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Jedrzejow

JEDRZEJOW (Pol. Jędrzejów; Rus. Andreyev), town in Kielce province, S. central Poland. Jewish settlement there was prohibited until 1862, when Jewish families from the surrounding townlets and villages arrived in Jedrzejow. With the impetus given to the town's economy by the opening of the railroad station in 1884, the Jewish population rapidly increased. It numbered approximately 2,050 (45% of the total population) in 1897. The majority engaged in small-scale trading and the traditional crafts, and some were occupied in the grain and timber trade. Jews with capital established timber and flour mills and mechanical workshops. The community was organized during the 1880s. The first rabbi to hold office in Jedrzejow was Moses Mincberg. At the close of the 19th century, *Alexandrow Hasidism (Danziger dynasty) had the widest influence in the community. A Zionist committee was established in 1902, and the local *Po'alei Zion, organized in 1906. During the first weeks of Polish rule after the end of World War I there was a wave of anti-Jewish riots in the vicinity of Jedrzejow. According to the census of 1921, there were approximately 4,600 Jews living in Jedrzejow (about 40% of the total population). Between the two world wars all the Zionist organizations were active in the town, and several groups of youth immigrated to Erez Israel. During the 1930s, with the mounting antisemitism, the struggle of the Jews to retain their economic positions in Jedrzejow became increasingly severe. In 1936 five Jews were murdered in the village of Stawy, near Jedrzejow.

The Hebrew novelist Israel *Zarchi was born in Jedrzejow.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

B. Wasiutyński, Ludność żydowska w Polsce … (1930), 31, 56, 71, 76, 78; S.D. Yerushalmi (ed.), Sefer ha-Zikkaron li-Yhudei Jedrzejow (Heb. and Yid., 1965).


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.