JEWISH GALICIA & BUKOVINA

Promoting the study and commemoration of the cultural heritage

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A woven tapestry factory was established by Joachim Greenspan in 1864, and it became the main supplier of the royal house in Vienna. Several other factories were similarly opened before WWI, each employing between 30 and 50 workers. In the early 20th century, it was proposed to Greenspan to establish a massive textile factory, but when he was not able raise the enough capital, two Jewish brothers from Czechia won the contract instead. They build a massive factory that provided employment for 4,000 people there.
Other industries were expanding as well: factories for building products (plaster and cement), leatherworking, and soft drinks. Many Jews were leather and iron traders. Others were skilled craftsmen: watchmakers, jewelers, tinsmiths, bartenders, and innkeepers. The rest had small businesses selling food products and consumer goods. Many of the Jews worked in the free professions: doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, and dentists.
It is unclear when the Jews of Andrychów were recognized as a community, but records show that as of 1843 there was not yet an official Jewish community in town. 1884 saw the allocation of land for Jewish cemetery, indicating the existence of a local organized Jewish community. In 1885, Andrychów's old synagogue was renovated – essentially demolished and rebuilt from the ground up – to accommodate a large community. The new synagogue had better acoustics, seating for 600, a separate women’s section, and spectacular murals. In addition to religious services, it was used to host various events of the Zionist movement, such as a memorial to Herzl and the like. The vast majority of Andrychów's Jewry were "progressives", most of which with broad general education, yet there are no records of friction and quarrels between "progressive" and "ultra-Orthodox" Jews. Most of the city's rabbis also had general education. One of the first was Rabbi Dr. Joseph Kobak, who attended the University of Lemberg. He began his career in the city as the Jewish school principal in 1860, and in 1862 he was appointed Andrychów's chief rabbi. Among other things, Rabbi Kobak founded Yeshurun, a journal of Jewish studies, and authored a Hebrew grammar book for schools and independent study. There are also records of halakhic discussions that the rabbis of Andrychów had with the rabbi of Oświęcim (Oshpetzin; Auschwitz). The rabbis of Andrychów from the early 20th century are better known than their predecessors: Rabbi Abba Metzner spoke fluent Polish and German and enrolled his children to get a general education at the gymnasium (public high school) in Wadowice. In 1925, Rabbi David Avigdor, an active Zionist affiliated with the Mizrachi movement, was appointed chief rabbi of the city. During his tenure he also served as director of the Tachkemoni Gymnasium in Krakow. He also privately completed his own high school matriculation, was an amateur painter and artist, and published several Yiddish articles in Lvov- and Warsaw-based journals.

Until 1879, Jewish children attended a local Jewish school, due to a law against Jews attending Christian schools. As their civil status changed, Jews were gradually allowed to study in mixed schools. As part of the formal public school curriculum, Jewish children studied their religion and history, and supplementary lessons were given by the local rabbi. To this end, the local rabbis were authorized to teach in public schools. In addition, the children spent their afternoons in the kheyder (ḥeder), where they acquired basic Torah education: Ḥumash with Rashi’s commentary and Hebrew literacy. For high school, the local youth went to nearby Wadowice or Bilitz (Bielsko Biała); those who could afford it rented rooms in the city, while others would commute by train on a daily basis. The integration of Jews into the city's economy and their positive impact on its growth certainly led to amicable relationships with the Christian Poles.
The extension of equal rights to Jews naturally paved the way to their involvement in local politics, and despite their relatively low relative population (certainly compared to other cities in Galicia), Jews were often overrepresented in in the city council. This is due to the trust between Jews and Poles that prevailed until the end of World War I. These good relationships persisted despite the blatant efforts of some local clergymen. In 1898, a priest from one of the neighboring villages issued an accusatory pamphlet against Jews, calling on Christians not to buy from Jews and to avoid using Jewish doctors.
During World War I, the city was not directly damaged, but from the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish population of Andrychów started to decline, due mainly to increasing competition from textile factories in Lodz. After the war, the increasingly blatant anti-Semitism of reconstituted Second Republic of Poland was another factor in the decline of the Jewish population.
At the end of World War I, communal activities in Andrychów resumed: A two-story community building (and an adjacent mikveh) was built between 1922 and 1924, and special house for the rabbi was erected near the Beit HaMidrash. The community building housed a public library with thousands of books, as well as a multipurpose hall hosting conferences, private events, and theatrical shows. It also served as a gym. In 1930, a Hebrew preschool was established by Malka Bergman, a kindergarten teacher from the neighboring city of Kęty. Andrychów had a Maccabi Sports Club, which organized a variety of sporting activities and was instrumental in the creation of a municipal swimming pool. Rabbi David Avigdor took part in the events organized by Maccabi and encouraged the local Jewish youth to follow suit.
Various charitable associations were also established, including societies that cared for poor pregnant women, offered vocational training to women, saw to the needs of the sick, and assisted the local poor with money, clothing, and groceries.
In 1912 a General Zionists Scouts chapter was founded in the city. After World War I, WIZO and Hashomer Hatzair established chapters as well. The most prominent youth movement was Akiva, which was fully supported by all segments of the community, including the rabbi. Some Akiva members moved to Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s.
World War II
At the outbreak of the war, many Jews began fleeing eastward. On September 3, 1939, Nazi forces entered the city and engaged in looting and robbing of Jewish stores and homes. Shortly thereafter, all Jewish-owned factories and workshops were confiscated and transferred to 'loyal Germans'. Some of the Jews who fled eastward ended up in the German-occupied area and therefore started to return to Andrychów.
On November 25, 1939, the synagogue was set on fire and community members were forced to clear its ruins. At the end of 1939, a Judenrat was established and subordinated to the Sosnowiec Judenrat by the Gestapo. In the winter of 1940, the community organized to assist the sick and the poor, providing them with food and medical aid. In the spring of 1940, the chairman of the Judenrat was arrested for his role in providing kosher meat to the community. At the end of that year, the Judenrat of Sosnowiec demanded that sixty men be sent to a forced-labor camp. Andrychów's Judenrat, in cooperation with its Polish city council, made tremendous efforts to reverse the decree, but eventually the Gestapo seized sixty men to work in the Sosnowiec camp. Andrychów's community kept sending them parcels and letters until 1942. A closed ghetto was established in the city in 1941, and despite being cut off from the outside world and lacking supplies, the community managed to maintain cultural and educational life. Shabbat and Jewish holidays were celebrated, and educational institutions, from preschool to high school, continued to operate secretly.
In July 1942, the entire Jewish population of Andrychów was rounded up by the German police and Jewish police of the Sosnowiec Judenrat. Some were transported to the Auschwitz and Belzec extermination camps and did not survive. Others were transported to labor camps. The rest, including members of the city's Judenrat, were sent to the Wadowice Ghetto. However, a few weeks later, some of the Jews who were sent to Wadowice were returned to Andrychów, thanks to local factory owners lobbying for greater supply of professional manpower. Andrychów was then run as a labor camp until May 1943, when men and women were separated by SS command. In July of 1943, the men were transported to the Bismarckhütte and Karvina forced labor camps, and a month later the women were transported to Auschwitz. Only 25 of Andrychów's Jews survived World War II. They left Poland, immigrating to Israel and other countries.

(Roee Goldshmidt)

Sources:
David Jacobowitz, 'The Establishment and Development of the Jewish Community in Andrychów', in: Sefer zikaron le-kehilot Wadowice, Andrychow, Kalwarja, Myslenice, Sucha (Givatayim-Ramat Gan: 1967), pp. 251-328.
Pinkasei HaKehilot, vol. 3, Andrychów, pp. 55-58

 Memorial Book of the Communities Wadowice, Andrychow, Kalwarja, Myslenice, Sucha (with translations).

Andrychow in "Virtual Shtetel"