Rzeszów, Poland

A brief history of Rzeszów...

The Jewish community of Rzeszów dates back to the 15th century. In the 17th century, a synagogue was erected and a cemetery was opened. The Jewish population numbered 1,202 in 1765; 3,375 (c.75% of the total) in 1800; 7,000 (38.2%) in 1900; 8,000 (36.3%) in 1910; and 11,228 in 1931. On the outbreak of World War II, there were about 14,000 Jews in Rzeszów.* There do not appear to be any Jews living in Rzeszów today.

Those who read English only will find important accounts of the religious history and the economic history of the community, as well as accounts of relationships between Jews and non-Jews in the English portion of the Yizkor book. There is also discussion of the movements of Hasidism, Haskalah and Zionism. The Hebrew section consists of more articles than are in the English section, and some topics that appear in the English section are written in more detail in the Hebrew section. Many of the articles in the Hebrew section will be translated during the next year, and will appear on the Rzeszów Yizkor Book page.
 

* Cecil Roth & Geoffrey Wigoder, eds., Encyclopedia Judaica (Jerusalem: 1972), 537.