Jews probably started to settle in Wisznice at the end of the 18^th century[1.1] According to other sources, however, first Jews appeared there in early 16^th century at the latest and erected their own synagogue very early on. It is possible that this older community disappeared as a result of the invasion of the Khmelnytsky’s army and was only revived after over 100 years.

The 19^th century brought rapid increase of the Jewish population of Wisznice. Written sources from 1835 mention a synagogue, a mikveh and a hospital (a poorhouse). Although preserved documents confirming the existence of a Jewish Community Co-operative in Wisznice date back to 1864, it can be assumed that an independent community had existed there earlier. Most Jews earned their living by producing and selling food. Jewish entrepreneurs also owned steam mills operating in the village[1.2]. Over the 19^th century, supporters of Hasidism gained much influence in Wisznice; until the outbreak of WWI, they dominated the local community institutions[1.3].

At the turn of the 20^th century, Jews played an important role in the economic development of the town, especially seeing that they made up over a half of the entire population of Wisznice and owned most houses and stalls situated at the market square. At the beginning of the 20^th century, Jewish political life began to flourish as branches of the Bund and Poale Zion were opened[1.1.3].

In the interwar period, several political parties and organisations were active in Wisznice: the orthodox Agudat Israel, the socialist Bund, and various Zionist groups. There were also numerous cultural and educational institutions (Kultur Lige, the Tarbut Association), trade unions (the Association of Small-Scale Merchants) and charity organisations (Gemilut Chesed).

The 1930s proved to be a difficult period for the Jews of Wisznice. As a result of growing economic crisis and the intensification of anti-Semitic tendencies, several anti-Jewish incidents took place in 1934 and 1936[1.1.3]. In 1939, many Jewish houses were burned down. Before the outbreak of World War II, the Jewish community owned a synagogue, a beit midrash, a mikveh, a ritual slaughterhouse, a poorhouse, and a cemetery[[National Archives in Lublin, Office of the Lubelskie Province, 1918-1939, Social-Political Division, file no. 834, sheet 4; file no. 728, sheet 2; file no. 834, sheet 4.]].

In November 1939, after German troops had entered the town, a Judenrat was appointed in Wisznice. In June 1940, or, according to other sources, in the autumn of 1940, a ghetto was established in the village by virtue of the occupational forces' decree; it was the second ghetto opened in the district of Lublin (the first one was located in Puławy). The ghetto was located in the north-eastern part of the village, between the current Kościelna, Polna, and Fabryczna Streets. At the end of December 1940, the ghetto in Wisznice was dissolved and Jews returned to their homes[1.4]. However, in March 1941, the ghetto was re-opened[1.5]; it housed ca. 2,500 people, including some 950 Jews from the village itself and people displaced from Kraków and Mława.

In September 1942, a group of ca. 1,000 Jews from Wisznice was forced by the Nazis to march to Międzyrzecz Podlaski on foot. During the walk, a group of young people attacked the German guards and cleared the way for a few of deported Jews, who managed to escape[1.1.3].

On 27 October 1942, the remaining Jews from the ghetto in Wisznice were transported to the concentration camp in Treblinka. On 17 November, the last 124 Jews still living in the ghetto were murdered[1.6]. There was also a German forced labour camp in Wisznice; ca. 100 Jews were kept there, including people displaced from the Czech Republic. During the liquidation of the camp in 1943, all prisoners were shot on meadows near the village of Dubica.

After WWII, the local Jewish cemetery near Przemysłowa Street was destroyed, with pines and spruces planted on the plot.

Footnotes

• J. Doroszuk, Zagłada obywateli polskich pochodzenia żydowskiego, [in] Zbrodnie hitlerowskie w regionie bialskopodlaskim 1939–1944, ed. M. Kowalski, Lublin 1997.

• M. Kubiszyn, Wisznice, [in] Śladami Żydów. Lubelszczyzna, Lublin 2011, p. 426.

• Wisznice, [in] The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, vol. 3, ed. S. Spector, G. Wigoder, New York 2001, p. 1450.