Legend
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Partitions of Poland.
Boundaries shown are ca. 1795.
Congress Poland
The Polish Republic in the interwar period
ca. 1930s
+
100%
–
Radom
Founded by Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725) in 1703, Saint Petersburg is located at the northwest periphery of Russia, on the Gulf of Finland. In 1712, it replaced Moscow as the capital of the Russian Empire. Over the course of the next two centuries, Saint Petersburg was ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Warsaw
capital of Poland from 1596 to 1794 and again since 1918. Warsaw’s importance in Polish and Jewish history is a relatively late phenomenon. For much of the Middle Ages, the Duchy of Mazovia, in which Warsaw was located, was a sparsely populated region, only loosely ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Kalisz
town in Wielkopolska province, Poland. Kalisz (Yid., Kulish) is considered to be the oldest town in Poland. Jews first settled there as early as the twelfth century, where they minted coins for the prince. In 1264, Prince Bolesław the Pious issued a privilege or charter ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Lublin
To treat the history of Jewish settlement in Lublin, this entry is divided into two articles, the first on the pre-Partition period and the second on the post-Partition period until the present ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Łomża
town in northeastern Poland in the Mazovia region. By the fourteenth century, Jews had settled in Łomża, engaging mainly in trade in timber, salt, raw materials and in various crafts. In 1566 the town received the right de non tolerandis Judaeis (nontoleration of Jews) ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Łódź
(Yid., Lodzh), Polish city and industrial center about 100 km west of Warsaw. From a hamlet of 767 people, including 259 Jews, in 1820, Łódź grew over the next century to a city of 670,000, with a Jewish community of more than 230,000, the second largest in Poland. At ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Kielce
(Yid., Kielts), city in southeastern Poland. Until the end of the eighteenth century, Kielce belonged to the bishops of Kraków, who forbade Jews to settle there. The partitions of Poland brought the city under Russian rule. Although Kielce’s residents maintained contact ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Opatów
(Apt), a town between Kraków and Lublin in Małopolska (Little Poland) dating back to the twelfth century. In 1502, Opatów was sold by the Lubusz bishops to noble owners, who permitted Jewish residence from 1538. Eighty Jews paid a poll tax in 1578, making Opatów one of ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Chełm
former Polish royal town, now in the province of Lublin. According to local tradition, the Jews of Chełm (Yid., Khelem) were granted their first privilege by King Władisław Jagiełło, though tombstones once thought to be from the fifteenth century are now considered of a ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Biała
town in southern Poland, from 1945 in the province of Silesia. The development of Biała was closely tied to that of neighboring Bielsko (situated in what was the Austrian part of Silesia), and was mainly related to textile production and cross-border trade. The presence ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Suwałki
town in northeastern Poland. Jewish residence apparently began in the nineteenth century when Suwałki experienced a period of substantial development. In 1808, there were 44 Jews living in the town, a number that had risen to 1,209 by 1827. In 1856, the community had ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Piotrków
city roughly 16 miles (25 km) southeast of Łódź in central Poland, Piotrków was the capital of the Piotrków guberniia from 1867 to 1915. Founded in the twelfth century, the town was the site of the Polish Crown Tribunal between 1578 and 1792. Although Piotrków was grant ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Będzin
royal town in southern Poland, since 1945 in the province of Silesia. Będzin (Yid., Bendin) traces Jewish settlement back to the thirteenth century. In 1583, King Stefan Batory granted a charter to Jews of Będzin, giving them the right to own prayer houses and a ...
GO TO ARTICLE »
Map
Congress Poland.