History

In 1564, there were four Jewish families living in Ropczyce. They resided on the land belonging to the town’s governor, which suggests that there may have been more Jews in the town. In 1604, Ropczyce was granted a royal privilege according to which only two Jewish families were allowed to live in the town: the tenant of the district and the duty collector. However, during the reign of John II Casimir (1648–1668) the regulation was abolished by another privilege, which granted the local Jews the right of residence and trade. In 1676, there were 43 Jewish families living in Ropczyce; the municipal council issued a permit to buy a house in the market square to Józef Szmul. At that time, Jews owned 10 houses in the town and 33 in the suburbs. In 1765, the Ropczyce kehilla consisted of 663 Jews, 418 of whom lived in the town itself. The local merchants traded with Kraków and Warsaw.

In 1772, Ropczyce came under the Austrian rule. In 1792, a state-owned Jüdisch-Deutsche Schule was opened in the town. At the end of the 18^th century, an important Hasidic centre developed in Ropczyce after the arrival of Tzaddik Naftali Zvi Horowitz (1760–1827). He was a son of Menachem Mendel, the rabbi of Lesko, and a student of Elimelech of Lizhensk and the Seer of Lublin. Thousands of Jews were visiting the local tzaddik court, which boosted the development of the town.

In 1846, the Ropczyce kehilla had 1,770 members, while in 1871, the town itself had 1,433 Jewish inhabitants, who made up 36% of the total population. The community owned three synagogues, a cemetery, two schools, and two charity organisations. Later on, the Yad Charutzim Association of Jewish Craftsmen was established in the town. From 1867 until the outbreak of World War I, several Jews held the post of the vice-mayor: Jakub Strzek (community chairman), Jonasz Goldberg (community chairman in the 1880s), and Aron Seiden. The latter was also the acting mayor in the years 1901–1902. The Jewish community also ran a hospital.

At the turn of the 20^th century, the number of Jewish inhabitants began to decrease due to migration. In 1912, the number dropped to 1,069 people. At that time, the local rabbis were Izaak Mariles and later Mendel Mariles. Social life flourished, partially thanks to the Zionist movement. In 1891, two associations were established: Bikur Cholim, which provided aid to the ill, and Chevra Linat Achim, providing food for poor Jewish children. The Discount-Savings Association headed by Aron Bohrer was opened in the town in 1896. In 1898, Ropczyce witnessed anti-Jewish riots; concomitantly, violence also erupted in the nearby villages of Wielopole Skrzyńskie and Frysztak. The perpetrators were peasants from neighbouring villages, who plundered local Jewish shops. The riots were thwarted by the army, with the military intervention resulting in nine casualties among the peasants.

World War I brought about a dramatic drop in the number of Jews living in Ropczyce. The community was struggling financially and was largely dependent on the help of charity organisations, such as the Joint Distribution Committee. In 1921, the town was inhabited by 840 Jews – less than a half of those who had lived there 50 years earlier. In 1922, the “Knowledge” Jewish Association (Żydowskie Stowarzyszenie “Wiedza”) was established in the town, followed four years later by the HaShachar, a Zionist youth organisation. The local Zionists were led by Eiser Susch. Jews were also members of the Merchants’ Association, whose chairmen were subsequently: Lejb Pomstein, Mendel Fruchman, Szymon Isler, Rafael Franzblau, and Mojżesz Seiden. Izaak Libermann was the last rabbi of the town before the Holocaust. In 1939, there were 1,054 Jews in the town.

The German army seized Ropczyce in September 1939. The occupiers appointed Izaak Libermann chairman of the Judenrat. In 1940, Jews from neighbouring villages were resettled to the ghetto established in Ropczyce. The prisoners worked at the construction of the camp in Pustków. In November 1940, the workers were forced into the camp and imprisoned. Over 1,200 Jews resided in Ropczyce in 1941. In the first half of 1942, a group of 400 Jews from Ropczyce and Wielopole Skrzyńskie were transported to the ghetto in Sędziszów. Others were taken to the ghetto in Dębica and then to camps in Pustków and Bełżec. Four Jews were publicly executed in Ropczyce, among them Rabbi Izaak Libermann (however, according to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, Rabbi Liberman had been tortured and murdered at the very beginning of the occupation); the Germans also burnt his religious books. On 23 July 1942, the ghetto in Ropczyce was finally liquidated. The children and elderly were killed on the spot; the others were transported to the Nazi German extermination camp in Bełżec via Sędziszów Małopolski. Ten Jews who had gone into hiding were shot in the spring of 1943.