Year General Population Jews
1662 416 -
1674 311 -
1764 - 284*
1822 1081 294
1857 1312 596
1921 2803 1518
*Not counting infants under 1 year of age
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Thanks to its situation on the road that led from Krakow to Warsaw and passing through Opatow and Sandomiecz, Iwaniska's development was rapid and it became an important commercial centre in the region. 13 annual markets were held there, in the course of which many merchants visited, as well as tradesmen who worked and sold products of various metals including brass, gold and silver. In 1578 there were in Iwaniska 44 craftsmen, 19 distillers and 15 clerks who worked for the owners of the city. This period of prosperity and plenty came to an end in the time of the Swedish war, 1656, in the course of which the city was devastated. Only 50 houses remained standing. In the 18th century the city was built anew. In 1778 there were already 158 houses and in 1869, 167. We have no documented information on the beginning of the Jewish settlement in Iwaniska. One presumes that the first Jews settled there in the 18th century. The owners of the city in those days, the noblemen Zwirowski, saw in the Jews an important factor in economic development and allowed them to purchase lots in Iwaniska and to build dwellings. In about the middle of the 19th century the Jews organized themselves into a community and built themselves a synagogue of wood. The community included at that time the Jews of the neighbouring villages. In 1899 Rabi Yitzchak David Shapiro was invited to take the office of rabbinic authority. The local Jews included Chassidim of various streams, but no "shtiblech" (unofficial but permanent places of worship set up in private homes to serve a relatively small circle of people) were established and everyone prayed in the synagogue. In the years 1907-1914. Rav Yaakov the Grandson of Rav David Of Lelov (a noted teacher and worker of miracles) presided in Iwaniska. At the end of this tenure he moved to Opatow and his place was taken by Rav Yechiel Alter Ferleger. In the 19th century Jewish children learned in "cheder". In the spring of 1918 there broke out in Iwaniska a conflagration in which most of the buildings were destroyed, constructed as they were of wood, including the synagogue. In the period between the two world wars The Jews lived in poverty and subsisted mainly of small trades and crafts. The distance of Iwaniska from the railroad stopped its economic development, and it was only in 1929, when a bus line was instituted between it and Opatow that the economic situation improved at all. The Jewish craftsmen organized themselves into their own union, which was influenced by Agudas Yisroel (a more orthodox movement). The Jewish union founded a benevolent fund that lent money to the needy at no interest. The Jewish populace in general was under the influence of Agudas Yisroel even though in time the influence of the Zionist grew, especially among the youth. The first Zionist group in the town was founded by the year 1916. Both "Hanoar Hatzioni" and "Betar" were active in Iwaniska. In 1924 the rabbinic chair was occupied by R' Yaakov Yitzchak Widman, who officiated till the outbreak of the 2nd World War. Most of the children in that period went to the traditional cheder, and the girls to the Beis Yaakov School, which was founded in 1927 at the initiative of Agudas Yisroel. In 1930 a Jewish library was opened which served as a meeting place for the youth, and alongside it were established circles to learn Hebrew. On the eve of WWII the Jewish community of Iwaniska numbered 1,663 souls. Up to and including the war, a simple Jew, a tailor by trade, together with a number of the group faithful to the rabbi, stood at the head of the community. This group fought tooth and nail against any attempt by the younger generation to introduce a bit of enlightenment and progress to Iwaniska. In the town there were not a few youth who were drawn to "enlightenment", abandoned the traditional way of life and joined the Zionist and socialist youth movements. The Chassidim faithful to the Rabbi, who held control of the community, waged a struggle, not only against these youth, who were considered apostates, but also against the more moderate Chassidim, and there were even incidents of "informing" to the authorities. During the Second World War In the beginning of September 1939, Iwaniska was occupied by the German's. The conquerors didn't change the existing Jewish leadership, and in the beginning merely demanded absolute compliance with their decrees leaving in its hands the day to day administration, as long as this didn't conflict with their decrees. The Jewish administration therefore continued to deal with Jewish matters in the context of full cooperation with the Germans. Even in the time of the German occupation the "Chasidim didn't desist from their struggle with those that didn't belong to their camp, nor from their complaints against them to the authorities, just as before. Indeed, in the course of 1940 into the beginning of 1941 a number of young men were arrested when the leadership of the community informed the authorities of their non- compliance with the orders of the Germans. In the early days of the conquest, as long as the Germans ruled through the municipal administration and the Polish police, there still remained to the Jews the possibility of survival. Nevertheless even then there began the abduction and deportation of groups of young Jews of Iwansk to distant work camps. The leaders of the community were generally still able at that time to obtain the release of jailed Jews, and to cancel various sentences through the use of bribes or personal diplomacy as was customary in times of old. In the middle of 1941 the situation deteriorated. The Germans impose burdensome levies of money from each member of the community according to his financial situation. The leadership of the community enlisted the help of young men that had good connections with the local Polish government. One of these young men, T. Goldshtein, who came from an affluent Jewish family and was Zionist in outlook, was on friendly terms with the local commandant, Bax by name, who was himself a member of the Polish Patriotic Organization Armeja Krayove. Bax gained the admiration of the Jews and he helped them as much as he could, and through his friend Goldshtein warned them from time to time when he would hear from the Germans steps they were planning against them. Also Mirovski, the Polish mayor, would give the Jews information and advice. On the other hand there were in Iwaniska Polish anti-Semites, as exemplified by Zigledowski, a one time senior officer in the Polish Army and numbered among the leaders of Armeja Krayova, who tried to enlist the support of the local priest. Bax and Mirowski warned Goldshtein of the intention of the Germans to confiscate all the businesses of he Jews and advised them to get all of their movable wealth out of town and hide it. At that time Zigledowski was trying to get the Germans to speed up the confiscation and to divide with the Poles the Jewish wealth. When Zigledowski realized that not all the Poles were willing to cooperate with him he and his supporters set fire to the houses of the Jewish street of the town, and at the same time gave the Germans a list of the 10 Jews who they accused of doing the deed. At the head of the list was the name of Goldshtein. In spite of it's being clear that this was an act of provocation, the Germans jailed the Jews and executed nine of them. Bax, Mirowski and the local priest as well tried to have the sentences commuted, and only at the last minute were they able to save the life of Goldshtein. After this event Goldshtein was appointed head of the Judenrat of Iwaniska. About the middle of 1941 the Germans began to publish new decrees as they had in other places in Poland. Thus, for example, the Jews of Iwaniska were ordered to wear a white armband with the Star of David on it; they were forbidden to walk on the sidewalk; and other decrees. There was in Iwaniska a Young Rabbi, Ch. Y. Rabinowitz, a relative of the Admor (Sage) of Radomsk, who was numbered with the opposition to the Chassidic group that maintained control of the community. Rav Rabinowitz worked unstintingly for the Jewish community and even supported the Zionist activities. After the Germans confiscated the wealth of the Jews and their economic distress deepened, Rav Rabinowitz established a public kitchen, and with the vigorous assistance of Goldshtein established a welfare organization for the needy. On the 27th of March 1941, there arrived in Iwaniska a group of Jews who had been driven out of Vienna, exhausted and lacking clothes suitable for the winter or any other resources. Goldshtein and Rav Rabinowitz looked to the needs of these refugees and helped them to the best of their ability. At the end of 1941 there arrived in Iwaniska the German work organization "Todt", which began to take young and healthy Jews for deportation to work camps. Rav Rabinowitz and members of the Zionist pioneer youth groups urged the young men to take to the forest rather than to go to the work camps from which many did not return. In 1942 young Jews, former members of the youth groups set up an underground in Iwaniska. They gathered food bought arms, and planned to escape the town in small groups, and to prepare in the forest bunkers stocked with food and arms, that were to serve as hiding places for them and the rest of the citizens of the town. The deportation of Jews from the surrounding villages to the camps began in May 1942. Rav Rabinowitz supported the plan of flight from the town, and his supporters answered his call to join the work of the underground. However, the Chassidim opposed the work of the underground and preferred to submit to The Judgment and not resist the deportation. They believed that only a miracle would save them. In the fall of 1942 when the Jewish leadership learned the date appointed by the Germans for the deportation from Iwaniska, Rav Rabinowitz ordered his followers and the pioneers to bring to the Jewish cemetery all the Holy Books and Paraphernalia that remained in the synagogue. All of the members of the community came to the ritual of burial. Rav Rabinowitz urged them to do all in their power to save themselves and their loved ones. Many heeded his plea, and they began to leave the town in small groups. On the 15th of October 1942, the Gestapo and the SS, together with Ukrainian police surrounded the town. Three hundred Jews, men, women and children, had by then managed to flee to the bunkers that had been prepared in the forest. All the others, almost 1600 souls, were gathered in the market place. The Germans did a search of the houses and shot anyone caught trying to hide. The Jews of Iwansk were transported to the ghetto in Cmielow and from there under heavy guard, together with the Jews of that town, to the train station in Ostrow (Ostrowiec?), and from there to Treblinka. One Jew from Iwaniska, Israel Zeltzer, managed to escape from Treblinka and told of the murder of the people of the town. The Jews that fled the city organized themselves into small groups for self- defense. However communication between the groups and there was no one to organize or lead them. The Germans, who were aware of the flight to the forest, instituted a hunt for them and shot anyone caught. The local farmers helped the Germans not a little by revealing to them the hiding places. Among those caught was Rav Rabinowitz. He was executed by the Germans in November 1942. Only a few Jews of Iwaniska managed to survive all the hazard and achieve liberation.
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