Excerpted from: “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and After
the Holocaust”
(used with permission)
POLANIEC Kielce District, Poland.
According to tradition, a Jewish
settlement existed in the 14th Century. In the 17th
Century the Jews were living under a royal privilege allowing trade and
residence. In the 18th and 19th Centuries they enjoyed
relative prosperity. The Jewish population was 753 in 1857, and 1,025 (total
2,561) in 1921. Between the World Wars, the Jews suffered from economic
hardship and increasing anti-Semitism. Zionist activity was widespread. The
Germans arrived in September 1939, finding 864 Jews there and immediately
instituting a regime of forced labor and extortion. In October 1939 the Jews
were ordered to set up a Judenrat and in April 1942 a ghetto was
established. In October 1942, its 2,000 inhabitants including refugees were
transferred to Sandomierz and on October 29 deported to the Belzec death camp.
Five days after the liberation of Poland, 40 Jewish survivors were murdered by
the Polish Armia Krajowa partisans.
Acknowledgements: The information on this
page is taken from “The
Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and After the Holocaust”, Volume II, page
1011. Published 2001 by NYU Press.
We are grateful to Dr. Bella Gutterman,
Director and Sr. Editor, Publications Department,
Yad Vashem,
for permission
to reproduce this copyrighted material.
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