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Rymanow
Rymanów is a town in the Podkarpacie Voivodship, on the Tabor river, on the Bukowski plateau.
Sights of interest
- the elaborately decorated church of St. Wawrzyniec (Lawrence) (1779-1781)
- bell tower and tower (18th century)
- presbytery (18th century)
- ruins of the synagogue (17th century)
- manor, landscape park, rządcówkę (19th century)
- wooden houses (19th century)
Historical origins
Rymanów was granted its town charter in 1376 by Władysław Opolczyk, in the name of the king Louis I the Great (Ludwik Węgierski). Louis was heir to the Polish throne after the death of Kazimierz the Great. Opolczyk issued the charter to Mikołaj, son of Reyman. The town was granted its charter based on Magdeburg Law and was originally supposed to be named Ladisslavia. The name Rymanów took hold instead, however, and it is by this name that it is known in the documents as early as 1443, when it is listed as a town in historical documents from Sanok.
Rymanów developed very slowly, despite its location near important trading routes to Hungary and between Małopolska to Red Ruthenia. Originally a royal town, it then became part of the Gorajski family holdings, and later belonged to the following families: Sienieński, Stadnicki, Zebrzydowski, Czartoryski, Opaliński, and then once again to the Czartoryskis, then to the Stadnickis, Ossolińskis, Potockis and Skórskis, and, finally, once again to the Potocki family.
The local shoemakers were granted a privilege allowing them to found a guild as early as 1402. The king Władysław Jagiełło also established a market for canvas, cattle and Hungarian wine, which nevertheless did not significantly influence the town's development.
Rymanów's most prosperous period was during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and then after the first partition of Poland in 1772, when Rymanów became part of the Austrian partition. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a therapeutic mineral water spring was found near Rymanów, which contributed to the foundation of the spa near Rymanów (Rymanów Zdrój). Today, it is a therapeutic center for children, specializing in the treatment of illnesses of the circulatory system and respiratory tract. The spa belonged to the Potocki family, and was visited by S. Wyspiański and K. Przerwa-Tetmajer, among others. The two world wars laid waste to the town. The third mountain brigade Sanok, led by Colonel J. Kotowicz, became famous for its fierce fighting during the defense of Rymanów.
The Jews of Rymanów
Jews began settling in towns of Podkarpacie in the sixteenth century. The first Jew to be mentioned in reference to Rymanów appeared in 1562 � it was Michał, a salt trader. Jewish families appear with increasing frequency in the tax records from the 1560's on. The nearby royal towns of Krosno and Sanok, as well as diocesan towns Brzozów and Jaśliska did not encourage Jewish settlement. At the same time, it should be stressed that none of the towns of Podkarpacie had been granted a privilege allowing a fourth yearly fair, as well as permission to hold a market every week, as Rymanów did. The owner of the town at that time, Zbigniew of Sienno, the castellan of Sanok, had allotted the northwestern part of the town to the Jews. They were involved in money lending and trade, including the wine trade, in which they were so enthusiastic - as consumers as well, apparently - that the Council of Four Lands in 1594 made a point of telling them that they should not abuse wine and get drunk, because otherwise they would be banned from trading in general. Jews also took part in crafts production, though they were not accepted into the guilds. They bought agricultural products, and leased inns, breweries and distilleries.
The view of Rymanow, photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
During the seventeenth century, Rymanów�s economy weakened. The wars and disease that swept through the Polish lands also left their mark on the situation of the Jewish communities. A great fire in 1710 devastated the town, which recovered only in the second half of the eighteenth century, when it enjoyed a heyday during the period 1768-80. At that time, its owner, Józef Ossoliński, resided there, making Rymanów the seat of his extensive holdings. He funded a church, where he eventually, at his request, was buried. The death of Ossoliński, and above all the first partition of Poland and the annexation of those lands by Austria, contributed to the town�s decline. The partitioning power's policies took advantage both of the Polish and Jewish populations, both of whom were subjected to ever-growing taxes and obligations, including military service in the Austrian army. All official matters were conducted in German, and from 1788, all Jews had to adopt German surnames.
Chasidism
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Rymanów gained fame as a center of Chasidism. The first tsaddik of Rymanów, Menachem Mendel, said that tsaddikim are "God's chariot". The Rymanów center became famous all over Podkarpacie, thanks in large part to the charisma of their tsaddikim: Menachem Mendel, Cwi Hersz Cohen and Józef Friedman, known for his breadth of knowledge, as well as for his kindness and helpfulness, also towards Catholics. The last tsaddik of Rymanów was rabbi Izaak Friedmann, the great-grandson of Jisroel of Rużyn, founder of the Sadogóra dynasty. After his death in 1929, the function of the tsaddik was combined with that of rabbi, a position held at that time by Asher Horowitz, who was married to the daughter of rabbi Józef Friedman. All Rymanów's tsaddikim were buried in the town's kirkut.
Twentieth Century
In the late nineteenth century, the Jewish religious community in Rymanów covered four towns and thirty-nine villages, which included 1,183 Jews. There were two synagogues, one cemetery and one school, an infirmary and a poorhouse. In 1930, the Community already numbered 2,861 (which was a 142% increase in population). The creation of the spa in 1879 contributed to this rapid growth. The baths and bathing complex were completed and construction began on villas for guests and patients � with all this having a positive influence on the local economy.
The town was destroyed during the First World War, and the retreating Russians looted everything of any value at all. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Rymanów was attacked by Ruthenians to such an extent that the local authorities appealed to the Polish Liquidation Commission to issue a ban on markets in order to limit the contact the town had with outsiders. In addition, the town was struck by a typhus epidemic in 1915.
During the interwar period, the town's economy and cultural life experienced an upturn. In 1924, the Association of Jewish Traders was founded, which in time became the Economic Society. At the same time, the Jewish Cultural Association was established. Three sports clubs were active: "Makabi", "Hagibor" and "Radifa". In 1927, the following six Jewish organizations were active: "Hidachdut", "Hachaluc", "Schlomej Emunej Israel", "Beth Izaak", "Beth Israel" and "Biblioteka Żydowskich Robotników im. Peretza" - the Peretz Jewish Workers' Library" - which had already been founded as early as 1920. A number of sections of Jewish youth organizations were also founded, including "Haszomer Hatzair", "Agudas Israel", "Bnei Akiva" and "Beitar". The communist party became popular among the workers. Memoirs contain passages relating episodes that attest to the neophytic ardor of the young communists. For example Leopold Dąb Trejper, later the chairman of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland, called "Red Poldek" ("Poldek" being a nickname for "Leopold") by the locals, glued communist posters on the church, synagogue, and even on the house of the Greek Catholic bishop. The Jewish population grew, despite emigration to the United States and Palestine. Seven Jews sat on the twenty-member town council at that time.
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When the Second World War broke out, the Germans entered Rymanów on 9 September 1939. Moving east, they handed the town over to the Slovaks, who appointed a Ukrainian mayor - a collaborator, who in turn appointed a new Ukrainian town administration. Soon the Germans ordered the Jewish inhabitants to cross the San river line within twenty-four hours, which meant moving into the Soviet zone of occupation. Almost all followed these orders, though many secretly returned to Rymanów in the hope they would be able to survive. On 22 March 1942, the town's occupying authorities began drawing up a list of Jews living in Rymanów.
During the occupation, the Jews from nearby villages were concentrated in Rymanów, though technically no ghetto was actually created there. On 13 August 1942, all the Jews were gathered on the market square, and then some were sent to the camp in Płaszów, some to Bełżec and some to the forest near Tylmanowa, on the slope of Mt. Błudna, where they were shot, along with the Jews from Dukla and Jaśliska. Those who survived the Holocaust did not however settle once again in Rymanów permanently, but for the most part opted for emigration.
Traces
A synagogue existed in Rymanów already in the sixteenth century, and was at first a wooden building. The first mention of a masonry synagogue dates back to the early eighteenth century, and its shape and placement suggest that it could have been built in the first half of the seventeenth century. The synagogue has thick, heavy walls and is at the foot of a hill where the town gate was, which may indicate that it was incorporated into the town's fortifications system.
It was built of river rocks, sandstone blocks and fired bricks. Its main shape is rectangular, and measures 17 x 21 meters. In the late nineteenth century, it was thoroughly reconstructed, the shape of its roof was changed and its southeastern corner was reinforced with a buttress.
The synagogue, photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
The bima, which has survived, dates back to the period when the synagogue was undergoing reconstruction. Its columns' caps reflect Viennese eclecticism of the second half of the nineteenth century. From the wall paintings, images of an eagle and panther have survived. On the Western wall, there is a prayer scene at the Wailing Wall and a view of David�s palace. According to Andrzej Potocki, these works were done in the 1930's, and the artist who created them, Baruch Fass, basing himself on a postcard of Jerusalem, confused the palace of David with the Carmelite monastery. In winter the synagogue was not heated, which is why people prayed in smaller synagogues and prayer rooms as well. During the Second World War, the Germans used the building as a warehouse for looted Jewish property, and its holy books were burned. After the war, the building deteriorated quickly because it lacked a roof, and in 1957 a decision was made to demolish it, which however never actually took place. Today only its ruins remain.
The most beautiful Jewish building in Rymanów was the rabbinical palace, erected by Cwi Hersz Cohen, which was used by the Soviet military beginning in 1944. They housed a hospital there, destroying and looting the building, which was ruined as a result. After the Soviets left the building, it was demolished. Near the palace were the cheder, baths, Chasidic poorhouse and a hospital.
The cemetery
The cemetery is about two hundred meters from the Catholic cemetery, which is also called an okopisko. From at least the mid-eighteenth century, Jews from all over the kahal � nine towns in the area � were buried here. About eight hundred matsevot, in quite good condition, survive. Most of the gravestones were used during the war by the Germans to reinforce roads, using forced Jewish labor. At the top of the cemetery hill stand two oholot: that of tsaddik Menachem Mendl and his wife, and of the tsaddik Cwi Hersz, as well as the graves of rabbis Hiroch Kohen and Józef Friedman. Their graves are visited by pilgrims from all over the world, who leave kvitele at the graves - little pieces of paper with their requests written on them. In the 1990's, a wall was built around the kirkut, and currently the cemetery is being tidied up while conservation work is underway.
Important Jews connected with Rymanów
Menachem Mendel: Rymanów's first tsaddik was originally from Frysztak, where he was born in 1745. Having studied in Berlin, he then continued under tsaddik Samuel Horowitz of Nikolsburg, Elimelech of Leżajsk and Heszel of Opatów. After leading the Community in Przeworsk, he became rabbi in Rymanów. He was famous for his asceticism, gift of clairvoyance and power to heal a variety of illnesses. When he was leading the Community, he adopted much from rebbe Elimelech of Leżajsk. He devoted himself most of all to his pupils and the members of the Community, which he treated as a state of its own. He had a gift for public speaking, and left several collections of sermons, kabbalistic commentaries on the Talmud and some regulations relating to women's garb. Alteret Menachem contains practical pointers and interpretations of the Law of Moses, Torat Menachem presents his comments regarding matters of daily life, and in Menachem Tsiyon one finds his sermons for the Sabbath and Jewish holidays. The last work was edited by a pupil of Elimelech named Ezechiel Panet of Karlsberg. It was a collection of the tsaddik's advice, and was published only after his teacher's death with the title Divrei Menachem. The tsaddik died in 1815. His pupils included Naftali of Ropczyce and Cwi Hirsz Kohen, who eventually assumed the post of rabbi in Rymanów, after Menachem's death. According to Martin Buber's Tales of the Hasidim, Menachem had sons, one of whom probably led the Community immediately after his death, though he lacked his father's charisma.
Cwi Hersz Cohen was born in Dąbrowa in 1788. He succeeded Menachem Mendl in Rymanów. Before he joined the Chasidic community and became a servant and pupil of Menachem Mendl, he studied to be a tailor and studied under rebe Naftali of Ropczyce. In 1827, he was recognized by the Chasidic Community of Rymanów as Menachem's successor. Shortly thereafter, he gained fame as a miracle worker and person of great inspiration. He took great interest in the welfare of his Community and strove to eradicate the inequalities among its members. He lived a very modest life. Near the synagogue he erected the "rabbinical palace", where he and later generations of his family lived until the Second World War. He wrote a collection of sermons on the Torah and Sabbath called Bearet Namaim. He died in 1844 or 1847 - though his exact date of death is a matter of dispute.
Izydor Izaak Rabi (1898-1988). Rabi was born and spent the first year of his life in Rymanów. His parents emigrated in 1899 to the United States. In 1919, he was awarded a bachelor�s degree in chemistry from Cornell University in New York, and three years later continued his studies at Cornell and Columbia. At the age of twenty-nine, he received his doctorate in physics, having written his dissertation on the magnetic properties of crystals. He then pursued further education in Europe, where he came into contact with scientists such as Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Pauli and Otto Stern. After returning to America, he began working at Columbia University, where in 1937 he was made a professor. Three years later, he was appointed Associate Director of the Radiation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work had an important impact on the development of the first nuclear bomb. In 1944, he won the Nobel Prize for his research on the magnetic properties of atoms. He held honorary doctorates from many universities, belonged to many scientific associations all over the world, and also served as president of the American Physical Society. He was honored with the highest American award for his service during the Second World War as well as by the French Legion of Honor. He was an advisor to President Eisenhower for scientific affairs and was involved in the establishment of the Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva (CERN). He was well known for his many works on nuclear physics, quantum mechanics and magnetism.
Professor Rabi visited Rymanów in 1971 and inscribed this comment in the town's chronicle: "As I expected, the place is beautiful - just as my parents told me it was."
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