“Inowlodz” - Encyclopedia of Jewish
Communities in Poland, Volume I
(Poland)

51°32' / 20°13'

Translation of “Inowlodz” chapter
from Pinkas Hakehillot Polin

Published by Yad Vashem

Published in Jerusalem


Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Ada Holtzman z”l

 

Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem for permission
to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland,
Volume I, page 54, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem


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{Page 54}

Inowlodz
(District of Rawa Mazowiecka)

Translated by Ada Holtzman

YearTotal
population
Jews
1764/5(?)22
1793/94(?)59
180838080
1827771229
1857925277
18971170324
19211332408
1.9.1939(?)518

Inowlodz was founded in the 11th century, and was granted city status during the 13th century. The development of the town in the 14th and 15th centuries created conditions for the settlement of the Jews in it. The first news about a Jewish settlement in Inowlodz is from 1537. It ceased to exist in the middle half of the 17th century because of the decline of the town and its destruction during the Swedish-Polish Wars. In the 18th century, Jews returned and settled again in Inowlodz. In 1764 four families lived in Inowlodz : innkeepers, who belonged to the community of Ujazd. In 1793 other artisans--like a barber, a butcher and a tanner--already lived in the town, In the beginning of the 19th century merchants of small shops appeared. In 1858, 35 families lived in the small town. By the end of the 19th century, Inowlodz became famous as a vacation resort and tourists came from Warsaw, Tomaszow Mazowiecki, and Lodz. The town kept its character as a resort during the 20th century. During the period between the World Wars, besides having a livelihood from the resort, Jews were also peddlers in the surrounding villages, selling mostly clothing and textile products, bought in Lodz and Tomaszow. Many tailors lived in the town, who sewed clothes to peasants from the neighborhood.

Starting from the 1820s, there was an independent Committee of the Community, who controlled Jewish life in seven villages. In 1858 there were15 families. Abraham Rosenberg was a distinguished city leader. He was elected to 10 “cadences” during a period of 30 years. A hostel for the poor was founded at the beginning of the 19th century and a synagogue made of bricks was erected. In 1858 both buildings were renovated.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the Jews of Inowlodz could not afford a rabbi; therefore, only Dayanim [judges] served the community. Until 1827 the following two men were Dayanim: R. Dawid Peperkorn from Biala Rawska, and after his death, R. Szymon Lajb Frumer, a native of Inowlodz. From the 1830s until 1848, the Dayan was R. Abraham Michael Lewi,a native of Pinczow. In his last years, until he died in 1848, everyone called him “Rabbi”. It is possible that the title refers to his official title. His successor as the Rabbi of the town was R. Josef Jungbach, who had previously been a Dayan for 26 years in Opoczno. He was succeeded in 1860 by R. Nachum Rozenblum. In 1908, R. Icchak Meir Kanal served as the Rabbi of the community. He was subsequently the Rabbi of Blaszki and a member of the Rabbinical Court in Warsaw. From 1910-1920, Rabbi Jecheskel Halsztok served as the Rabbi. Later he was appointed the Rabbi of Nasielsk and the Admor of Ostrowice. The last Rabbi of Inowlodz on the eve of World War II was Rabbi A. I. Gingold.

During the German occupation in WWII, 426 Jews lived in Inowlodz. In May 1941, the number included 130 Jews who had come from other places. By June 1941 the number of Jews reached 450, and in November, 600, including the refugees. In 1942 the number did not change much: in April there were 545, among them 172 refugees. The Jewish community was liquidated in August 1942: 500 Jews were deported to ghetto Tomaszow Mazowiecki, and shared the same fate as the Jews of that ghetto.

After the War the only reminder of centuries of Jewish settlement were the burned walls of the synagogue built in the first half of the 19th century.


Sources

AGAD (Archiwum Glowne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie): Leczyckie Grodzkie Obl. 127, cards 463-463v.
AP (Archiwum Panstwowe Miasta Krakowa I Wojewodztwa Krakowskiego) Lodz: Anteriora PRG 2520.
A. Feldman, old news about the Jews in Polish Towns in the 15-16 century, in “Bleter fer Geshichte” 1936, z' 63.


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