Tarnobrzeg is located just south of the mouth of the San
River and Vistula River, in Rzeszow province. It is located at 50.35 degrees
North and 21.40 degrees East, in the area of Poland which was Galicia. Galicia
was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The town was also known by the name
of Dzikow, in the 1765 census.
The Jews of Tarnobrzeg were massacred in 1655 and in 1757
there was a blood libel, when several Jews were murdered, as they were accused
of killing a boy. Later the boy returned to the town and Countess Tarnowski paid
restitution to the town's Jewish population.
Nazi soldiers in Germany - 1939 |
In 1718, the wife of Count Tarnowski loaned the Jewish
community 1,000 florin to build a synagogue. In 1778-9, Wolf and Simpel
Lewkowicz paid sales tax as the town's kosher butcher along with Samuel
Zelmanowicz.
During the 19th century Hasidism play a large role in the
town with R. Meir Horowitz it's key figure. The Baron Hirsch fund established a
school in the town before World War I.
On September 17,1939 the Germans occupied the town, the
population was then 3,800. In October of that year the Jews were robbed and
expelled. The final liquidation of the community took place in July of 1942.