1. Końskowola - Centrum miejscowości

The oldest surviving references to Końskowola date back to 1442.In the 15th century. The village, located on the route leading from Kazimierz Dolny towards Mazovia, developed as a trade center. In the 16th century. It was owned by the Tęczynski and Zbaraski families, in the 17th century. while - the Lubomirskis. In 1532. Thanks to the efforts of the owner of the estate, Andrzej Tęczyński, and by virtue of a privilege from King Sigismund the Old, it was granted Magdeburg city rights, along with privileges to weekly markets and one fair a year. In 1706. was plundered and destroyed by the Swedes.In 1731-1795, as the administrative center of the vast estate, it belonged to the Czartoryski family.In 1746. was granted the privilege to hold 12 fairs a year. From 1815, the Czartoryskis settled clothiers and linen makers there, and it soon became an important textile center. In 1870. It lost its municipal rights, but continued to develop trade, crafts and industry. In the early 20th century. was a local agricultural, commercial and industrial center with a religiously diverse population.There were two churches and a synagogue in the settlement.In 1911. Końskowola burned down, while in 1918. suffered heavy losses as a result of Austrian bombardment.On September 15, 1939. was occupied by the Germans. In 1940. A German camp for prisoners of war operated here.Jews in Końskowola - Until 1918. - Jews probably appeared in Końskowola in the first half of the 16th century. The Wloclawek water duty register (1557) contains the names of Jewish merchants from Koninskaya Wola going to Gdansk. In 1559-1561, due to the prevailing epidemic, the Hebrew printing house was moved here from Lublin.Four titles were printed in Końskowola. In 1712. granted local Jews the privilege of living freely, buying property and conducting business in the city, as well as the privilege to build a school (i.e., a synagogue) and establish a cemetery. At the end of the 18th century. An independent community was established, with its own synagogue and cemetery. Initially, Jews made their living mainly from trade, crafts and arendas, from the 18th century onward. while they also owned numerous houses, yards and gardens. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They accounted for half of the city's population.They owned many brick houses near the market and in its immediate vicinity, including the following. at. Kurowska Street (now Lubelska Street). In the hands of Jewish arendars were stores and inns, most breweries, distilleries, wineries, mills and inns.Jewish artisans dominated in tanning, tailoring and furriers. Since the late 19th century. There were several major Jewish-run businesses, including tile manufacturing manufactories. Since at least the late 19th century. Representatives of the Jewish community took an active part in the public life of the town. Even before the outbreak of World War I, a branch of the Bund was established in Końskowola.Interwar period - The economic situation of Jews in Końskowola was very difficult, and the deepening economic crisis caused a gradual deterioration of living conditions. In the early 1920s, Jews made up more than half of the settlement's population. Under the community's management were a brick synagogue, known as the Great Synagogue, a beit ha-midrash called the Small Synagogue, as well as a mikveh, a ritual slaughterhouse and a cemetery. Jewish merchants and artisans owned most of the stores and service establishments in the settlement.Cells of many parties and social organizations were active here, including various Zionist groups, the Aguda and the Bund. In the second half of the 1930s, as a result of the deepening economic crisis and the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment, there were incidents in Końskowola directed against local Jews.Holocaust - In late 1940. The Germans established a ghetto in Końskowola, which, in addition to the residents of the settlement, included refugees from other centers.On May 8, 1942. ca. 1600 people from the ghetto were deported to the Sobibor extermination camp.Soon the Germans resettled about 3500 Jews from Slovakia in their place. Able-bodied ghetto residents were forcibly employed in two labor camps operating within the settlement. In October 1942. 800-1100 people, mostly women and children, were shot near the new cemetery (in the so-called Brzezinki area), and the rest were deported to Sobibor. The remainder of the Jews were resettled in the so-called "Jewish community. residual ghetto.It was liquidated in the summer of 1943., and its residents were executed.