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Lesko
Yiddish: Linsk, Lisk. It is a district seat in the Podkarpackie voivodship, picturesquely situated along the Bieszczady highway in the San valley. The Bieszczady range extends to the south, and in the north there is the Słonne Mountains.
Sights of interest:
- The late Gothic parish church of the Visitation from the first half of the sixteenth century; reconstructed (neo-Gothic tower built in the late nineteenth century)
- Kmita family castle (sixteenth century), with late-Gothic and Renaissance tower that served as living space;
- Fortifications transformed in the first half of the nineteenth century into garden terraces;
- Buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including an inn and town hall.
Lesko is a gateway to the northeastern band of the Bieszczady mountains and Słonne Góry; sixteen kilometers to the south is Soliński Lake with its many recreational areas.
In the vicinity are also two nature preserves - "Dyrbek" and "Góra Sobień".
Historical outline
Though Lesko is first mentioned in historical documents in the year 1436, it is not the town that was referred to, but rather the village "Leszco". The town was founded in approximately the year 1470 by the wealthy and influential Kmita family, who granted the town the Śreniawa crest and Maltese cross. Its founder and first wójt (head of group of villages) was Filip, a Sanok burgher, who nevertheless renounced his office in favor of the town's owner, Jan Kmita. In 1477, the Kmita family granted Lesko a privilege that confirmed the town's charter based on Magdeburg Law. After an attack by the Hungarian army and the destruction of the Kmita family seat in Sobień, Lesko became their holdings' main center. Soon, in the early sixteenth century, the family built a Renaissance defensive castle, churches (both Catholic and Orthodox, though the latter has not survived). During the reign of King Zygmunt August, Lesko received several other privileges. For example, the statute of the Lesko guilds was confirmed, and a special court was created for "Beskidniks" (highwaymen attacking traveling traders); a parish school was also founded. After the death of Piotr Kmita, the town passed into the hands of Stanisław Stadnicki, the uncle of the notorious "Devil of Łańcut".
After a fire in 1785, the castle fell into ruin. It was the poet and ethnographer Wincenty Pol, a great Polish patriot, who supervised its reconstruction. Relationships by marriage and court cases meant that Lesko changed hands often. At various times it was owned by the Barzi, Stadnicki, Ossoliński, Mniszch and Krasicki families.
The town's advantageous location along the trade routes from Rus' and Hungary aided its development, as well as privileges that allowed it to hold two fairs - i.e., yearly markets, as well as weekly markets that had a more local character. The town had eleven crafts guilds, which represented about forty specializations. Lesko was a multicultural town that had Polish, Ruthenian, Jewish and Armenian residents living peacefully side by side. As a result, in the late sixteenth century, there were two churches in the town, as well as two Orthodox churches and a synagogue. The town had ramparts, and drawbridges at its main gates � the Lwów and Hungarian (Węgierska) gates. Moreover, it also had a water-works, paved market square and the right to store Hungarian wines, which at that time brought a great deal of income.
The seventeenth century was a particularly stormy one in Lesko's history - the Tatars, Swedes and Chmielnicki's Cossacks attacked the town, looting it and burning its wooden structures. The town had not managed to recover from these calamities yet when as a result of the first partition of Poland, Lesko was taken by the Austrians. It became the district seat, which nevertheless did not prevent the town from declining further. The partitioning power's administration changed the town's name to "Lisko". Lesko's inhabitants opposed the partitioning powers and made use of any chance they had to engage in social and cultural activities, resisting the policy of Germanziation. In the early twentieth century, the economy improved and a lumber mill, lubricants factory, the Dym Brothers refinery and the region�s first steam-run canning plant were opened. During the First World War, detachments of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies passed through Lesko. The Russians set the castle on fire as they retreated. Lesko, because it supplied the front, suffered heavy material losses.
During the interwar period, Lesko belonged to the Lwów Voivodship. The town experienced a renaissance: at the initiative of Lieutenant-Colonel Zygmunt Gilewicz, in 1923 the Sanovia sports club was founded, which produced Władysław Bossak - world record holder in the 100 km walk - and Leon Terefeńko - European weight-lifting champion. In 1929, the Glider School was opened in Bezmiechowa, several kilometers from Lesko, where several hundred people earned their pilot's licenses, and whose graduate, Wanda Modlibowska, broke the world record in 1937 when she succeeded in staying in the air for twenty-four hours and fourteen minutes. In 1938, Tadeusz Góra was first in the world to receive the Lilienthal medal for his flight from Bezmiechowa, near Wilno.
Despite the town�s general prosperity, also in part because it was a vacation destination, many residents remained unemployed and lived in poverty, which led to conflicts with an economic basis, such as the "Lesko uprising" of 21 June - 9 July 1932, which was a revolt of local left-wing peasants against being forced to work on road construction and maintenance.
During the Second World War, Lesko was under Soviet occupation as part of the "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic" as a result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, according to which the line of demarcation ran along the San river. The castle became the headquarters of a military garrison and the library collections, historical artifacts and moveable property were destroyed. After the Germans took over control of Lesko, the persecution of the Jews and Polish intelligentsia began, and there were mass executions, such as the massacre of Poles that took place on Gruszka hill. Despite the circumstances, a resistance movement nevertheless developed, and partisan detachments waged many irregular battles with the occupiers. Although the town was liberated 14 September 1944 during a Soviet offensive, this did not mean peace followed. Lesko continued to be the object of attacks by bands from Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
After the Holocaust and communist resettlement of the Ukrainian population as part of "Operation Wisła", Lesko had a population of only about 1,500.
Jews in Lesko
Jews first probably arrived in Lesko in the late fifteenth century. Legend has it that the first Jewish residents of Lesko were Jews who had been expelled from Spain, though this has not been confirmed by historical records.
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The first Jewish resident of Lesko was named in the census of 1542, and the oldest headstone at the cemetery dates back to 1548. In the census of 1580, a Jewish rabbi and school are mentioned. In the late sixteenth century, a kahal was founded in Lesko, which played a significant role in the Sanok region. The town�s development in the sixteenth century attracted many new Jewish settlers, who were mainly involved in trade and financial activities. In Lesko, however, about 50% of the Jews were involved in crafts, and many owned agricultural land, which at that time was rare. In Lesko, Jews accepted the town charter along with its other residents. From the eighteenth century, Jews comprised the majority of Lesko's population, and from the mid-nineteenth century, after policies eased in the Austrian partition, they were also members of the town council. In the 1930's, after Poland had regained its independence, the deputy mayor was Alter Müller, and five other Jews from Lesko were part of the municipal government.
In the seventeenth century, a masonry synagogue was built, and an already existing kirkut was expanded. The eighteenth century brought increased interest in Chasidism, probably in the wake of the calamities and suffering. People sought forms that were closer to their own sensibility and a religious life that was less formalized. No tsaddik dynasty arose in Lesko, however; Samuel Szmelke was Lesko's best known tsaddik.
During the Second World War, it was only the rich Jews who were subject to repressions by the Soviets. They were persecuted for ideological reasons as exploiters of the common people, their property was looted and they were deported deep into Russia. After the Germans assumed power in Lesko on 24 June 1941, everyone was in danger. The Germans created a temporary ghetto, from which all Jewish residents were sent to Zasławie. At the former cellulose factory there was a camp officially known as a forced labor camp, which was actually a death camp. Over 15,000 Jews from all over the Bieszczady mountains passed through that camp, of which about 2,500 were from Lesko. Of those 15,000, the Germans killed 10,000 on the spot, sent 5,000 to Bełżec, where the same fate awaited them. Executions took place in the "Malinki" woods.
Heroic attempts to save the Jews were punished by death, in accordance with the decree that was in force throughout the Generalgouvernement. The Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem granted the Righteous Among Nations medal to Franciszka and Józef Zwonarz of Lesko, and also to Dr. Miron Lisikiewicz for their rescue of Jewish families.
The Synagogue
The synagogue is mentioned in documents as early as the seventeenth century. The building was constructed in the Renaissance style, and its interior was redone in the first half of the nineteenth century in the Mannerist style. In addition, gables were added and the roof was replaced. It was built of stone and partially of brick covered with parget. At the south-western corner there is a round tower, which still has its stone stairs and dungeon. It once served as a prison for the Jewish Community, which enjoyed judicial autonomy. Adjacent to the Western wall there is an annex that used to house the women's prayer room.
The synagogue. Photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
On its façade there is a sign under Moses' tablets that says: "And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:17) The altar wall is modeled on the famous "Golden Rose" synagogue in Lwów - the Aron ha-Kodesh is framed with half-columns topped by a triangular roof. Wrought iron doors dating back to the nineteenth century divided the vestibule from the prayer room.
The Germans destroyed the synagogue during the occupation. After the war, it was completely restored. Since 1976, it has housed an art gallery featuring the works of the Bieszczady Artists' Group and the headquarters of the Bieszczady Section of the main Polish hiking and sight-seeing association (Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze).
Until the Second World War, there had been many prayer houses and small synagogues in Lesko near the main synagogue: the Old Synagogue, the New Synagogue (where the Community's guilds would meet), Sandzer Klojz (where the supporters of the Halberstams of Nowy Sącz would meet), Sadygierer Klojz (where the opponents of the Sącz Chasidim would meet, the supporters of Izrael Friedman).
Kirkut
The cemetery is situated near the synagogue on a small hill covered with oaks. Over 2,000 matsevot have survived, making it the largest Jewish cemetery in the Podkarpacie Voivodship. Particularly noteworthy are the wonderfully preserved Jewish tombstones from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which also constitute the largest such group in Poland. The oldest epitaph dates back to 1548 and announces: "Here rests the God-fearing man Eliezer, son of the rabbi Meszulem, blessed be the memory of the righteous." The cemetery is under the care of art historians and restorers.
Events organized by the Bieszczady Cultural Center in Lesko
"Carnival at the Bieszczady Cultural Center" � January and February � concerts, performances, competitions
"Poetry Encounters" - March
"Intermural Theater Festival and the Gold Mask Awards" - April 28-29
"Bieszczady Musings" - "Synagogue" Gallery - art exhibition by approximately eighty artists from the Bieszczady region - April 30 - October 23
"May Weekend" - series of events, May 1-3
"Lesko Days" - May 27-29
"Bieszczady Review of Children's Dance Groups and the Golden Slippers Awards" - May 28
"Country in the Bieszczady Mountains - Country Lesko" - July 8-9
"Summer in Lesko" - series of events for the summer holidays
"Disco Competition and the Stuffed Bear Award" - July 31
"New Year's Eve on the Market Square" - 31 December - 1 January
"Small BDK Gallery" - painting, sculpture, photography - all year long
Important People Associated with Lesko:
Władysław Bossak
Leon Terefeńko
Wanda Modlibowska
Tadeusz Góra
You are welcome to discuss about "Lesko"
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