Sieradz

SIERADZ (Rus. Seradz), town in the province of Lodz, central Poland. Jews settled in the town around the middle of the 15^th century and in 1446 there was a Jewish street. In the second half of the 16^th century the struggle between the Jewish community and the townsmen was intensified as a result of the latter's complaint about competition from Jewish merchants. In 1569 King Sigismund II Augustus prohibited Jews from entering the town. They resettled in Sieradz during the 17^th century, but their residence was forbidden once more in 1725. In 1765 there were only 17 Jews in Sieradz. Under Prussian rule (1793–1806) Jewish merchants and craftsmen again settled in Sieradz. The Jewish population of Sieradz rose from 177 (10% of the total population) in 1808 to 595 (19%) in 1827; 1,782 in 1857; 2,357 (35%) in 1897; and 2,835 (31%) in 1921. They earned their livelihood from trade in cereals, shopkeeping, tailoring, weaving, carpentry, and haulage. From 1829 to 1862 the authorities of Congress Poland restricted the Jews to a special quarter of the town where not more than one family could reside in a room and the houses were to be built of brick and covered by tiles. A number of Sieradz Jews joined the Polish rebels in 1863. After the retreat of the Russian army (1915), Jewish cultural institutions were established in Sieradz and the Zionists subsequently acquired considerable influence. Between the two world wars, various Jewish social and political organizations were active.

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