Opatow, Poland

OPATOW (Yid. Apta) Kielce district, Poland. Jews settled in the 16th century, living in their own quarter and engaging in extensive trade, mainly with Danzig (Gdansk) but also as far afield as Breslau in the west. The Jewish settlement grew with an influx of German and Polish Jews. The Swedish war of the mid-17th century curtailed the community’s development. The Jewish quarter was burned and looted and many Jews were massacred by Stefan Czarniecki’s irregular Polish troops. In 1657, King John Casimir authorized them to rebuild their homes and resume trade, but a fire in 1680 again gutted the Jewish quarter. Many also died in an epidemic. The community grew considerably in the 18th century, particularly under Austrian rule in 1793-1807, when Jews were permitted to live outside the Jewish quarter. Jews controlled the wholesale trade in farm produce and lumber and contributed to local industry, opening two hide-processing plants, a sugar-refining factory, and a dyeing facility. Opatow was the birthplace of Rabbi Yisrael of Kozienice (b. 1733), one of the founders of Hasidism. In the late 18th century Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasow established his seat in Opatow, making it an important hasidic center. Other prominent hasidic figures were Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak of Przysucha (“the Holy Jew”) and Avraham Yehoshua Heschel (“the Rabbi of Apta”). The provision of services to the Hasidism was an important source of income. The Jewish population grew from 1,377 in 1827 to 4,138 (total 6,603) in 1897. Zionist activity commenced in the early 20th century. After WWI, most factories and workshops were in Jewish hands, over half (146) in the garment industry. Most Jews, however, engaged in petty trade and barely made a living. The Jewish population rose to 5,462 in 1921. Orthodox circles controlled community institutions, with a branch of Agudat Israel opened in1921 and a Beth Jacob school for girls operating from 1925. Most of the Zionist organizations were also active. Hehalutz ran a pioneer training farm and a Tarbut Hebrew school was founded in 1934. Many of the young fled eastward to Soviet-controlled territory on the approach of the Germans in September 1939. However, 200 were seized in Opatow by the Germans. They were removed to an unknown destination and never heard from again. In early 1941, a Judenrat was set up and in spring a ghetto was established, its population swelled by refugees from Warsaw and Lodz. The overcrowing let to typhoid. The TOZ health organization operated infirmaries and a 30-40-bed hospital. Soup kitchens were opened as well as a school and brush workshop. Many of the able-bodied were sent to labor camps, mainly in Skarzysko-Kamienna and Starachovice, their places in the ghetto taken by refugees from Silesia. In winter 1942, with information from informers, the Germans tortured and murdered young people in the ghetto who had been trying to acquire arms and organize an underground. On 20-22 October 1942, after another 500 were sent to the Sandomierz labor camp, the last 6,000 Jews were deported to the Treblinka death camp. Of the 1,500 still in the labor camps, nearly 300 survived the war.