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Olesko

OLESKO, town in Tarnopol district, Ukraine (E. Galicia). Twelve buildings in Olesko were owned by Jews in 1628. The provincial council of *Bratslav (see *Councils of Lands) convened here in the 18th century. In 1765, 771 Jewish taxpayers were registered in Olesko and its "boroughs." The Jewish population numbered 832 (20% of the total) in 1910, and 636 in 1920 (10.7% of the total population). Noted rabbis who lived in Olesko include Ze'ev (Wolf) b. Samuel, author of Ḥiddushei ha-Razah (Zolkiew, 1771). *Ḥasidism had a following in Olesko which was the residence of ẓaddikim; one of them opposed the establishment of a modern Jewish school there by the *Israelitische Allianz of Vienna; it was eventually opened in 1910 after a fierce struggle.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

T. Brustin-Bernstein, in: Bleter far Geshikhte, 6:3 (1953), passim.


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