The earliest references to Jews living in Przemyślany come from the end of the 16^th century – they were listed in the tax registers of 1581 and 1588.

In the 18^th century, a Hasidic dynasty was founded in the town. It enjoyed considerable influence for many years. The first Hasidic leader was Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Przemyślany, a student of Baal Shem Tov and author of religious texts. In 1775, he set off with a group of Hasidim to Jerusalem, where he died in 1794. However, the founder of the local dynasty was Rabbi Meir bar Yaakov (1711–1781) called “the Great” or “the First.” He also was a disciple of Baal Shem Tov. Meir was succeeded by his son, Aron Arie (died 1813), a student of, among others, Yechiel Michael of Złoczów (Zolochiv) and Elimelech of Leżajsk (Lizhensk). The subsequent tzaddik of Przemyślany, Rabbi Meir bar Aron, son of Aron (1781–1850), was given the title of “our master, our teacher, our rabbi” after the death of his father. He was regarded as the most prominent representative of the dynasty and gained acclaim as the creator of easily assimilated doctrines.

In 1852, Yaakov Shlomo became the rabbi of Przemyślany, succeeded in 1860 by Zvi bar Meir. In 1890, the post was taken over by Shamiyah Steinberg, who held it for nearly 50 years. More prominent rabbis were active in Przemyślany around the same period, including Israel Arie Frankel (1830–1891) and his son Elimelech (d. 1915). The last rabbi of Przemyślany was Israel Arie Margaliot (1887–1965).

In 1900, the town had 2,934 Jewish residents, accounting for about 62% of the total population (4,743). The year 1903 saw an exhibition of industrial products manufactured in Przemyślany and other towns in Galicia. Particularly noteworthy were metal screens produced at a Przemyślany factory employing mainly Jewish women. Two other local factories were involved in leather tanning and shoe polish production.

In 1892, the Zionists appeared in Przemyślany. They formed a local cell of the Tikvath Israel (Hope of Israel) organisation, which ran Hebrew courses in the town (later opening a language school). The Zionists quickly gained considerable influence, e.g. by opening a charitable tea house. They won the election of 1903 and consequently gained the greatest number of votes in subsequent ballots. The same year, 1903, saw the foundation of the HaShachar youth organisation in the town, followed by two women’s associations in 1906 (one of which came to boast nearly 100 members). In 1906, Tzvi Sharpstein was the head of the School of Hope, attended by a total of 117 girls and boys. In 1907, the school population increased to 150 students. Between 1911 and 1912, the Toynbee-Hall community centre also operated in the town.

In 1910, a fire broke out in Przemyślany, leaving 200 Jewish families homeless. The town fell victim to another blaze in 1914, when it was set on fire upon the invasion of the Russian army. The wartime turmoil, together with mass looting by Cossack soldiers and a cholera epidemic, led to a significant decrease in the number of inhabitants, including Jews. In 1921, the Jewish community comprised 2,051 people, a third less than before the tragic events.

The beginning of the interwar period was very difficult. The Joint provided financial support to the Jewish community. Most Jews worked in distilleries, the local oil factory, brickyard, and sawmill. A few families continued to deal with trade and sell agricultural products, especially flax and sugar beets. In 1920, the local merchants and workshop owners set up a mutual aid system. In 1925, they established a credit institution. In 1929, they also founded a charitable fund which between 1934 and 1935 granted seventeen loans of 1,448 zlotys in total. The community board financed the construction of a new poultry slaughterhouse and purchased land in order to enlarge the cemetery. It also actively supported orphans and the Talmud Torah and Safa Berurah associations.

The interwar period in Przemyślany was also marked by intensive activity of the Zionists. In 1923, cells of Hitachdut and Ezra operated in the town. In 1928, the Zionist Union decided to erect its own building. For this purpose, they raised 1,000 dollars, in part donated by American Jews descending from Przemyślany. Another Zionist organisation – the Mizrachi – appeared in the town in 1930 (30 members), later followed by Betar. Active alongside them in the 1930s were HaNoar HaTzioni, Akhva (since 1934) and HaShachar. In 1939, on the eve of World War II, a Gordonia club was founded in Przemyślany. The town also boasted a “kibbutz” (Hachshara) preparing 15 settlers for migration to Palestine. In the 1931 elections to the Zionist Congress, the General Zionists received 108 votes, Mizrachi – two votes, Hitachdut – 89 votes, and Revisionist Zionosts – 42 votes. The results of the subsequent election held in 1935 were as follows: General Zionists – 418, Mizrachi – 17, Hitachdut – 223, Revisionists – 17. In the interwar period, many young Jews joined the Communist Party. In 1935, two young women were given prison sentences for distributing communist propaganda.

After the 1924 election in the Przemyślany religious community, the board was composed of nine Zionists and nine Orthodox Jews. In 1926, the Zionists won four seats and the Hasidim –three. Jews also stood for election to the local government. In 1928, the municipality council was composed of 22 Jews, 21 Poles, and five Ukrainians. After the subsequent election of 1933, the council had 16 Jewish members, including four Zionists and two Orthodox Jews.

After the outbreak of WWII, Przemyślany was invaded by the Germans on 1 July 1941. At that point, there were at least 2,600 Jews in the town. The Jewish population included refugees who had arrived there from western Poland in the autumn of 1939. On 4 July 1941, a pogrom was carried out by German soldiers assisted by local Ukrainian nationalists. Many Jews were beaten and robbed; the Germans locked a group of people inside the synagogue and set fire to the building. Omelian Kowcz, a Greek Catholic priest, and several parishioners managed to open the locked doors and rescue some of the Jews. The synagogue burnt to the ground along with the neighbouring wooden houses. The number of Jews who died inside the synagogue is unknown, as is the number of those attacked and robbed.

In the initial period of German occupation, Przemyślany was governed by the military. The Nazi civil administration took over the town in August 194. Przemyślany became part of Złoczów (Zolochiv) County in the District of Galicia. Posts of the German military police and German criminal police were established, as well as a unit of the Ukrainian auxiliary police. All actively participated in anti-Jewish actions organised by the SD unit from Lviv and the criminal police from Złoczów.

In the summer of 1941, the German authorities ordered the establishment of a Jewish Council (Judenrat) in Przemyślany. All Jews in the town were registered and obliged to wear armbands with the Star of David. They were also stripped of any valuables and forced to perform slave labour.

The first so-called “liquidation action” was carried out on 5 November 1941. The Germans shot ca. 400 Jews considered unfit for work.

Soon afterwards, an open ghetto was established in Przemyślany. Apart from local residents, its population also included Jews also from smaller localities in the area. The prisoners were only allowed to leave the ghetto perimeter if they were sent to work outside.

Another liquidation action took place in May 1942, with ca. 100 Jews murdered by the Germans.

A few months later, in September 1942, the Nazis organised a large-scale extermination campaign. Almost two-thirds of Jews staying in the town – some 3,000 people – were taken to the death camp in Bełżec. The operation was carried out by the German military police assisted by a unit of the Ukrainian auxiliary police and the Jewish police. After the deportation, Jews from surrounding villages, including Gliniany and Świrz, were resettled to Przemyślany.

In early November 1942, a subsequent “action” took place in Przemyślany. It was smaller and meant to “supplement” the large-scale deportation operation which was underway in nearby Złoczów – the Germans needed 200 more Jews to meet their quota.

On 1 December 1942, the ghetto in Przemyślany was sealed and completely isolated from the rest of the town. Its prisoners suffered from lack of water, as there were only two wells inside the district. Many Jews worked on setting up shelters or other hiding places.

The subsequent extermination action took place on 5 December 1942. The ghetto prisoners had previously paid Judenrat officials and Jewish policemen to let them stay in the ghetto, but their request was ignored. Ca. 2,400 people died, including ca. 600 killed on the spot.

The reduced ghetto in Przemyślany continued to exist for several more months. Selected labourers, wearing armbands with the letters “R” and “W,” were moved to closed barracks outside the ghetto. In the winter of 1942/1943, several hundred Jews died of starvation and diseases.

On 21 March 1943, a Jewish labour camp was also established in Przemyślany. Its prisoners worked in quarries and at road construction. The camp was liquidated by the Germans on 28 June 1943. A group of 250 women was shot, and 200 men were transferred to the camp in Kurowice.

On 22 May 1943, the ghetto was finally liquidated. A total of 2,000 people were shot on the spot or in the nearby forest. The “action” lasted more than a week, as the Germans searched the ghetto several times to capture and kill all those who had gone into hiding. A group of people managed to escape. Hiding in the nearby woods or with local peasants, some of them lived to see the arrival of the Red Army in 1944. However, many were caught and killed by the German or Ukrainian police.

Bibliography

• “Przemyślany,” in: The Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945, vol. II A, Goeffrey P. Megargee (ed.), pp. 815–817.
• “Przemyślany,” Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, vol. 2 [online] https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol2_00440.html [accessed: 30 Sep 2022].
• “Przemyślany,” in: The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, vol. 2, S. Spector, G. Wigoder (eds.), New York 2001, pp. 1035–1036.