JASLO

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JASLO, town in S.E. Poland. A Jewish settlement existed there before 1463. In 1589 the town obtained the privilege de non tolerandis Judaeis, i.e., the right to exclude Jews, and in 1619 Jewish settlement and commerce in Jaslo were again prohibited. However, several Jewish families were living in Jaslo by 1765. In 1795, after the partition of Poland, Jaslo passed to Austria under which there were no restrictions on Jewish settlement. In 1805 six families were settled in Jaslo as farmers, and the Jewish community began to increase, in particular between 1848 and 1853. The Jewish population numbered 433 in 1880 (13.1% of the total), 934 in 1890 (20.6%), 1,524 in 1900 (23.2%), 2,262 in 1910 (22.3%), and 2,445 in 1921 (23.5%). The majority were Hasidim. Children generally received a traditional Jewish education. A number attended the local secondary school, where there were 30 Jewish pupils out of 556 in 1914. During the period between the two world wars the Jewish population was mainly occupied in light industry and crafts. In 1921, 96 Jews owned industrial enterprises employing 678 persons, of whom 76 were owners, 49 members of the family, 83 Jewish, and 470 non-Jewish workers. The only sizable enterprises owned by Jews were five chemical works, employing 35 Jewish and 420 non-Jewish workers; large or medium-sized workshops included 29 food processing, 28 clothing, eight timber, seven metallurgical, six building, three machinery, three leather, three textile, two printing, and two disinfecting.

[Nathan Michael Gelber]

Holocaust Period

In the summer of 1941, a ghetto was established in Jaslo. Refugees increased the population to around 2,300. In July and August 1942 around 650 Jews were executed in the surrounding forests. The ghetto was liquidated on August 19–20 and its inmates, with a few exceptions, were deported to Belzec and there murdered. A small number of Jews were transferred to the forced labor camp in Szebnia, which was liquidated in 1943. No Jews settled in Jaslo after World War II.

[Stefan Krakowski]

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

E. Podhorizer-Sandel, in: BŻIH, 30 (1959), 87–109.