Lanowitz – A Historical Survey - By H. Rabins

It is difficult to establish accurately when Lanowitz was founded. There are only a few sources and their authenticity is doubtful. In our research, we tried to weigh the scientific evidence as to when the town was founded. This evidence contradicts the local legends

The street where my family lived in 1929. The “X” is my grandfather’s house. The “O” is where his blacksmith shop was.

 

Between WWl and WWll:
Lanowce District: Krzemieniec Province:
Wolyn Country: Poland

 

that had developed over time. Let us instead quote from the notes of our beloved historian, the late Shmuel Averbuch, who dedicated his last years in the United States to record the history of his town in his journal. His work shows the influence on him of his first twenty years growing up in Lanowitz. According to his research, the town was founded in 1625. However, Lanowitz is already mentioned in the list of towns composed by the Council of Four Lands [Active from the middle of the 16th century to 1764-Ed]. According to these notes Lanowitz was listed as being in the province of Vohlyn as an organized legal community.

From other historical sources such as census and tax records, we learn that the town was given to Pashkov Yalowitzky [Ref.: Illostrovi Pashwadni po Vohlyn] in 1444, and to the Kozminska family in 1545.

In all the geographical encyclopedias, Lanowitz appears to be a Jewish town, separated by 12 km. from the Ukrainian village of Laniwitz. The town of Burchiwky, between the two, appears to have been the district town. According to these sources, it is reasonable to assume that Lanowitz existed since the 15th century.

According to the (Polish) “Slovnik Georgraphichny” published in 1902, a publication noted for its anti-Semitic bias, Yalowitzky collected taxes (in Lanowitz) from 15 garden plots, 15 smoke-stacks and 2 grinding mills. The dearth of garden plots indicates few farms, while the 15 smoke-stacks, to differentiate from chimneys, suggests that Lanowitz was already industrialized. This is another indication that the town was likely Jewish because in that historical period, Jews were the primary contributors to Russian industrialization. The above mentioned period precedes the Jewish exodus from Spain. Who knows how Jews got to settle in Lanowitz.                                                                                                         continued...

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