It is known that at the time of the founding of the town of Rudnik in 1552, Jews had already lived in the area. Soon after, in 1563, the first Jewish cemetery was set up. As recorded in the documents of 1578, six Jewish families were paying tax in Rudnik. In 1579, a Jew named Jakub received a house in the market square as a pledge for debts.

After another foundation of the town in 1598, a document was issued which reads as follows:

"Jews in this town shall not have dwellings, only two houses in the street, not by the highway, they shall not hold land, that is, gardens, fields or meadows, only tenancy, (....) they shall not produce or sell beer or vodka, but they shall only be traders or merchants."[1.1]]

The economy of Rudnik was based primarily on crafts. Despite its location by the river, the town was not an important inland port or a trade centre. Ulanów was a more important centre in that area.

In the mid-17th century, there were battles with the Swedish army of Charles X Gustav in the area of Rudnik. In addition to war damage, the town was devastated by numerous fires which consumed its wooden buildings.

In 1662, there were 25 Jewish families in Rudnik out of 168, but in 1676 – only five families. In that period, in 1671, a synagogue was mentioned in documents. In 1696, Rudnik Jews created a community branch. At that time, they had already been granted the right to have houses in the market square.

In the 18th century, the number of Jewish inhabitants in Rudnik changed in the following manner: in 1711, they paid a tax of 100 Polish zlotys; in 1735 – 53 Polish zlotys, whilst in 1737 – 150 Polish zlotys.[1.2] In 1748, there were 14 Jewish families in the town. The community had a wooden synagogue. In 1756, the Kraków bishop Stanisław Kostka Załuski gave permission to erect a new synagogue and a cemetery.[1.3] The synagogue was built at the back of the market square, whilst the new cemetery was located on the outskirts of the town, away from the church.

In 1765, 196 people lived within the community area, including 169 Jews in the town itself. In 1777, the tolerance tax was 196 Polish zlotys.[1.4] In 1830, there were 339 Jews in Rudnik, whilst in 1870, the Jewish community had 954 members.

The community employed two rabbis. At that time, the majority of local Jews were Hasidim. From 1796, the Rudnik rabbi was Chaim Halberstam, the founder of the Hasidic dynasty in Nowy Sącz and then his son, Jecheskiel Szraga, and other representatives of the Halberstam family. From  1883, Jakub Isaak Horowitz, a renowned kabbalah expert, was the rabbi.
In 1900, the community maintained a religious school, and the number of community members was 2,388. In 1907, 1,198 Jews lived in the town, constituting nearly 36% of its total population. At that time, they had two synagogues, a cheder, a bath and two cemeteries. In the interwar period, the town housed a branch of the Central Association of Jewish Craftsmen in Poland. In 1921, there were 805 Jews in the town, that is, 27.2% of the total population.

The Germans invaded Rudnik on 13 September 1939 and immediately burnt the mikveh, the cheder and both synagogues after forcing several dozen Jews inside. Some Jews from Rudnik voluntarily moved to the other bank of the San, to the Soviet occupation zone, and some escaped to Ulanów. On 28 September, the Germans expelled some local Jews to the Soviet occupation zone. They destroyed cemeteries in 1940, breaking the gravestones to obtain rubble, which they used to build roads in nearby military training areas. During four executions, Germans murdered at least 36 Jews at the local Jewish cemetery.

After the war, the site of the old cemetery, with an area of 0.8 ha, became a housing estate, whilst the new one – with an area of 1 ha – was used as a sandpit. No traces of matzevot remain.[1.5]

Bibliography

• Informacje o żydowskim mieszkańcach Rudnika nad Sanem, in: Rudnik nad Sanem - Polska stolica wikliny [online], http://www.rudnik.pl/miasto [Accessed 8 June 2014, disabled link 23 March 2023].
• J. Muszyńska, Żydzi w miastach województwa sandomierskiego i lubelskiego, Kielce 1998.
• A. Potocki, Żydzi w Podkarpackiem, Rzeszów 2004.
• F. Kiryk (ed.), Żydzi w Małopolsce, Przemyśl 1991.