Lubartow

LUBARTOW (Pol. Lubartów; Rus. Lyubartov), town in Lublin province, E. Poland. The poll tax paid by the Jewish community rose from 1,500 zlotys in 1717 to 2,400 zlotys in 1736. In 1765 there were 764 Jewish poll tax payers. The community also had jurisdiction over 217 Jews in the neighboring villages and 37 Jews in the townlet of Kamionka. Among the 218 heads of families were 14 contractors, 20 merchants, 34 tailors, 5 hatters, and 9 carters. The community maintained two synagogues and a mikveh; 164 houses were owned by Jews. In 1796 the owner of the town granted the Jews a privilege defining the status of the kahal and the Jewish craftsmen's guilds. Among the town's wealthiest Jews were the merchant family *Peretz and the chief contractor, Solomon Kosiowicz. In the first half of the 19^th century the Jews were allowed to keep taverns only with the permission of the local overlord. The community numbered 2,074 (58% of the total population) in 1827; 1,820 (56%) in 1857; 2,623 (53%) in 1897; and 3,269 (54%) in 1921. In that year there were 176 Jewish workshops in the town, about half of them employing salaried workers.

Holocaust Period

About 3,500 Jews lived in Lubartow before World War II. In November 1939 over 2,500 Jews were ordered to leave the town and settle in Parczew and Ostrow. Most of them came back within a year. In May 1942 about 1,000 Jews from Slovakia were deported to Lubartow. On Oct. 11, 1942, Jews from Lubartow were deported to the Sobibor and Belzec death camps. Near Lubartow two Jewish partisan units were active for more than a year, under the command of Samuel Jegier and Mietek Gruber.

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