It is difficult to determine when exactly Jews started to settle in Rabka. It is known that between the second half of the 16^th century (when a Roman Catholic parish was established in the town) and the 19^th century the town was religiously homogenous[1.1]. During this period, there were no bigger towns or significant trade routes in Rabka's vicinity, which made it unattractive for Jewish people, who at the time lived mostly off trade. According to various researchers, Jews did not come to Rabka until the second half of the 19^th century[1.2], but records show that in 1827, the town had six Jewish inhabitants, who were most probably a single family.

The local parish books document a conversion of one of the members of said family. The adult daughter of Joachim Goldberg, Anna Magdalena Goldberger, was baptised by the parish priest of Raba Wyżna, Jan Kalisiewicz. Another historical source documenting the existence of Jews in Rabka is the baptism certificate of 21-year-old Laja Führer (born in Chochołów), daughter of Jakub (a Jewish pauper) and Beisle Führer. Among other local Jews converted to Catholicism were: Pesiel, daughter of Löebel Riegelhaupt (baptised on 22 March 1861); Chaja, daughter of Mojżesz Bloch (1835); Herman, Pesiel Riegelhaupt's older brother; merchant Leopold Riegielhaupt, husband of Anna, daughter of Mojżesz (Mosis) Bloch, and Leopold's seven children[1.3].

The next trace of Jewish existence in the town is an account describing an old inn called Oleszyca and a complex of farm buildings (dyeworks, mangle and industrial cloth drying plant) built by the aforementioned Mojżesz Bloch on the Gawronowa estate. The inn was demolished in 1848. The construction of the next one was suspended on the initiative of Julian Zubrzycki, the owner of the Rabka estate, who planned to build his own inn[1.4].

The 19^th century saw systematic growth of the Jewish population of Rabka. Towards the end of the century, almost 270 people belonged to the Jewish community. Jewish people liked to visit the local health resort and the tourism propelled the entire economy. Such state of affairs significantly contributed to the establishment of a summer camp for Jewish children in the last decade of the 19^th century; the camp was overseen by the Maria Fränklowa Foundation Camp and was located Rabka's “Łęgi” district.

Even though there were a couple of Jewish-woned boarding houses in Rabka, none of them served kosher food, which was a major inconvenience for numerous Jewish clients. Records from 1872 describe guests using a local bath facility: “Unfortunately, things are different when it comes to Orthodox Jews. […] They are bothered by the fact that they are not served kosher meat and that there is no separate eatery they could use. They were thus forced to eat mainly farinaceous products, vegetables and dairy – their diet was poor, which, along with their anti-hygienic habits, made the healing effect of the local waters considerably slower and weaker"[1.5]. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that the local Jewish community did have its own butcher (shochet); the function was performed by Trybinger.

The local Jews lived mainly off craft, trade and selling alcohol. They specialised in running inns, cloth shops, mangles, dyeworks and bakeries. Unlike other inhabitants of the town, they did not earn their living through farming. They commonly bought out bigger estates and leased farms. Since the beginning of the Jewish settlement in Rabka and right until the outbreak of WWII, the Jewish community developed very dynamically, with Jews constituting bigger and bigger percentage of the total population of the town. It can be therefore assumed that the conditions of living in Rabka were quite good and that Jews quickly adjusted to the local state of affairs.

During the interwar period, Freundlich was the richest Jew living in Rabka. He owned a beer bottling plant which was later transformed into a dairy.

According to the inhabitants of Rabka, the local Jews were non-Orthodox. Before the war, the Jewish community lived near the marketplace. They did not stand out from other townsmen – they did not wear traditional Jewish clothing, Jewish head coverings or the typical long beards. Nonetheless, the inhabitants of Rabka were familiar with the image of a typical Jew since many Orthodox Jewish people were regular visitors of health resorts in Rabka[1.6].

According to the 1931 census, there were 2,571 Jewish people living in the district of Nowy Targ, including 450 living in Rabka itself[1.7]. After the outbreak of World War II, a part of the Jewish population left the resort. The number of Jews in Rabka increased after 1939 and amounted to ca. 1,500 people; this was caused by the migration of the Jewish population from bigger cities. The refugees hoped that in small towns, they would be less vulnerable to German repressions. By the end of March 1941, about 880 Jews from Kraków and other areas came to Rabka[1.8].

In the autumn of 1939, Germans established the Judenrat in Rabka; its task was to work with the German authorities and implement their orders. The Jewish Council was composed of 12 Jewish men who were highly esteemed and well respected by the community. Freundlich, the aforementioned owner of a beer bottling plant, became the head of Judenrat[1.9]. The first task of the Council was to mark all Jews from Rabka with the Star of David and place appropriate signs on Jewish-owned factories, stores, etc. Jews were forbidden from using Hebrew, Jewish students were removed from all schools, and compulsory labour for Jews between the ages of 14 and 60 was introduced. They were forced to clear snow, remove debris, work in sawmills, quarries, on construction sites of roads and land improvement. All Jewish people were registered according to their gender, age groups and professions[1.10].

In 1940, Germans established the Academy for Commanders of the Security Police and Security Service in Rabka. On 20 May 1942, 40 Jews were murdered and the next day the same fate befell another 160 Jewish people. It was the first mass execution carried out in Nowy Targ District. On 15 August 1942, a labour camp was set up in in three villas located on the today's Poniatowski Street. About 100 Jews were held in the camp; they were assigned to build roads and to expand the Academy. Between 28 and 30 August 1942, 200 people were sent to labour camps, while a part of Rabka's Jewish population was transported to the Nazi death camp in Bełżec[1.1.2]. During the liquidation of the camp on 9 January 1943, some of the prisoners were executed and some were deported to the Nazi concentration camp in Płaszów[1.11].

Bibliography

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  Kowalczyk K., Społeczność żydowska dziewiętnastowiecznej Rabki, [in] Rabka Juliana Zubrzyckiego, eds. K. Kowalczyk, G. Moskal, M. Rapta, Rabka-Zdrój 2012

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  Kowalczyk K., Społeczność żydowska XIX-wiecznej Rabki, „Historia Rabki”, 1.05.2009 [online] https://historiarabki.blogspot.com/2012/02/spoecznosc-zydowska-xix-wiecznej-rabki.html [Accessed: 10.06.2014].

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  Moskal G., Rapta M., Tupta W., Mroczne sekrety willi „Tereska”, Rabka-Zdrój 2008.

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  Rabka, [in] The Encyclopaedia of Jewish Life Before and During Holocaust, vol. 2, eds. Spector S., Wigoder G., New York 2001, p. 1043.