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Wlodawa
This town of just under 15,000 is the seat of the Włodawa district, which is part of the Lublin voivodship, at the confluence of the Włodawka and Bug rivers on the "Włodawa Hump".
Worth seeing
- The Pauline monastery complex (eighteenth century)
- Orthodox church (nineteenth century)
- Białe (White) Lake, with numerous tourist areas
- Museum of the Łęczna-Włodawa Lakes Region
- Near Włodawa: museum of the former Sobibór death camp
Historical outline
The earliest settlement in the area of present-day Wlodawa reaches back to the tenth century. It is known that in 981, the Kievan prince Vladimir conquered this area. Then, in 1018, the Polish king Bolesław Chrobry regained them, though only briefly - until 1031. As a result of the division of Rus' in the thirteenth century, these lands fell under Tatar control.
Wlodawa. Foto: A.Olej&K. Kobus
According to the chroniclers, Wlodawa is mentioned as early as the thirteenth century as an important center of trade, famous for its horse and cattle markets. The settlement also played an important role on the border in protecting the crossing of the river Bug. Wlodawa was granted its town charter in 1534; towards the end of the century, it became a private town belonging to the Leszczyński family of Wielkopolska, who brought Protestants to the town. From the second half of the sixteenth century, Jews also lived in the town. During the years 1624-1698, a Calvinist church and school functioned in Wlodawa. The raids of Chmielnicki's Cossacks were a heavy blow to the town. They looted it, and killed its residents - including several thousand Jews. The Polish kings granted the town numerous privileges afterwards in an attempt to revive it, but these did not influence the town's development to any great extent. As the result of the third partition of Poland in 1795, Wlodawa fell under Austrian rule. In 1809, during the Napoleonic campaign, it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw, and then from 1815 became part of the Russian partition known as the "Kingdom of Poland". During the First and Second World Wars, the fronts passed through Włodawa, which also profoundly affected the structure of its society and economic significance.
The Jews of Wlodawa
Jews began settling in Wlodawa during the second half of the sixteenth century. By the early seventeenth, there was already a religious community there which was originally associated with the one in Brzesc, and eventually became independent. In 1648, during the Chmielnicki rebellion, tragedy struck the Jewish community. Most of the area's Jews were killed by Chmielnicki's Cossack detachments, though many had taken refuge in the town.
The Great Synagogue, photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus
After the pogrom, the Jewish community of Wlodawa revived, taking advantage of the numerous privileges that both the Jews and town were granted by successive Polish rulers. In 1684, a wooden synagogue was built; in 1764-74, a masonry synagogue replaced it, which still exists today. When Wlodawa was part of the Russian partition (1832-1862), the tsarist authorities introduced a ban on Jewish settlement in Wlodawa. Nevertheless, in the late nineteenth century, Jews still made up about 66% of the town's inhabitants. This remained the case during the interwar period, when, according to statistics from 1921, Wlodawa had 4,196 Jewish residents, which was 67% of the town's total inhabitants. In 1939, this figure was 5,863, or 68% of the total.
Aron ha-kodesz. Foto: J.J.
At that time, the Community had two masonry synagogues, houses of prayer, a yeshiva, kahal building, mikva and cemeteries. Its last rabbi was Mendele Morgensztern.
During the Second World War, after the Germans entered Wlodawa, a ghetto and forced labor camp for Jews were created in 1941. In April 1942, eight hundred Jews from Kraków and Mlawa were sent there, in addition to 1,000 Jews from Vienna. Beginning in May 1942, transports to the death camp at Sobibór began. On 24 July 1942, all the Jewish children were sent there. The Germans completed the liquidation of the ghetto in late April and early May 1943, sending all those who had tried to escape in the last transport, along with all those who had come out voluntarily in the hope they would save themselves in that way.
Traces of the town's Jewish past include the synagogues, beth midrash and what remains of the cemeteries.
Synagogues
The Great Synagogue, whose present address is ul. Czerwonego Krzyza 7, was built during the years 1764-74 by the Jewish Community. The Czartoryski noble family partially funded its construction. Pawel Antoni Fontana was most probably its architect. With time, the synagogue underwent various renovations and transformations. In the late nineteenth century, for example, a second story was built, as well as two corner alcoves.
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During the occupation, it was heavily damaged by the Germans and turned into a warehouse, a situation that persisted until as late as 1970. During the 1980's, it was thoroughly renovated. Since 1986, the Museum of the Leczna-Wlodawa Lakes Region has been housed in the building. In 1990, a Judaica exhibition was added to the permanent ethnographic exhibits.
The exibition, photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
The architectural layout of the Wlodawa synagogue does not differ from others of its period. It was designed in the late Baroque style, and is noteworthy for its unusual front elevation, which is reminiscent of a palace façade. Its central section has a tall prayer room, covered with a Polish mansard roof. On the northern and southern sides, there are two women's galleries, topped with an attic. At the front is a vestibule, above which is a third women's gallery, with adjacent arcaded alcoves on the corners. The prayer room has an arched cross vaulted ceiling with lunettes and nine fields, supported by four Ionic columns, which are what remains of a bimah that was destroyed. At each of the spans, original eighteenth-century stucco-work polychrome medallions have survived with symbols from the holiday of Sukkoth, as well as animal symbols popular in Jewish folk art and mysticism. On the eastern wall, a neo-Baroque stucco-work Aron ha-kodesh has survived, with paintings from the earlier elaborate Torah cabinets. At the top of the ark, two griffons have survived that pay homage to the symbolic tablets of the Covenant, above which is written "Crown of the Torah". Noteworthy is the unusual use of the shape of the tablets as a skylight through which the "light of the Torah" shines. Below it is an image of a Menorah and a quotation from Psalm 5:8: "And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple." At the right, priestly hands are shown in a gesture of blessing, on the left there is a basket of fruit representing the holiday of Shavuot. At the bottom, on both sides of the recess for the scrolls, there are musical instruments alluding to the service of the Levites in the Temple and the quotation from Psalm 150: "Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs." On the frieze between that floors of there is a sign in the middle of which the date the new Aron ha-kodesh was built is encrypted - 5696 according to the Jewish calendar, i.e., 1936.
Museum of the Leczna-Wlodawa Lakes Region
ul. Czerwonego Krzyża 7, 22-200 Włodawa
Tel: (+48 82) 572 21 78; e-mail: mplw@wp.pl
The exhibition. Foto: J.J.
The small synagogue, currently at 5 Czerwonego Krzyza street, was built towards the end of the eighteenth century (before 1786), served the Jewish community as an additional synagogue, but primarily as a yeshiva. During occupation, it was destroyed and the Germans and turned it into a store and warehouse. For many years after the war, it continued to be used as a warehouse. During the years 1983-1998, the building was thoroughly renovated. In 1999, the small synagogue became part of the Museum of the Leczna-Wlodawa Lakes Region complex, and it was in this year that the synagogue was officially reopened. The small synagogue now serves as a place for ethnographic exhibitions.
The synagogue is not distinguished in architectural terms, although it does exhibit traits of the classical style. Built on the rectangular floor plan, on its western side it has a vestibule, above which is a women's gallery. Wall-paintings with Hebrew inscriptions decorate the main prayer room.
Beth midrasz. Foto: J.J.
The beth midrash at 7 Czerwonego Krzyza street was built in 1928. During the Second World War, it shared the fate of both synagogues. In the late 1980�s, it was renovated and currently serves as the main office of the Museum of the Leczna-Wlodawa Lakes Region.
Cemeteries
- Cemetery on Wiejska street.
The first Jewish cemetery in Wlodawa was founded in the sixteenth century, not far from the synagogue. Completely destroyed, no trace of this cemetery remains. In the eighteenth century, another cemetery was created about a kilometer to the north of the town's center. It was used until the early nineteenth century. After the Second World War, only two gravestones have survived. The Germans heavily damaged the cemetery, using the matsevot to pave roads and regulate the banks of the Wlodawka river.
- The new cemetery.
The new cemetery was founded in the nineteenth century after the cemetery at ul. Wiejska became full. The last known burial to take place in the new cemetery was in 1943. Only four tombstones have survived. The oldest of these is dated 1919. All of them have been moved to the Museum. In the 1960's, the cemetery's wall was partially prepared.
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