A town, where wisdom and wealthiness, Torah and sympathy, commerce and faith are united.

(From a letter of Nachman Krochmal, a Haskalah sympathizer from Lviv, a doctor in Brody, very popular among a poor citizens, to Isaak Erter, a Polish-Jewish satirist from the first half of the 19th century).

The first Jews came to Brody when hetman Koniecpolski took the town over. Armenians, Flemish people (weavers), Turks, and Greeks followed their footsteps. Thanks to the foreigners it was possible to manufacture oriental fabrics (especially carpets and tents) in Brody (until the second half of the 18th century)[1.1].

Stanisław Koniecpolski died and was buried in Brody in 1646. Two years later, Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s troops burnt the town down, but did not manage to capture a fortress. Several years later, the fortress was not captured by the Turks, either. In the 1670s the town became a property of the Sobieskis, and at the beginning of 18th century – of the Potockis. In the first half of 18th century, Brody was devastated by the Russian and Saxon armies, and, in addition, by a great fire of the town center. The town was quickly rebuilt, i.a., thanks to the activity of Jewish merchants, who did not have any competition as the Armenians left the town in 1749. Since then Brody became one of the most important Jewish cities in Galicia.

As Brody was near the Austrian – Russian border, it became an important trade center since 1779. The Austrian Emperor, Joseph II granted a “free city” title to Brody. In the first half of the 19th century, it was a second city in Galicia after Lviv. At the same time, Brody was an important Haskalah and Chassidic center. In 1756, a spell over a followers of frankism was casted in synagogue, and in 1772 – over Chassidim (who were also expelled from the town for a couple of years).

One of the most prominent activists of the Jewish Enlightenment in Brody was Israel Lefin, son of Moses Ha-Lewi Zamość-Lefin, a friend of Moses Mendelssohn, a founder of the German Haskalah. Israel Lefin, a disciple of Mendelssohn, settled down in Brody and continued his research there. He was an astronomer, a mathematician and a philosopher, who wrote in Hebrew. Another adherent of Haskalah from Brody was Isaac Erter, a Polish-Jewish satirist, who also wrote his satires in Hebrew. He was popular among the poor Jews for supporting them financially. He was a friend of the greatest exponents of Haskalah in Galicia: Salomon Juda Rappaport (the first rabbi of the Jewish Enlightenment in Tarnopol [Ternopil]) and Nachman Krochmal (a philosopher, a historian and a theologian, born in Brody, but afterwards lived in Żółkwia and Tarnopol). Erter died in 1851 in Brody[1.2]. Dow Ber Blumenfeld and Joshua Heshel Schorr are another representatives of this movement in Brody. Thanks to Haskalah, the Jewish Realschule was founded in 1815. Haskalah of Brody influenced some parts of Russia, as well. Its members were related with the German culture, and that is why Brody was assumed to be the most Germanized town in Galicia.

Although the Chassidim were officially banished from the town, Brody was an important Chassidic center at the turn of the 18th and the 19th centuries. Until the interwar period, the local Chassidim were strongly connected to the dynasty in Bełzie. Its founder, Shalom Rokeach was born in 1781 in Brody. For nearly 50 years, rabbi Shlomo Kluger (1789 – 1869) was a Dayan. He was called “the Maggid from Brody”. Kluger was the author of 174 religious texts. He was a strong opponent of the Haskalah. Kluger died and was buried in Brody[1.3].

In the 19th century, Jews made up 88% of the town population. It was the biggest city with county rights in Europe with such a high percentage of Jews. 10% of all Jewish traders from Galicia lived in Brody. They owned 93% of big commercial and industrial enterprises[1.4]. Thanks to the Josephian privileges, all buildings located at the town market were brick-built at the end of the 18th century.

Brody was often called “Jerusalem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,” and “Trieste on the land”[1.5]. Until the second half of the 19th century, Brody was the biggest trade center in Austro – Hungary. Its significance started to decline after 1879, when it lost the status of a “free city”. Still, as a border area, Brody played an important role. In 1881, a groups of thousands Jewish refugees came to Brody from Russia. Further, they were sent to Western Europe in special trains, and next to the United States[1.6].

At the very beginning of World War One Brody was conquered by Russian troops. The Russians initiated a pogrom of the Jews and burnt down the center of the city, because a Jewish hotel owner’s daughter was allegedly shooting at Cossacks. As it later turned out, it was invented solely for propaganda purposes. Nevertheless, the girl was executed by the Russians, who  also shelled the center of the town. Finally nearly all the Jewish houses were burnt down[1.7]. Due to the damages of World War Two, Brody never again  recovered to its previous glory.

During interbellum, Brody was a county city forming part of the Tarnopol Province. In 1939, it was inhabited by 18,000 people, including 10,000 Jews.

The majority of Jews was forced to live in the ghetto in Brody due to the Nazi German occupation. In the fall of 1942, couple of thousands local Jews were deported to the Bełżec extermination camp. First deportation took place on 19 September 1942. According to some sources, the Germans deported about 2,800 – 4,500 people to Bełżec[1.8]. In the second deportation (2 November 1942) about 2,500 Jews were taken away from Brody; many people already knowing the truth about Bełżec, committed suicide. After this action, a closed ghetto (encompassing Browarna and Słomiana Streets) was established. Even though it was a small area, the Germans gathered there not only the rest of the Jews from Brody, but also about 3,000 people from Sokołówka, Łopatyna, and Olesko. Samuel Weiler initiated a resistance movement in the ghetto. They were in touch with a Polish conspiracy movement, from which they tried unsuccessfully to get arms. Unfortunately, a mass resistance of people in the ghetto never happened. Members of the group fled the ghetto just before it was liquidated. Their fate remains unknown. The final liquidation of the ghetto took place in May 1943. Almost 2,500 of its residents were deported to the Sobibór extermination camp[1.9].