 1939, that was the beginning of the tragic end of the Polish Jewry.

The history of the Lancut Jewry had ended! The Lancut Jewry was erased and wiped off from the surface of the earth in pain and suffering. One of the oldest communities in Poland that prided itself with its Torah scholars, with the courageous intellectuals and devoted Zionist fighters, that were inspired by the pioneer spirit. A ring from a golden chain of a beautiful community in Poland was broken off and destroyed, leaving no trace behind it.

Bibliography

Dr. Raphael Mahler: Jews in ancient Poland and Lithuania in numbers, Warsaw. “Yiddish Buch”. 1958.
Dr. Raphael Mahler: The Jews in ancient Poland: A dissertation, published in the edition of the book: “The Jews in Poland”, in New York, volume I.
Dr. Raphael Mahler: The History of the Jews, the last generations, book n°3 in Hebrew.
B. Mark: The History of the Jews in Poland, Publishing House: “Yiddish Buch”, Warsaw. 1957.
Sh. Anski: The Destruction of the Jews in Poland, Galicia and Bukovina. Part I: “Destruction of Galicia”. 1914-1917.
Ben Zion Rubshtein: Galicia and its population. Warsaw. 1923.
Mordechai Erenpreis: The Zionist Movement in Galicia. Chapters: Galicia. Published by “Am Oved”, Tel-Aviv, 1957 in Hebrew.
Dr. N.B. Gelber: The History of the Lancut Jews. Articles printed in this “Yizkor” book, can be found in the Hebrew section.

Beside the above resources, all newspaper reports, memoirs of Lancut natives and documents from the archives of Lancut Societies, have served the author as a source for his detailed dissertation in this text.

Information from Polish sources.

Stanislaw Centnarski: The City of Lancut and its history, from my own memoirs: 1937.
Zenon Szust: Lancut in the Middle Ages.
Zenon Szust: Lancut and its vicinity. Warsaw, 1959.
Roman Wojciechowski: Lancut in the weekly “Swiat” (World) n°17, April 15, 1957.
Marian Brandys: Lancut Etude. “Nowa Kultura” (New Culture) Warsaw, n°14, 15, April, 1958.
Dr. Maier Balaban: Jewish History and Literature. Volume II and III. “Judishes” Jewish Lexicon, vol.IV. “Juedisher Verlage” (Jewish Publishing House), Berlin, 1930. Page 1073.
The Master of Lancut: The Memoirs of Count Alfred Potocki, London, 1959.
“Jahrbuch fuer Israeliten“ (Yearbook for Jews). Vienna 1856-1857.
Kalender fuer Israeliten fuer die Jahren. (Jewish Calendar for the years). 1879-98, 1909-10, 1912-13.
Fuehrer Durch Die Isr. Cultusgemeinden der Oestr. Ung. Monarchie, herausgegeben von Verein Oestreichisch Israelitische Union in Wien. (Leadership for Jewish Communities, from the Austrian Jewish Union in Vienna).
Dr. Stanislaw Gruinski: Material about the Jewish Question in Galicia. Lwow, 1910.

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