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Jaroslaw
Jaroslaw, situated on the San river, is a district seat in the Podkarpackie Voivodship.
Sights of interest:
- Orsetti building (17th c.)
- Jesuit church (1571)- currently the collegiate church
- Church of St. Nicholas
- Benedictine convent (1615)
- Dominican church of Our Lady of Sorrows
- Dominican monastery (17th c.)
- Orthodox church (18th c.)
- Synagogue (19th c.)
In the vicinity: palaces in Zarzecz, Sieniawa and Wysock, and a wooden seventeenth century Orthodox church in Chotyniec.
Settlement in the area of present-day Jaroslaw began in the eighth century, when a trading settlement probably existed here, as evidenced by archeological finds. This development was undoubtedly aided by its position on a navigable river on the salt and amber routes, linking the East and West. Its name is derived from that of Yaroslav, prince of Kievan Rus', father of queen Dobrogniewa, the wife of the Polish king Kazimierz I the Restorer. According to legend, as he incorporated the Grody Czerwienskie (ie, several fortified towns in the east) into his state, Kazimierz founded the settlement in 1031 and named it after himself. No historical evidence exists, however, that would give credence to this legend.
The first mention of Jaroslaw dates back to 1152. Until the mid-fourteenth century, the town was part of the principality of Halych-Volodymyr. In 1349, it was annexed to the Crown by King Kazimierz the Great, and in 1375, Wladyslaw Opolczyk, palatine of Ludwik the Hungarian, granted it a town charter based on Magdeburg Law. A town hall was erected on the market square, as well as the All Saints' church (demolished in the nineteenth century by the Austrians after its tower collapsed). The town was surrounded by defensive walls, traces of which can still be seen today.
In 1387, Queen Jadwiga gave the town of Jaroslaw to the wealthy Tarnowski family. Then, as a result of inheritance and relationships by marriage, Jaroslaw became the property of the Odrowąż, Kostka, Ostrogski, Lubomirski, Sieniawski, Zamojski, Sanguszko and Czartoryski families, and others.
The largest market was the one lasting four weeks in August, called the "great" or simply "Jaroslaw" fair, which saw traders from Europe and the East, some of whom stayed on longer, assimilated and settled in the town permanently. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Jaroslaw was also an important river port, since the San was used for shipping goods to Gdansk. In 1575, a Jesuit Collegium was founded in the town, which made it an important regional academic center, though research has shown that the Collegium's original building was actually located outside the town's boundaries. Hints of Jaroslaw�s former glory have survived in its distinctive urban layout and architecture of its merchants' houses, with their spacious cellars used to store goods.
The most difficult period in the town's history came during the seventeenth century, when the country was shaken by successive wars and invasions by Tatars, Turks, Swedes and Cossacks. The partitions brought the town's further decline, and the town�s ability to conduct trade was severely hampered until 1860, when Galicia gained its autonomy and the Kraków-Lwów railway began to be built. At that time, a number of public buildings were built and a municipal park was created.
Jaroslaw's residents took an active part in the struggle for independence. In particular, Leon Czechowski deserves special attention. With a group of people from Jaroslaw, he fought in the November Uprising of 1831 and participated in the attack on Belvedere, fighting tirelessly until his death for Poland's independence. A leader of the underground, he by some miracle managed to survive the Galician massacre of 1846 carried out by peasants, and took part in the Spring of Nations as well as the January Uprising, and served as a major in the Transylvania Legion, dying in 1888 in Jaroslaw. His funeral became a demonstration of Polish nationhood.
Although the First World War wrought further destruction, after Poland regained its independence in 1918, Jaroslaw saw dynamic growth. During the interwar period, Jaroslaw had a population of 26,000, of which 12,000 were soldiers who were stationed there. A variety of improvements raised residents' standard of living, and many small-scale factories were established.
The German army entered Jaroslaw already on 10 September 1939, and the town was liberated on 27 July 1944. The retreating Germans managed to blow up the train station, post office, elementary schools, electricity plant, and the church and Benedictine convent.
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The German occupation was a time of terror and extermination of the local Jewish population, as well as of a fight for freedom and of mass executions, destruction and looting of cultural property. Students from Jarosław's high schools, arrested 20 May 1940, were among those in the first transport to Auschwitz.
Jews were first mentioned in a document that dates back to 1571, which is when Zofia Tarnowska, who then owned the town, introduced the principle of non tolerandis Judaeis, which was the right to refuse Jews permission to settle within the city walls. They thus inhabited the areas known as the "Ruthenian suburb" beyond the Pełkiński gate.
They probably appeared much earlier, as suggests an ambiguous document found in the municipal archive about two Jews who lived in Jaroslaw as early as 1561. Nevertheless, there are no records proving their presence any earlier than that date.
Tarnowska's ban was not strictly observed, as suggested by the fact that it was later renewed by princess Anna Ostrogska in 1630, as well as by King Jan III Sobieski in 1676.
The Jews who lived in Jarosław, or in its outskirts, were part of the Przemysł religious community, which had been established as early as the sixteenth century. They also buried their dead in the Przemysł kirkut. They were traders in grain, tavern-keepers and grocers. In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Jarosław had a street called Żydowska ("Jewish") - in the northwestern section of its downtown area. In the late seventeenth century, a cemetery was established beyond the Pełkiński Gate. The Jewish Diet granted permission for it to be founded. In 1704, the first rabbi of Jaroslaw was chosen - Jeszaj, originally from Kraków. In 1738, over one hundred Jewish families were living in Jarosław, and the town's Jewish community strove to gain its independence from the Przemysł kahal, which ultimately took place in 1774. The first rabbi of the independent Jaroslaw kahal was rabbi Jehoszyja Horowitz. Beginning in 1785, the surrounding villages also belonged to the Jaroslaw Community, and the number of Jews grew. A synagogue was built.
The Little Synagogue. Photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
There is a lack of precise information about its construction. According to M. Orłowicz, it was built of material from the All Saints' collegiate church, which was demolished after its tower collapsed. Doubt has been cast on this hypothesis, however. In 1810, a committee was established to build the synagogue. It was headed by Naftali Herz, the son of Samuel Charif, who soon began building it, completing it in 1811.
In Jaroslaw, two Jewish associations were active: the oldest was the burial society "chevra kadisha", which cared for the dead, and had been founded even earlier than the kahal. In time, it was also involved in other charitable activities. The chevra kadisha was a religious organization, demanding great discipline from its members, who were recruited from among the most respectable Jews in the community. Another religious association was the "Shomrim labojker", which focused primarily on study of the scriptures and religion. Each of the associations had its own house of prayer.
The first Jewish cemetery began to be built in 1700 in the "Prussian suburbs" beyond the Pełkiński gate, several kilometers outside town. The founding of the kirkut was a breakthrough in terms of the ban in force since 1636, which had dictated that all Jews who died in Jarosław be buried in Przemysł. During the German occupation, the kirkut was destroyed, and its matsevot, some of which were of great historical and artistic value, were used by the Germans to reinforce roads. The kirkut, unfenced and overgrown, currently occupies 1.85 hectares (4.57 acres). It is located along the side road leading to the intersection with the Jaroslaw-Wygarki highway. Only a dozen or so matsevot have survived in a group in the south-eastern section of the cemetery. The oldest of these dates back to 1850. The cemetery also has unmarked graves of Jews who were shot by the Germans.
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