The history of the Jews in Sieradz began even before 1453, when Kazimierz Jagiellończyk issued a decree confirming privileges for the Greater Poland Jews. In this document, the Orthodox Jews from Sieradz were mentioned just after those from Poznań and Kalisz, which indicates that this community was one of the most numerous in Greater Poland[1.1].

The location of the old Jewish district was probably established in the records of property transactions in court books. In the Middle Ages, Jews had to inhabit separate districts, set apart from Christian districts. The Jewish district for the first half of the 15th century was Żydowska Street, which connected Błotna (currently Warszawska) and Mnisza (currently Dominikańska) Streets. The Jewish community was mostly located on the southern side of Żydowska Street, which can be confirmed by the records in court books. However, information concerning the medieval Jewish townspeople is very inadequate. Thanks to preserved source documents it can be determined that the Jews’ occupation with usury[1.2].

In the 16th century Jews purchased houses in the Christian part of the town. It was probably due to their financial activity, which involved accepting property as loan guarantees. It emerges from court documents that the first such buyer was Jakub the Jew who, after the death of his creditor Burgrave Wojciech Suski, purchased the house that had previously been owned by Suski, but inhabited by Jakub. It is worth mentioning that the executors of Suski’s and his wife’s last will agreed to this transaction in view of fact that Jakub ought to have been compensated for the assault on his house, which had been instigated by Suski himself. Other purchasers of property in the Christian district were Samuel from Gniezno and Bieniasz, who in the light of the town laws became, at least officially, full citizens of Sieradz. According to town records, they were not converts and were recorded as perfidi Judei.

The opportunity to purchase property was a beneficial factor for the Jewish settlers[1.3]. Such unique favor of the Christians may have been caused by the town’s good economic situation. However, already in 1569, the people of Sieradz obtained a De non tolerandis Judeais privilege, which forbade Jews to settle and purchase property or to trade in the town, except on market days. This ban was in force until 1771, when King Stanisław August Poniatowski again allowed for Jewish settlement in Sieradz.

In 1557 the city was inhabited by 2,068 people, including 206 Jews, and in 1784 there were only 32 Jews. However, three years later there were already 71 inhabitants of the Hebrew religion. During the period of the Great Sejm (1788-1792), the overall number of inhabitants of the town decreased, including Jews, of whom there were only 52 in 1791. They did not have their own kahal and belonged to the Jewish community in Łask. A significant influx of Jews took place only after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. when the Sieradz district was annexed by Prussia, and the Congress of Vienna, when it was located in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1804 the Jews of Sieradz became independent of the Łask community, obtaining the right to found their own cemetery (1km from the town) and construct a synagogue. The best-known families that settled in Sieradz at the beginning of the 19th century were: Fajans, Białek, Kempiński, Monic, Diamant, Rosenberg, Muner, Gotheiner, Sonenberg and Bomsow[1.4].

Trade was the principal occupation of the Jewish townspeople. They almost monopolized the cloth, salt, shoes, colonial goods and iron trades. In 1817 a Merchants’ Union, comprised mostly of Jews, was founded. In 1821 Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who was inspecting the industrial plants in the Kingdom, also visited Izrael Kempiński’s pellet factory in Sieradz. Since the owner was absent, Niemcewicz left a letter in in which he wrote: [...] It was with true satisfaction that I inspected your factory in Sieradz, Sir. If only other Orthodox Jews in Poland wished to imitate your civic ardour and industry[1.5].

In the years of the 19th century that followed, the number of Jews grew together with the town. Of the eight most affluent inhabitants, three were Jews. The ongoing growth of the Jewish community was slowed down by World War I. While in 1909, 48.3% of the overall population were Orthodox Jews, in 1926 their number was only 27.4%. The most popular occupational groups among the Jews were tailors, shoemakers, glaziers and horse cab drivers.

According to Father Pogorzelski, in 1927, 62 of the 454 houses in Sieradz belonged to Jews. In the same year, a seven-year elementary school for Jewish children was opened, with Hersz Heller as its principal. The school employed seven teachers, and 315 children attended it[1.6]. In the interwar period, the Jews, as well as members of other religious groups, attended municipal public schools.

Few sources documenting the Holocaust of Jews in Sieradz survive. The most important of them are the memoirs of Sister Paulina Jaskulanka[1.7]. There are also the memoirs of Janina Migałka [MORE LIKELY MIGALKO], Władysław Kubicki, Stanisław Kubicki and Aleksandra Wisławska[1.8].

One of the first Nazi crimes in Sieradz took place on September 15, 1939. Its victims were both Poles and Jews. It occurred by accident. The Germans became alarmed by a rifle shot from a local bandit trying to frighten off people who were demanding that he return their property. As a result of this incident, inhabitants of a house on Wodna Street were executed. According to the wife of a victim, Maria Wosiak, the Nazis thought that the shot had come from the Jewish house of worship; shouting "Jude, Jude" they executed seven men, of whom three were Poles and four Jews.

As part of their anti-terrorist actions, on November 11, 1939, the Nazis executed hostages held in the Sieradz prison. Among the murdered was the director of the Jewish Bank, Dawid Zylberger.

On November 20, the Germans executed four Jews in the local Jewish cemetery. The leading oppressor of the Jewish community was an officer of the local Schutzpolizei named Gerle. According to a study by Jan Milczarek[1.9], Gerle would take a few Jews at a time from the ghetto and personally execute them in the cemetery, always sparing the life of one of them, who would then be forced to bury the bodies of the others.

From the very beginning of the occupation, the Jews of Sieradz were subjected to various forms of persecution. They were systematically deprived of valuable possessions, and they were forbidden to trade or to leave the town[1.10]. On February 21, 1940 a directive was issued creating a ghetto in Sieradz. The ghetto comprised the area bordered by Sukiennicza, Wodna, Szewska and Żabia Streets. In an area previously inhabited by a few hundred people, the entire Jewish population of 2,000 was crowded together. The number of inhabitants increased constantly, as Jews from neighboring villages were brought in. Private workshops were forbidden in the ghetto, which led to general hunger. Only a few of the Jews found jobs in the military industry, but even those "lucky" ones earned so little that they hardly managed to use all their ration cards. In 1941 a person received a weekly average of 20 g. of meat, 62.5 g. of fat, 1.4-2.1 kg. of flour or bread, 2.5 kg. of potatoes, 100 g. of sugar and 1.4 l. of skim milk. The nutritive value of these products, whose quality left a lot to be desired, fluctuated from 180 to 200 calories per day[1.1.10]. Twice a day the Jews had to appear for an assembly in Zamkowa Street, where they were scrupulously counted by both the Germans and the Jewish ghetto police.

The end of the operation of the ghetto took place on January 20, 1942 when armed units of German police entered it and began to gather people in the assembly square. During this action, a 10-year-old boy attempting to escape was shot dead.

The people gathered in Zamkowa Street were herded by the Nazis to the Ursuline convent, where they were locked in the church for several days. The majority were then transported by trucks to Chełmno, where they were killed. In this way the Germans killed virtually the entire Jewish community of Sieradz.

Bibliography:

• Pogorzelski W., Sieradz, Włocławek 1927.
• Sowina U., Żydzi w Sieradzu w XV i XVI w., „Na sieradzkich szlakach” 1993, nr 3/31.
• Tomaszewicz A., Żydzi w Sieradzu w XIX i XX w. (do 1939 r.), „Na sieradzkich szlakach” 1993, nr 3/31.