History
Jewish community before 1989 – Polska / podkarpackie
It is presumed that Jews came there in 1385; no later than in 1427. They were two brothers, Nachem and Lazar from Ransburg, who had the permission of Jagiełło to settle in Cracow for three years. However, in 1569, the town received the de non tolerandis Judaeis privilege, which was confirmed in 1614.
The privilege made it considerably more difficult for Jews to settle in the town itself; thus, they lived in the suburbs or in the neighbouring towns as Krosno was an important local trade centre.
Some Jews probably moved to the neighbouring Korczyna, which already had a town charter, and some lived in the suburbs. There is a 1587 town council resolution saying that Jews were not allowed to stay in inns in Krosno and in Christian homes for more than one day. There is also a record showing that one of the suburban mills was leased by a Jew, Leon from Krosno and that in 1588, a Jew, Józef from Rymanów, who was a carriage maker, lived in the Lower Suburbs.
In 1614, King Zygmunt the Old used his privilege to accept the resolution of the town council from 1587, which concerned the conditional stay of Jews in the town. However, some Jews must have lived in the town since in 1633, they took part, along with the townsmen, in an armed battle with Stanisław Siecieński, the Sanok Chamberlain[1.1].
The Jews from Dukla and Rymanów came in great numbers to the Krosno markets. The economic depression from the second half of the 17th century aggravated the conflicts between the Krosno merchants and the Jewish ones. The climax of the conflicts was reached when the resolution of the Krosno town councillors from 1700 was passed. The resolution allowed unpunished robberies and even killing the Jews from Rymanów (in Krosno, of course).
From the mid-18th century, the ban concerning the settlement of Jews in the town was not strictly enforced. For instance, at that time, one of the tenement houses belonged to a Jew, even though in 1785, there were no Jews living in the town.[1.2]. Also, in 1815, an inn in “Pustyny” was leased to a Jew, Herszk Tessel. In 1851, three houses in the town had Jewish owners.
In the second half of the 19th century, there was a substantial influx of Jews to Krosno due to the development of industry in the town and the abolishment of the ban on the Jewish settlement. In 1870, there were only 26 Jews in the town, but in 1890 – as many as 327, while in 1900 – almost three times more, i.e. 961. Towards the end of the 19th century, a synagogue was built in the town. It was a brick, two-storey building, which, apart from a prayer room, housed a ritual bath house, the administrator’s flat, bet ha-midrash and the office of the kehilla board.
At the beginning of the 20th century, zaddik Aron Elimelech Sznuer Zelman resided there. From 1896, a Trade Society was active in the town, with Zelman Oling as its leader.
As late as in 1900, a kehilla was established in Krosno. It had their own synagogue and a religious school. Earlier, the Jews from Krosno belonged to the Korczyn kehilla but the dead were also buried in the cemetery in Rymanów. There were 1546 Jews living in the kehilla at that time. In 1904, the Board of the community appointed Samuel Ozon Fuhrer as the rabbi. He performed this function until the breakout of World War II. Mechel Hirszfeld rendered considerable services to the organization of the Krosno kahal.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a Lvov Jew, Józef Mirski, was the teacher in the middle school in Krosno. Hew was a poet, an outstanding educationalist, the author of a few poetry volumes and a member of the Polish Writers’ Association. Zwi Majerowicz (born in 1911) came from Krosno. Hew was a painter and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. After leaving Poland, he represented Israel at, among other things, the World Painting Biennial in Venice and in San Paulo.
In 1910, there were 6254 Jews, i.e. 7.5% of the whole population, living in the county; in 1921 – 4861, i.e. 6% of the whole population; however, in Krosno itself, there were 1724 Jews, i.e. 25% of the whole population.
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[1.1] W. Łoziński., Prawem i lewem, v 1, p. 71.
[1.2] Towards the end of this century – 85 houses were owned by Jews.
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