History
Jewish community before 1989 – Polska / małopolskie
Demography
The privilege issued in 1767 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski allowed the Jews to settle down in Andrychów.
Initially, the number of the Jewish inhabitants in Andrychów increased very fast. In 1799, Andrychów had only 37 Jews, and in 1816, their population grew to 90 people. In 1851, the Jewish residents constituted 17.4% of the total population of Andrychów, which was the highest percentage on record. An important incentive that motivated the Jews to arrive and live in Andrychów was issuing, in 1868, a decree by virtue of which people of different faiths and nationalities had the right to settle down in the town. The second half of the 19th century was a time when weaving industry, which had been developing for centuries, began to thrive. As a result, many Jews started arriving in this area. The information from 1890 says that there were as many as 654 Jews in Andrychów, which was the biggest number of Jewish residents in the history of the town.
After 1890, the number of Jews began dropping quite rapidly. In 1900, the Jewish community had 621 members and it size shrank substantially, especially during World War I. In 1919, the number was 511, whereas in 1921, there were as few as 409 Jewish inhabitants here. The reason why the number of Jews decreased so drastically was crisis which affected Andrychów once the Kingdom of Poland was established. As the result of opening the Galician markets to Łódź factories, some of the Jews closed down their businesses and moved to Bielsk and other towns. Very few Jews arrived in the town and the reason for that was that the majority of the Andrychów Jewish community members included progressive Jews. The inhabitants of the surrounding towns preferred to move to Wadowice, the town whose residents were considered very pious.
The interwar period did not bring about the growth of the Jewish population of the town. According to the Census taken by the Germans in December 1939, as few as 370 Jews inhabited the town. As the result of the warfare and deportations of the Jews to Oświęcim, the community completely disappeared from the town.
The economic life
The exact time of the arrival of the first Jews in Andrychów is not determined. Documents from 1772 inform that during the first partition Andrychów was inhabited “by a small number of Jews”.
The Andrychów Jews were mainly industrialists, merchants and craftsmen.
The weaving industry in Andrychów, run for centuries by Poles, had been home-based. Thanks to the initiative of the Jews, the cottage industry was modernized in the mid-19th century, and the products made here became popular in the whole of Europe.
Around 1864, the Andrychów Jews brought ready-made cotton yarn to the town and received ready linen. The activity was performed by Ferdynand Stamberger, Joachim Grunspan, Maurycy Unger and Israel Israeli. Moreover, a number of the Andrychów Jews were owners of dye works.
A significant turning point in the history of Andrychów was opening, in 1908, a mechanical weaving mill belonging to “Czeczowiczka Brothers”. Its founders, who came from the Czech Republic, took care of the development of the enterprise. When the mill started to operate, it employed about 5,000 workers, whereas in the years preceding World War II, the number dropped to about 4,000.
Teodor Feliks was an influential Jewish entrepreneur who owned a hydraulic wringer and a dye-works. Around 1913, his enterprise gave employment to about 40 people.
Their presence in the Town Council enabled the Jews to take an active part in managing the affairs of the town. In 1867, the Town of Andrychów Council numbered 10 members, two of whom were Jewish, while in 1927, the Council had as many as 40 members including eight Jews. In some periods, the Jews were elected thanks to the votes cast by the Poles since they were known as honest people full of energy.
The history of the religious community
The exact date of establishing a Jewish community in the town remains unknown. The only information that can be confirmed is the fact that the kehilla must have been established before 1884 since the Andrychów religious community already existed at the time when the cemetery was built. The presidents of the kehilla were Maurycy Unger, Maurycy Herbst, Teodor Feliks, Ferdynand Stamberger, Bernard Stamberger, Arnold Weinsaft and Dr Joachim Lowicz. All members of the community had equal rights and were obliged to pay a tax to the kehilla. Only the poorest community members were exempted from paying the taxes.
The first rabbi who was described in sources was Józef Kobak.
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