1. Tomaszów Lubelski - Centrum miejscowości

Jews in Tomaszow Lubelski - Until 1918. - Jews probably lived in Tomaszów since its inception. In 1595., i.e. 26 years before the official location, the first wooden synagogue was built.In 1621. Tomasz Zamoyski granted a privilege to Tomaszów Jews, in which he guaranteed them personal freedom and broad economic freedoms. By imposing rents and taxes on Jews, he made them equal in rights and privileges to Christian residents in terms of settlement, crafts and trade on his estates. He also granted Jews the right to build a synagogue, a rabbi's house, a poorhouse and the right to acquire a square in the suburb to establish a cemetery there. No later than 1630. an independent Jewish community was established in Tomaszow.The only restriction issued by Zamoyski on the erection of houses by Jews at the market square was not respected in practice. Wealthy Jewish merchants leased houses from Christian townspeople and soon occupied most of the properties in the inner city. This situation led in 1671. to conflict between the Roman Catholic parish and the Jewish community. It ended with the signing of an agreement obliging Jewish owners of former Christian homes to pay tribute to the parish. The Jewish community in Tomaszow was exterminated in the mid-17th century. by Khmelnytsky's Cossacks, then by the Swedish army.The Jewish quarter was then destroyed, along with the synagogue complex. According to data from 1700. Of the 205 Jewish families that had previously lived here, only 18 remained.The Tomaszowska community was heavily in debt, in arrears with tributes, rents and taxes. The Jewish community revived in the 18th century.The main source of income for most Jews was trade, crafts and taverns.At the beginning of the century, sets of stalls were built in the market, which were leased by Jewish merchants. In the 19th century Tomaszow became a strong center of Hasidism.There were many shtibls there, bringing together followers of tzaddikim from Kock, Turzysk, Radzyn, Belz and Nowy Sącz. Most of the Jews made a living from petty trading, brokering, alcohol sales and handicrafts. The richest, who built their fortunes on the liquor trade - cherry, raspberry and honey - owned many properties in the city. Jewish entrepreneurs ran mills, bakeries, spinning mills, tanneries, wood processing plants, linen, hat, comb and soap factories, as well as faience factories. After the first partition of Poland, due to Tomaszów's location on the border of the Austrian and Russian annexations, local merchants got rich from legal and illegal border trade and victualing for Russian troops stationed on the Austrian border. In 1910.Jews owned 401 of the 730 properties in Tomaszow. Since 1905. There were two Loan and Credit Societies, the first of which was co-founded and co-managed by Jews and Poles, the second by Jews themselves. Various social and local organizations, branches of political parties, among others, were established. in 1907. an outpost of the Bund, the Poale Zion party also had its representation. In 1912. The Linas ha-Cedek charitable society was founded, and a branch of Mizrachi was established during World War I. These organizations, particularly Poale Zion and the Bund, were widely active in the fields of culture and education. Back in 1913. In addition to numerous cheders and a communal Talmud-Torah, a secular Hebrew school for boys was established in the city.Holocaust - September 7 and 9, 1939. During the bombing of Tomaszow, many Jews were killed, and approx. 500 houses in the Jewish quarter and a synagogue.At the beginning of October, along with the Soviet troops withdrawing from the city, Tomaszów was abandoned by approx. 75% of the Jews living here, including, among others. The last rabbi of Tomaszów - Arie Lejb Rubin. The Jews who remained in the city were resettled by the Germans to a dozen or so houses, standing mainly on ul. Piekarska Street, where an open ghetto was established.In 1939 and 1940. The Germans devastated the cemetery and blew up the remains of the synagogue.In January 1942. They closed the ghetto, while in February of this year ca. 500 Jews were resettled in a labor camp in nearby Cieszanow, where most of them died.May 22, 1942. Several hundred Jews from Tomaszow were deported to the Belzec death camp. The final liquidation of the Tomaszow ghetto took place in early November 1942.