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Translated by Moshe Devere
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In order to gain a proper understanding of Jewish life in Tarnów from most ancient times, one must become familiar with the city's history itself; its origins and its development. Anyone who has lived many years in this city will surely remember Lake Biała, which empties into the Dunajec [River], not far from Tarnów, or Mount St. Martin (elevation 384 meters), which towers over the city; forming the last peak of the Sandzer-Carpathian foothills.
From the very beginning, life in the area was clustered around this very mountain. As early as prehistorical times, to the north of the mountain near Lake Wantak – which flows into the Biała, there stood a settlement named Tarnów (Tarnov). We find this same name for the first time in a list of estates belonging to the Benedictines in Tiniets, in 1105. In the period when Poland was divided up, after the death of King Bolesław Krzywousty (the Wry-Mouth, died 1138), when Tarnów belonged to the Sandomirz Principality, it was then already, a bigger village.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, half the town was the owned by Governor Spitzimiez of Kraków, who came from Tarnawatka and Melsztyn. The other half of the town belonged to Leonard, a son of Dzierzysław, a Polish castellan[1], and a descendant of Lobenj, who owned other estates around Tarnów.
In 1327, Spitzimiez, who was also called Spitek of Melstien, with the agreement of King Władysław Lokietek, acquired the second half of the town, and the whole of Tarnów became his property. Near Tarnów, which was called “Greater,” as there was already at that time a neighboring village called Lesser Tarnów, which also belonged to Spitzimiez.
On March 7, 1330, King Władysław Lokietek, issued a privilege in Kraków, which raised the status of the town to Great Tarnów
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| Castle Hill and the old castle ruins |
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to that of a city, granting it the same rights and facilities that Kraków had at the time. In particular, it was granted the right of its own administration in accordance with the West German statute. Power over the city was held by the mayor along with a council. The judicial system was headed by a judge {וואויט} and seven clerks/jurors {Lavniks}, who were elected for a period of one year The jurisdiction of the court, as aforementioned, was divided between disputes between residents of the city and the city itself, councilmen issues, and issues with the Jews of Tarnów. All these questions were subject to the jurisdiction of the castle, i.e., the ruler of Tarnów. These limitations to the city's court system continued until the year 1643, when Jan Zamoyski[2] ordered them to transfer jurisdiction to the city's authority.
Tarnów's owner, Spitek of Melstien, made significant efforts to ensure the city's expansion. In 1340, he built a castle for defense and surrounded the city with walls, protective embankments, and a wide moat. The walls and protection ramparts stretched along today's Walowa Street on one side, and Bernardine and Tarnów Streets on the other side. The castle ruins still remain on Mount St. Martin. Parts of the walls and bastions can still be found on Walowa Street (by houses 19 and 23, next to the cathedral).
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| The Tarnów market square (photographed by Dr. Yeshayahu Feig before the war) |
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| The entry door to the Tarnów Council Hall |
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| Tarnów Council Hall |
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| Jews Street in Tarnów [Ulica Żydowska in Polish] |
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Another wall separated the city center from the suburbs. There were larger gates in the walls to enable a connection between them. They were called the Kraków and the Pilsen Gates. There were 15 smaller gates and doors.
A market square was in the city center [known as the Rynek], surrounded by many shops and businesses. The Council Hall, with its tower, was in the center of the market square. The Council Hall was built during the 14th century in the Gothic style. Tarnów's oldest streets were Jews Street (Żydowska {in Polish}) and Wechsel Street (Wechselarska {in Polish}) The first inhabitants were Poles, Germans, and several Jews. Spitzimiez brought in the German colonists. These colonists quickly became Polish natives. By the sixteenth century, they were all Poles.
Dr. Isaac Schiffer. The renown historian, who was born, lived, and worked in Tarnów, maintained that no exact date can be established regarding the arrival of the first Jews in the city. Based on his investigations, he established that in
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| Old Zakonta Street, which led to Pilsen Gate |
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documents from the first half of the 16th century, there is no sign regarding Jews. In his opinion, Jews settled in Tarnów in the second half of the sixteenth century. In 1631, when Władysław Dominic governed the city, the Jews had already become an organized community, with their own synagogue, cemetery, and inhabited 12 houses, which at that time was considered a large number.
Dr. I. Leniek, who was the director of the second Tarnów Gymnasium, in 1911 published a book entitled “The History of the City of Tarnów,” where he reports that according to the decisions of the Synod in the thirteenth century, Jews in Tarnów had to live in a separate region, separated from the Christian district by a wall, protective embankment, or moat. According to the law, Jews were subordinate at the first instance to the Castle Court, and to the instance of the higher court of the Sandomierz Voivodeship (province). In Dr. Leniek's opinion, in the beginning, the Jews of Tarnów engaged, mainly with the business of barter and lending money with interest, because “such businesses were forbidden for Christians.” According to his information, Kalef, a Jew from Tarnów (Judeus Kalef de Tarnów) already appears in a document in 1445. During the time of Leleviten (a descendant of Spitek of Melstien), there were few Jews in Tarnów. It was only in the second half of the seventeenth century when a larger number of Jews settled in the city. “Entering via Pilsen Gate in the center of the city, they occupied the streets, still called Jews Street and Wechsler Street, where they took over trade and manufacturing, which for various reasons were avoided by the Christians.” Dr. Leniek thinks that the main place where the Tarnów Jews lived was on the other side of the city wall, in the suburb of Grabowka. Their dead were buried in the neighboring town of Pogwizdów.
The Jewish communities on the eastern border, which were destroyed in the year 1241, during the Tatar raids, were the main commercial centers between East and West. The city of Kiev ceased to be the center for Jewish trade, and Lemberg replaced it (at the beginning of the fourteenth century). Jewish merchants, coming from the West, originated from there.
At that time, the Jewish community in Lemberg became the connecting point for trade trips to the east. The routes used for these business trips went through the Jewish communities that existed at the time in Posen, Kraków, Tarnów, and Pshemishel (Pryzemsyl). In Dr. J. Schiffer's History of Jewish Trade in Poland, he relates that the Jew Kalef (from Kalef, Italy), established trade relations with Poland, and as commerce only reached Lemberg, he settled there as a permanent resident (in 1442). In the same year, Kalef
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also established trade relations with Kraków, and around 1445, also with Tarnów, where he shipped goods. From this fact, it can be concluded that at that time there were already Jews living in Tarnów, with whom Kalef conducted business. Also, Dr. Meir Balaban, in his book The History of The Jews in Kraków and of Tzoyzmir (Sandomierz) lists 50 towns in Lesser Poland, where larger and smaller Jewish communities, or settlements with several Jews, existed already in the fifteenth century. Tarnów is also mentioned among them, and the year 1445 was the earliest year when Jews settled there.
Further information about the first Jews in Tarnów can be found in documents of the Sanguszko Archive[3], cited in the “Materials for the History of Jews in Poland” and published in the Almanac and Lexicon of Polish Jews (published in Lemberg on the eve of the World War II). From these documents, we learn that Jan Amar of Tarnów descent, Kraków governor and a castellan, owner and ruler in Tarnów, mentioned in a deed issued in Kraków on April 28, 1498, provided the canon of Saint Barbara at the Tarnów collegiate, with the income of the provost in Wiezhhoslayoits (a village in the Tarnów area) in this way: “The collegian canon receives 4 measures from the Tarnów mikveh. In the case it was not available, 4 measures of manufactured goods (e.g., “Craikave{?}”) from all manufacturers and merchants, Catholics, and non-Catholics, as well as from Jews who sell manufactured products.” Dr. Meir Balaban also describes and further notes
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| The privilege was granted to the Jews of Tarnow by Prince Kazimierz Radziwiłł on February 17, 1676 |
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in his Jewish History (Volume 3, Page 231), that in 1582, the first Jewish synagogue was built in Tarnów.
A copy of the first privilege granted to the Jews by Prince Konstanty Ostrogsky in 1581, was preserved in the archives of the Jewish community in Tarnów. This document was destroyed during the Hitlerite occupation of the city, when the communal building was burned during the first months of the war. Therefore, the original of the privilege, which Prince Kazimierz Radziwiłł of Kraków gave to Tarnów Jews on February 17, 1676, is preserved in the city archive. By this act, Prince Michael Radziwiłł confirmed all the privileges that had been granted by the previous owners of Tarnów. In the aforementioned privilege (which is difficult to read in many places), he speaks about a letter from Prince Konstanti Ostrogsky, dated May 4, 1581, to the Kiev Voivodeship, which removes the Tarnów Jews from the city's jurisdiction and gives them the right to enjoy the freedom and facilities alongside other townspeople. From the content of this privilege, it is apparent that the Tarnów ruler mainly wanted the Tarnów Jews to be removed from the authority of the city's court system, thus leaving them under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tarnów princes, who conducted a long-lasting conflict with the Tarnów magistrate.
According to the privileges of October 16 and 26, 1634, Tarnów Jews were subject to the Castle Court. The privilege of October 16, 1634, gives the Jews the special right to deal with goods in the houses, in the market and in shops, to prepare brandy and sell it. That is why they had to pay taxes directly to the castle. And in fact, it went to the owner of Tarnów. The privilege of 1676 reaffirmed the right previously granted by earlier landlords us landlords to build a synagogue - was also confirmed by the privilege of March 17, 1632 - as well as to maintain a cemetery in Pogwizdów, which had served Tarnów Jews from early on.
The above privilege given by Prince Michael Radziwiłł also confirms the privilege that was given to Tarnów Jews in 1631, and which imposed on the city administration a duty of protection that the synagogue and the cemetery should not be subject to raids and brawls. He also talks there about agreements on March 20, 1662 and August 13, 1669, which regulated the relationship between Jewish and Christian butchers. The entire privilege of Prince Radziwiłł from February 17, 1676, was later reaffirmed by an act by
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Princess Kataczina Radziwiłł on May 8, 1684, as it confirms an inscription to the said privilege.
From this, one concludes that the beginning of Jewish life in Tarnów dates back to the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the Jewish community in Tarnów must have been robust enough, because in the year 1582, it built a synagogue. And as Dr. Meir Balaban writes in the previously mentioned book History of Jews in Kraków, we find mentioned the Jew David from Tarnów described as a supplier of saltpeter.
During the first period of the development of the city, the life of Tarnów Jews was closely linked to the economic and social relations that prevailed in Tarnów at the time.
In 1536, Tarnów comprised 200 houses. In the second half of the sixteenth century, the following are listed in the tax list: 86 craftsmen, 1 pharmacist, 1 beder[4], 7 bakers, 5 shopkeepers, 10 beer-brewers, 6 butchers, 4 merchants, 9 brandy distillers, 1 field worker, and 1 hairdresser. The inhabitants of the city suffered greatly from plagues. The greatest number of epidemics occurred in the years: 1348, 1482, 1516, and 1543. Apart from the plagues, the city also suffered greatly from large-scale fires, which reoccurred over the years: 1485, 1494, and 1617, almost destroying the city.
Before the period that Tarnów belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship and to Castellan Jan Amar, in 1441, the Hungarians attacked Poland, stormed into Tarnów, and destroyed the city and the castle. Just 53 years later, the city was again destroyed. Jan Amar, wanting to rebuild the city, [issued] a special privilege that year exempting the victims from taxes and payments for a period of 10 years.
The city also deeply affected by a feud that was going on between the family of Prince Ostrogsky and the family of Prince Tarnovsky. The dispute, which was rich with many dramatic moments, was resolved by the intervention of King Sigismund Augustus, who in 1571 issued a verdict, according to which Tarnów was recognized as the property of Prince Konstanti Ostrogsky (Herb Leliva), who during his reign cared a great deal for the well-being of the city, after it managed to get through several misfortunes.
As we have written before, Prince Ostrogsky in the year 1581, gave the Jews a privilege, by to which they were subject to the jurisdiction of the court of Tarnów's rulers, and were allowed to engage
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in all kinds of crafts, acquire patents[5] and enjoy all the "liberties and benefits along with all the city's residents. Prince Ostrogsky determined that for the city's benefit, the income from the special tax for distilling brandy and for using the bath, which was installed in his tax office (the bath stood on the place where the passage house on Kapitulna-Street near the foundation).
After the death of Prince Ostrogsky, the inheritance of the city passed to his son, Janusz, and when he also passed away, the city was divided among several heirs, descendants of the princely Ostrogsky family. At that time, the city was subject to the arbitrary rule of the castle mayor or of the managers of the Tarnów area, who did not care for the development of the city, but focused only on their own benefit. The city was burdened by the constant taxes and contributions during the Cossack and Swedish wars, and exposed to fires and plagues. Tarnów fell into a decline, also because of the unrest in the country, which had a powerful impact on trade, the primary source of the city's prosperity. In the year 1662, the city reached such a catastrophic state that it numbered a total of 768 inhabitants.
However, during the first half of the seventeenth century, Jews in Tarnów occupied strong economic positions. In his History of the Jews (vol. 3, Page 334) Dr. M. Balaban writes about the decline of the Council of Four Lands in the Kraków and Sandomirz areas during the seventeenth century and lists those communities that became independent. Among others, he mentions that “the rich community in Tarnów belonging to the Szydłowiec District.”
Besides the city's general troubles (fires and plagues), from which the Jewish population suffered along with the Christian one, Jews still had to defend themselves against the attacks by the guilds and the citizens of the city, who tried to push them out of their economic positions. In this conflict, the Tarnów magistrate always stood at the side of the guilds, and thus tried to obtain direct supremacy over the Jewish population from Tarnów's rulers.
During 1642, part of the city - owned by Katarzyna Zamoyska of the Ostrogsky [family] - was inherited by her son, Jan Zamoyska, of the Kiev Voivodeship and Graf (Count) of Tarnów. He, immediately after
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taking over rulership, showed his hostility to the Jews. His successor, Władysław Dominic, later followed his action, forbidding Jews to engage in trade, selling brandy, renting, and placing the Jewish population under the city's jurisdiction. In 1637, he changed his relationship to Jews and issued a general privilege in their favor. But a few years later (1643) he again limited the Jewish rights in Tarnów.
During the reign of the Polish King Jan Kazimierz (in 1654), new decrees were issued against Jews and limited their rights, because of the hostile attitude of the city authorities and of the clergy, as well as of the residents who were organized in guilds.
Franciszek Herzig, historian of Tarnów, writes in his book, History of the City of Tarnów (Dzieje Miasta Tarnowa [Polish]), that “the Jewish question, which was unknown in Tarnów until now, occupies the thoughts of the city's owners during the first half of the seventeenth century.” This happened at a time when threatening clouds covered the political horizon of Poland, “when the revolting Cossacks, in revenge for injustices and oppression, broke into the Polish territories fully armed, and along with the help of the Tatar hordes, brought death, fire, and destruction.”
The situation of Tarnów's Jews was particularly difficult, when the city was expecting the invasion of the Tatar hordes. The then ruler of the city, the aforementioned Vladislav Dominic, issued an order for the city to prepare for its defense. In a letter dated May 20, 1651, he orders that the populace (Fasfulstva) and the Jews should strictly carry out the instructions issued by the city office, that they should train in using arms. But instead of the Tatar enemy, another enemy came to the city – a plague, which claimed 2,000 victims in the years 1652 and 1653. Jews suffered the least from the plague.
As the aforementioned historian Franciszek Herzig reports, the rescue operation (which was led by the city authorities) began with the removal of Jews from the city. For the entire time that the plague lasted, Jews had to live in shacks outside the city. Pits were dug around the city, and the gates were shut so as not to allow anyone to get into Tarnów. A special watch guarded day and night so that no strangers should enter the city. The city office (which comprised the Mayor [Voit] and the Lavniks) discontinued its activities for the entire time that the plague lasted. The city became entirely isolated from the outside world. One could not be jealous of the Jews who lived in tents in the fields.
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During the Swedish invasion, the situation for the inhabitants of Tarnów was even worse, and so too that of the Jews. Franciszek Herzig writes about the Swedish invasion of Tarnów:
In 1655, at the end of July, the Swedes invaded Poland. They defeated the Polish army and occupied Kraków and Wiśnicz (Vishnitz). The remnants of the Polish army gathered in a camp below Voynich, near Tarnów. A meeting of the nobles (nobility) about defending the city took place in Tarnów's Bernardine monastery, under the chairmanship of Prince Władysław Dominik, of the Kraków Voivodeship. At the same time, remnants of the Polish army received news that the enemy was approaching. They quickly liquidated the camp and left for the other side of Pilsen. The Swedes entered the suburbs of Tarnów, imposed a contribution on the inhabitants in the amount of 5,000 Polish złotys and left, going further south.
After the death of Władysław Dominik, a part of Tarnów was inherited by his son Janusz. When it came to managing the estate, his mother did it on his behalf. In a letter dated May 29, 1660, she forbade the stewards, managers, superintendents, and tenants of the estate in Tarnów County to interfere in the city's court system, except for appeals. At the same time, Widow Dominique ordered the Tarnów Jews, who were engaged in trade, to contribute their taxes to the royal treasury at the same rate as the townspeople did. This was an important allowance by the Tarnów's rulers, because on the one hand it limited their influence on the “city court system,” over which there was a constant strife between the magistrate and Tarnów's rulers. On the other hand, they gave up the income they received from Tarnów Jews for the country's benefit.
In 1663, a fresh disaster befell the city: a fire destroyed all the buildings that were within its walls. In order to enable the city to rebuild, King John Sabieski exempted Tarnów from a whole series of taxes. Prince Alexander Janusz, who became {fullyeric} prince in 1670, had a good relationship with the Jews. He confirmed the main privilege which was given to Jews by the Ostrogsky family in the year 1581, and this had the effect of regulating the relations between the Jews and the townspeople. After the fire, and after the city was sacked by the Swedes, the magistrate changed his attitude toward Jews. Between the 19th to the 28th of May 1670, an agreement was reached between the two parties, the so-called Complanation, the full text of which we bring below, according to the materials given by Franciszek Herzig, “Complanation between Tarnów and the unbelieving Jews, citizens of Tarnów”:
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“Because until now, there have been disputes between the whole populace and the unbelieving Jews, citizens of Tarnów, and between both parties there were no judicious decisions on the points described further on, and in order to put an end to this, both the unbelieving Jews and the whole city moved to the effect that, including the validity of all the privileges, in radiantly lit remembrance of the benevolent owners, to have made between them an eternally lasting Complanation:
One: Regarding the city taxes, or more correctly stated, customary payments, the unbelieving Jews and their heirs undertook that when the payments were due, they would add to the three city portions the fourth Jewish portion. This means, when the communal administration (community) decides on a payment of 100 złoty, the city gives fifty-seventy złoty, and the Jews are required to give twenty-five złoty. Not including in this payment are the payments for guarding the highway day and night, which have long belonged to the city, as well as, God forbid, during raids from the enemy – ransom money for the enemy. As for the payments for the 12 houses and their tenants, the unbelieving Jews will have to pay the smoke payment, because it issues from the houses, but only for the twelve.
Two: Regarding the issue of foreigners coming into the homes of Jews, they will not be allowed to receive any foreigners, under the penalty of 14 grivenes at the city hospital, Of course, if they knew about this, with the addition that they need a rabbi, a cantor, a teacher, a school leader (education) for their children, therefore if one leaves his office, and someone will take his place, the Jews are obliged to notify the city office, informing about this even before the tenants' arrival.
Three: And because the purchasing outside the city, of grain {sic: corn}, wood, means of living has strengthened the Jewish monopoly in the city, subject to large fines going to the city, from now on the unbelieving Jews will stop this, and also other residents, over whom the directing councilors must have supervision, that Christians, as well as Jews, should buy nothing outside the city, but in the market – means of living, wood, grain, etc., and this only for their own consumption, not for sale and not for foreign Jews, all the time the pennant will be found on the wall, according to the old customs of this city. After the flag is removed, Jews, as well as the Christians, will be allowed to buy from merchants at trade fairs. However, because they have a very public space for this, they do not need to be included at this point.
Four: Regarding water: Although at the Commission, this point was reserved for the decision of the high-born good owners.
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Considering, however, from both sides, that the lack of water (which comes via a conduit), is a great danger for the city, for [both] citizens and Jews, and an inconvenience that, if it were to be destroyed, the city would remain without water. And because of this, willingly come to an agreement with the Jews regarding the water, such a means was found: the second “conduit” (pipe line) of the Zhenjin Canal, as it once was, must be led in the city, and just as the unbelieving Jews bring water into their houses and now also bring water together with the city officials via the first conduit, they also made an agreement with the city that two parts of the expenses for introducing this conduit will be borne by the Jews, and the city will give the third part. Because of the route that needs to be taken to the city well; the Jews must continue using the water from the old conduit for their houses. The city people must do so too, after all, just as the conduit went to the city well in olden times, so it must do now, and the main pipe must take care of both. In order for all these decisions to have weight and force, both sides placed their signatures. This took place in the Tarnów Town Hall on May 19, 1670."
At the same time, a great number of Jews arrived in Tarnów, who worked in trade and various crafts. The arrival of new craftsmen caused dissatisfaction among the city guilds, who, with the help of communal pressure, tried to push the Jews out of their workplaces. But this problem was also settled by a compromise.
In the aforementioned agreement (May 1670) we read:
“Once again, after the decision at the Town Hall, between the guilds and the unbelieving Jews, the undersigned Complanation took place: Previously, on the part of the Kirchner guild, an agreement was concluded between the guild brothers and the Jews, which allowed these Jews to bring various furs, which if they bring them, they must inform the guild about it, so that the brothers can be first to buy them, and if they do not want to buy, then the Jews can sell, but for this reason, the Jews were obliged to give two złoty every fast day; That is why they do not sell completely finished goods, such as shoes, hats, furs, and other things, because of the threat that the goods will be lost.
“As for the tailors' guild: There is no additional work, such as clothes, just a few pieces and other things for men's and women's underwear; namely, the distribution and public sale of trousers was not allowed, except for what they will produce in their guild [shop] and this they do not allow, under the threat of confiscating what they wanted to sell.”
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“As for the shoemakers' guild: The Jews are permitted to sell various well-made Sapien {special leather} work; until when the shoemakers will set up public stalls (shops). When they will be set up, the guild will be allowed to decide with them (the Jews) about it.”
Regarding the hatters' guild: because the guild is weak, but using processed fur, they can satisfy everyone. Therefore, the Jews cannot bring in felt to the guild, Weilak, Magerkes, and the hatters' guild have no right to process fur and sell it.
“Regarding butchers: Just as the Jews received their rights from the high-born wealthy landowners, and who reached an understanding with the Jews, they must abide by the rights and understanding and not change anything.”
Regarding the manufactured [products] and the hatters' guild: When wool will brought to the city, it should not be bought by a Catholic, as well as a Jew, so long as the guild brothers have not bought it. Only the Jews are allowed to bring wool into the city and sell it. If by the third day, the guild brothers have not bought the wool, every Jew may then buy it. These products, which the manufacturers processed in Tarnów; i.e., textiles, [but] no one, Catholic or Jew, is allowed to bring it to a guild [store] and sell it. All these points, which have been agreed with the city as well as with the guilds, must be in force and valid for all times.
This took place in the Tarnów on the above-mentioned day; i.e., May 19, 1670. On the part of the Jews, it was signed by Shmuel son of Yankel-Joshua, Pavish son of Moshe-Hersh; Mordechai son of Samuel.”
In this way, the relations between the Tarnów Jews and the guilds, who at the time tried to push the Jews out of their workshops, were regulated to a certain extent.
After the death of Alexander Janusz (1676), Tarnów became the property of the Lubomirskis, and one of the saddest periods in the history of the city begins. In the first half of the eighteenth century, Tarnów had to endure special misfortunes – not only externally, but also internally, locally. The frequent fires and raids by the Swedish army turned the city into a ruin. The contributions and the continuous military occupation greatly impoverished the population,
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which was exhausted by the frequent fires and plagues. The city was stood at the edge of the abyss.
Thus, in the year 1702, a fire destroyed a significant part of the city. During November-December of 1704, as well as in January-February 1705, Saxon troops were quartered in Tarnów, for which the city had to pay a tribute. In 1705, a cholera epidemic broke out in Tarnów, and in 1708, a fire engulfed the entire Lemberger Street. In May 1709 Tarnów had to contribute to the amount of 2,500 Talers. In December 1709, the Russians entered Tarnów, and the city had to provide them with food. In the year 1711, a fire broke out again, which this time also reached Zydowska (Jew) Street and destroyed all 23 Jewish houses along with goods and grain. Because of this, the royal treasurer found it necessary to exempt Tarnów Jews from the head tax for a period of 4 years.
The following figures prove (according to the Lawnik Acts of the time) how far Tarnów declined because of these disasters, and the city became emptied of people:
In 1717, the population of the city itself totaled 322 souls. In the suburbs, in the town of Pagvizdav, in that year numbered 253 residents. Altogether, the total population of Tarnów at that time, amounted to 575 persons. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Tarnów presented a very sad picture.
In 1723, the city was ruled by Prince Pavel Karal Sangushko. In order to save Tarnów from complete decline, the prince, in his privilege of October 30, 1723, confirmed all previous rights and freedoms for the inhabitants. He applied to the owners of the empty places with a request that within a year and six weeks they should rebuild the empty areas, or sell them to individuals who want to build, exempting the builders from taxes for a period of 5 years. Thanks to this encouragement, a construction movement began in the city, which lasted for several years. In 1732, a great fire broke out in Tarnów, and half of Zydowska (Jew) Street burned down. In 1735, on Saint Barbara's day, a fire engulfed the entire city and transformed it into a pile of ashes.
In 1736, Prince Pavel Karal Sangushko, in his concern to develop the city and increase its income, allowed the Jews to carry out larger construction activity than before, but only around Zydowska Jews Street. The prince also brought Jews from other cities in Poland and allowed them to settle in Tarnów. The newcomers were not accepted willingly by the Tarnów community, because they did not want to take on
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the financial responsibility for the Jews who came without the knowledge of the community. Such behavior was also influenced at that time, when Tarnów townspeople and guilds regained their influence. For Tarnów Jews, the old struggle for the right to live in the city, and for the right of Jewish trade and crafts, was renewed. The economic struggles between Christian and Jewish townspeople were revived with renewed intensity, after about fifty years of quiet in that area, because of the decline the city had undergone.
Because of the fire in 1737, Tarnów townspeople could not pay the first installment of a head tax in the amount of 1,500 złoty (the Jews contributed 100 złoty to this amount). They then appealed to Prince Sangushka in protest, in which they said, among other things:
“The citizens of Tarnów are ruined, fallen, destroyed. In the entire city, there are a couple of burned-out Catholic landlords. There are no Christian merchants. The trade and market [activity] is among Jews and on their streets.”
Worrying about his income, Prince Sangushko, in a letter dated July 16, 1737, ordered: “As long as a committee, which must go down there, has not investigated the matter, the Tarnów Synagogue must pay half of the taxes that were laid upon the city. The Jews who are owners of places and houses, together with the townspeople, must pay the second half.” In this way, the prince imposed almost half of the tax burden on the Jewish population, and cared little about the ability of the Tarnów Jews to pay.
Prince Sangushko's order was not carried out, because a large part of the city was mortgaged, and the commissioners of the Tarnów County estate did not allow Sangushko's order to be carried out by a special ban, until it was signed by Prince Radziwiłł and Jaczi [Pototsky?] of Złoty Potok Pototsky, who had mortgages on part of the city.
The Jews of Tarnów wanted to settle the issue with a compromise. On March 24, 1738, they concluded an agreement with the councilors and townspeople, according to which the Jews voluntarily undertook that, in addition to the 200 Polish złotys, which were promised after June 23, 1717, an additional 120 Polish złotys are added to each installment of the head tax. In addition, a warning is given that if the situation in the city will improve, while that of the Jews worsened, any further allowance must be discontinued. At the same time, Tarnów Jews made efforts to expand the ghetto at the expense of the city, renting shops and residences in the area inhabited by the Christian population, regardless of the
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mandatory law by King John Kazimierz [Waza] from 1656, which forbade Jews to rent or lease Catholic houses. In many Polish cities, including Tarnów, [the Jews] crossed the ghetto borders and settled into the nearby streets. Regarding bathhouses, there were frequent conflicts between the townspeople and magistrates, and also on the side of the Jews, because of financial reasons. Understandably, they often turned to the Polish magnates. They defended the Jews against tax pressure, not only from the kingdom, but also from the Jewish community – the Council of Four Lands.
In 1740, Jewish guilds began to be organized in Tarnów. They had to pay taxes to the Polish guilds in order to enjoy their privileges. The Christian guilds constantly collected significant sums from the Jewish guilds and made difficulties for them at every step. Accepting a Jewish apprentice depended on a special permission from the Christian guild-master. In order to reduce the number of Jewish journeymen, a special fee was imposed on each Jewish master for each journeyman or apprentice. Understandably, this made it difficult for Jews to engage in crafts and trade.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Jewish community in Tarnów already had its own representative, who negotiated with the city authorities and the owners of the city. The Jewish guilds negotiated with the Christian guilds. Jewish life had become organized around certain institutions and arrangements that governed their inner life in the areas of religion, social welfare, and education. The Jewish community at that time was just such an institution.
During the Middle Ages, the Jews who lived in the cities of Poland were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the king or his governor. They were the servants of the royal court. During the first half of the seventeenth century, in the ongoing power struggle between Polish magnates and the king, a royal decree was issued, according to which the king often renounced the jurisdiction over those Jews who lived in private cities, in favor of the owners of those inhabited areas. Thus, Jewish residents of the royal cities were under the royal jurisdiction, while Jewish residents of the private cities were under the jurisdiction of the rulers and owners of those cities.
Within the framework of the general privileges which were given to the Jews by various
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Polish kings, and which, in general terms, regulated the correct living arrangements of the Jews in Poland, for example, the way of trade, interest, giving an oath, establishing community administrations, courts, etc., a series of communities received special royal privileges. With the extent that the centralist royal power decreased in Poland, and with the growth of the autonomy of the independent Polish strata, some of the larger communities were deprived of far-reaching rights. With this, the power of the Voivodeship [province or state] regarding the Jews was asserted. In many cases, they came to an understanding with the governor's management in order to regulate their mutual relations. Such agreements, which were called “Governor's arrangements,” have, among others, normalized the issues of control over Jews, which until now belonged to the Jewish elders (if both parties were Jews). The Governor's arrangements also regulated the community's status, the election ordinance, and other matters.
The communities had different roles: A) Administration; B) Finances; C) Judiciary: D) Religious necessities; E) Education, and others. Within the framework of these tasks, the community acted as a representative of the Jews, mediated between the government and the Jewish population, and was in certain cases the highest court body. According to the model of the statute of the cities, introduced based on the German Magdeburg Law, the statute of the Jewish community provided for a three-tiered system for governance and organization: Seniors (Parnassim[6]), their representatives, and members of the community.
The Parnassim were the highest level of community power and were the only ones responsible for the community vis-à-vis royal power. They gave an oath to the king and the kingdom. The election of a Parnass had to be confirmed by the governor, and in private cities – by the local owner or his representative. The Parnassim changed every month, so each Parnass governed the community for a month, which is why he was called “Parnass of the Month” (Senior Mensis).
During the time he was in office, the Monthly Parnass represented the community's power. He was the Senior of the Jewish city and of the Jewish Quarter and held great influence in the Census Commission. In the cities, where only a limited number of families had housing rights, the Monthly Parnass provided the magistrate with the list of the persons who had housing rights. He also compiled the community budget, took out loans, and paid off debts. At the oral or written request of the Monthly Parnass, every Jew had to commit to service to the community.
This far-reaching power of the Parnassim led to the
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formation of an autocratic authority, which did not consider the wishes of the population, although elections were held every year. The rich and influential Jews always remained Parnassim and had unlimited power throughout their lives. This is how the rule of some rich families remained in control of the communities. They were led by ambitious people who did not at all consider the welfare of the community.
Alongside the seniors, three to five of their representatives also served with them. Very often, they were assessors (bailiffs) of the Jewish court. In the seventeenth century, the assessors were called Lavniks (clerks, bailiffs).
The third layer in the community hierarchy was formed by members from the community, whose number varied in different communities. They were either councilors of the community or members of committees responsible for carrying out various communal activities. There were many such committees: committees for accountants, judges, hospitals, market places, and cleanliness in the city, school teachers, schools {or synagogues}, administrators, collectors for the Land of Israel, for assessments of taxes, provisional committee, or overseers of craftsmen shops.
People chosen for these offices were chosen for a period of one year. The election procedure was so rigged that the majority of those elected to the community administration were members of rich families.
In this way, the community had its officials, school janitors, even its own police for day and night guard, presenting a separate administrative entity. The rabbis, teachers, judges, and [ritual] slaughterers, formed an autonomous body. Because of this, the community's expenses increased. Although a large number of officials were supported by the interested parties, the community still found it difficult to cover all its expenses, especially because besides the general amount of royalties, such as Jewish taxes (ritshalt ריטשאלט), the community also had to support the officials who exercised jurisdiction over the Jews. Because of this, the community's debts increased, and could not be covered by normal income.
In the beginning, Jews lived only in the larger cities, and there the community organization took form. Jews began coming to Poland in larger groups. Just like the German colonists, they first settled in the big cities, but eventually moved to smaller places, where Jews formed a branch of the major community. Two such larger communities initially existed in Lesser Poland: in Kraków and in Sandomirz. The government bodies were in contact only with the larger communities and placed the entire burden of taxes on them. The main community was responsible for collecting the taxes from all the Jews in the given area. The new settlements that appeared in the neighboring area
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did not immediately receive the right to build a synagogue, arrange for a cemetery, or hire rabbis. Because of this, the small and weak communities depended on the larger ones. Such a small community was only a branch of the larger one, paying the taxes after negotiations. But over time, such a branch became independent. It organized its own synagogue, with its own rabbis, teachers – and finally – also its own cemetery. The major community did not always immediately agree to such independence, and because of this, conflicts often broke out with the branch community. Over time, an understanding was finally reached with the major community, especially regarding financial matters, to simplify the collection of taxes for the royal treasury. In such a situation, the independent rural communities were formed with a rural rabbi. All the Jewish communities that were in the Kraków district were branches of the Kraków or Sandomirz community. The Kraków rabbi and the Kraków community held power over all the Jewish communities that were located in the territory of the Kraków-Sandomirz Voivodeship. Already in the sixteenth century, they formed a single administrative unit, divided into five regions (with Kraków as the center): Opatów (Apt), Szydłów, Chęciny, Pińczów, and Wodzisław. The Jewish community in Tarnów belonged to the Szydłów district (cf. Dr. M. Balaban, The History of the Jews in Kraków).
Each rural district (Sejmstva) had its own rural community and its own rural rabbi. Its affairs were taken care of by the rural assembly or Sejmik, as the Poles called it. In the seventeenth century, when Kraków lost its influence, and the Kraków-Sandomirz district became a separate administrative unit, the Sandomirz Assembly met for a certain period in Stopnica (Stopnitz). In 1754, representatives of the Tarnów community participated in the assembly of the country's deputies, held in Stopnitz.
As there were issues, important in all areas, according to the pattern of the Great Sejm [Assembly] in the Polish kingdom, a Sejm of Jews from Poland and Lithuania came into existence, which represented all the communities in both countries. At that time, the famous fairs were held in Lublin, where merchants from all over Poland used to assemble. In order to alleviate various disputes that used to break out at the fairs, the communities sent Annual Market Judges to Lublin. From this emerged, already in the first half of the sixteenth century, the High Court of the Polish Kingdom while a separate court arose in Lithuania.
Besides this jurisdictional connection, during the mid-sixteenth century there was also an effort on the financial side to unite these countries,
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for the following reasons: In 1549, the High Sejm of the Polish state introduced the head tax for Jews. During the implementation of this law, it turned out that the kingdom did not have the appropriate administrative apparatus to collect the tax. Because of this, both the list and the individual tax had to be handed over to the local and rural communities. However, this procedure did not provide any satisfactory results. Therefore, it was in the kingdom's interest and that of the Jews to create such bodies representing all communities, which would collect the tax in all of Poland.
Because of this, in 1581, the Jewish Sejm of the Polish Kingdom came into being. Each year, it was required to contribute a definite rounded amount to the royal treasury. This representative was called Va'ad Arba Artzot (Council of Four Lands). Its activity covered Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania.
The Council of Four Lands was an organization recognized by the kingdom. The national treasurer received an instruction from the Polish High Sejm that he is obliged to come to an understanding with the collectors of the head tax. Later, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Lithuania left the Council of Four Lands and formed its own Sejm, as a separate administrative unit.
As we know, the Jewish Sejm was composed of two bodies: a Sejm and a [rabbinical] court (or Sejm-Tribunal), which met twice a year: in February in Lublin, and in September in Jarosław. The delegates elected by the rural areas and free cities gather at the Sejm. Understandingly, the delegates of one land formed partnerships headed by their own marshals/chairmen. The Sejm elected a marshal/chairman from the Jews of the Polish Kingdom, and with him, a trusted aide or a treasurer, and a general secretary.
The Jewish Sejm was responsible to the Polish government for collecting the head tax and other taxes, as well as dividing them among the various lands and larger communities. The various issues relating to trade and crafts were settled along with social and administrative matters, were also regulated by the Jewish Sejms. One of the main concerns of the Jewish Sejm was the subject of educating the youth: opening and maintaining Yeshivas, confirming learning programs, and printing Jewish books in Poland. The last point was often on the Jewish representative's agenda.
In order to cover the expenses for such diverse activities, the community directly taxed its members. These taxes were collected from weddings, transactions, and judgments. In the second
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half of the sixteenth century, because of the impoverishment of the Jewish population, the aforementioned taxes could not cover the community's expenses, a consumption tax was introduced, the so-called Krubke – a list of meat, pastries, meat and other food items. When the income from the new tax did not cover the expenses, the community had to resort to loans, which the non-Jewish world gladly gave, accepting as collateral the synagogue, the cemetery, and the community's income.
The community's economy was not always in the hands of honest Parnassim. Quite often, Parnassim and [their] appointees used their functions for private gain, while the communities sunk into debt. The Krubke, the method that was determined, became a source of income for various persons that had influence in the community. Later, the Krubke was also exploited by various cliques, who had already taken care of it and ensured that the community would remain in the hands of their “own” people.
The Jewish population bent under the burden of various taxes and payments, which were imposed by the Parnassim. Any attempt to improve the finances of the local as well as the rural communities that were undertaken by the royal bodies, or by entrepreneurs, did not achieve any results. The internal rivalries, mutual suspicions, and dishonesty, as well as the struggle for hegemony between the local and rural communities, did not allow for any effort to change the situation. In 1764, the government abolished the Jewish Sejm and the main Sejm, and a head tax was introduced to the amount of 2 złoty per person. This tax had to be collected by the local communities.
Even the Tarnów community, which belonged, as we have already mentioned, to the Lesser Poland or Kraków-Sandomirz district, was not free from all these burdens and concerns, as well as from the dishonest economy. After a whole series of disputes and trials, it was also decided by the Jewish Sejm, 1692, to Kraków split off into a separate administrative unit. In the place of Kraków, six towns in Lesser Poland emerged, which fought among themselves for hegemony.
“The rich Tarnów community” – as described by Prof. Meir Balaban (vol. 3, Page 334), – “which was once a sub-community of Kraków, after separating from Kraków, passed under the administration of Szydłowiec, and became a sub-community of Szydłowiec.”
The Lesser Polish community center came close to its decline not only because of the dispute with Kraków, but mainly because of the fatal financial policy. The Jewish population began to murmur more and more
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against the burdens that were imposed on it by the District Committee. However, all the accusations did not help. It turned out that no power could remove the evil and limit the determination of the trustees and the community secretaries. In the previously cited book by M. Balaban, the following description of the defective community economy is given: “After the dissolution of the Council of Four Lands, in 1764, it turned out that between 1754 and 1763, the community leaders received 897,607 Polish złoty, and could only account for 541,406 Polish złoty. Regarding the outstanding amount, the community officials answered they were ‘necessary expenses,’ for which there were no receipts.”
The Tarnów community too, which already in 1631 emerged as a separate entity with all the attributes of a community, went down the same course as the other communities.[a] In 1754, representatives of the Tarnów community took part in the assembly of the district's deputies, held in Stopnitz. In 1765, 2325 Jews lived in Tarnów and in the nearby communities (Tarnów County, [Polish: Powiat]). For the time, this was a fairly large community. According to a registration {census} of the population that was then carried out in all of Poland, the following number of Jews was recorded: in the Kingdom of Poland – 420,589, in Lithuania 137,300. A total of 577,899 Jews lived in the entire Polish country. With such a number, the Tarnów community, with 2325 people, was considered one of the larger communities.
In 1752, Prince Karal Sangushka died. His entire estate was bequeathed to his wife Barbara for [her] entire life. That is how Tarnów also passed into her possession.
The now approaching catastrophe of the Polish kingdom had a heavy impact on the fate of the Jewish communities. Exposed to constant dangers outside and frequent battles with the townspeople for the right to live and the right to work, the communities were completely weakened. The Parnassim only continued to take advantage of this situation. They were actively involved with the community, doing as they pleased, with no social conscience, thereby bringing their communities to ruin.
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