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Tarnów
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Tarnów (; ) is a city in southeastern Poland with 116,109 inhabitants (urban area 215 000 inhabitants) (2008)
The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection from Lviv to Kraków. Also, from Tarnów two additional lines stem - a southwards main line to the Slovakian border via Stróze, as well as a minor northwards line to Szczucin (now defunct).
first recorded mention of the city was in 1224.
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Encyclopedia
Tarnów (; ) is a city in southeastern Poland with 116,109 inhabitants (urban area 215 000 inhabitants) (2008)
The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection from Lviv to Kraków. Also, from Tarnów two additional lines stem - a southwards main line to the Slovakian border via Stróze, as well as a minor northwards line to Szczucin (now defunct).
History
The first recorded mention of the city was in 1224. It gained city rights on March 7, 1330. In the 13th century, numerous German settlers immigrated from Kraków and Nowy Sacz. During the 16th century Scottish immigrants began to come in large numbers (Dun, Huyson and Nikielson). In 1528 dwelled here exiled King of Hungary János Szapolyai. It was annexed by Habsburg Austria in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland. The Diocese of Tarnów was formed in 1785.
18 February 1846 - beginning of the Galician peasant revolt. The massacre, led by Jakub Szela (born in Smarzowa), is also known as the Galician Massacre, and began on 18 February 1846. This led to the "Galician Slaughter," in which many nobles and their families were murdered by peasants. Szela units surrounded and attacked manor houses and settlements located in three counties - Sanok, Jaslo and Tarnów. The revolt got out of hand and the Austrians had to put it down.
During World War I, the city was one of the focal points of Austro-Hungarian/German Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive of 1915, a military operation that changed the situation in the Eastern Front and resulted in major retreat of opposing Russian forces. After the war, the city became part of a reconstituted Polish state on October 30, 1918.
The Jews of Tarnów
Before World War II, about 25,000 Jews lived in Tarnów. Jews, whose recorded presence in the town went back to the mid-fifteenth century, comprised about half of the town's total population. A large portion of Jewish business in Tarnów was devoted to garment and hat manufacturing. The Jewish community was ideologically diverse and included both religious Hasidim and secular Zionists.
Immediately following the German occupation of the city on September 8, 1939, the persecution of the Jews began. German units burned down most of the city's synagogues on September 9 and drafted Jews for forced-labor projects. Tarnów was incorporated into the Generalgouvernement. Many Tarnów Jews fled to the east, while a large influx of refugees from elsewhere in occupied Poland continued to increase the town's Jewish population. In early November, the Germans ordered the establishment of a Jewish council (Judenrat) to transmit orders and regulations to the Jewish community. Among the duties of the Jewish council were enforcement of special taxation on the community and providing workers for forced labor.
During 1941, life for the Jews of Tarnów became increasingly precarious. The Germans imposed a large collective fine on the community. Jews were required to hand in their valuables. Roundups for labor became more frequent and killings became more commonplace and arbitrary. Deportations from Tarnów began in June 1942, when about 13,500 Jews were sent to the Belzec extermination camp. During the deportation operations, German SS and police forces massacred hundreds of Jews in the streets, in the marketplace, in the Jewish cemetery, and in the woods outside the town.
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