Alternate names: Połaniec [Pol], Plontch, פולאניץ [Yid], Polanyets, Поланец [Rus], Plantsh, Plantz, Polenitz. 50°26' N, 21°17' E, 38 miles SE of Kielce, 27 miles SW of Sandomierz, 10 miles SE of Staszów. 1900 Jewish population: 1,221. Yizkor: Sefer Staszow. (Tel Aviv, 1962). This town in Staszów powiat, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship with 8,419 inhabitants in 2004 is seat of Gmina Polaniec, an administrative unit.
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This small town is situated near the town of Staszow on the Vistula river. Jewish settlement is documented in Planch in 1579. In 1765, Jews were granted the privilege of residence in the town and permitted to open workshops. The synagogue was well known for its architecture and wall paintings. In the mid-18th century, the town had a synagogue, a beit midrash, a talmud torah, a yeshiva, and many cheders. The Prissker Chassidim were a majority of this Jewish community. Jewish population: 600-early 19th century; 750 by about 1850, and 1,025 in 1921. A fire in 1929 swept through the town destroying the beit midrash, mikvah and talmud torah and leaving 100 Jewish families. In the 18th century, the Jews were shopkeepers, hawkers and craftsman. In the 1920's, many people left for jobs in the big cities particularly Lodz. In 1939, Polaniec had 1,864 Jewish inhabitants. The Germans occupied the region at the beginning of September 1939. In October 1940, there were 1200 Jews. Jews from the nearby villages were taken there. In summer 1942, a ghetto was set up in the Jewish quarter for the local inhabitants and Jews taken there; in October 1942 the ghetto had 2,000 Jews, half of the town's population. On October 11, 1942, they were sent to Statzow where an "aktzion" murdered hundreds of Jews. At the end of October 1942, the Polaniec ghetto was liquidated. About 60 survived the war. Their Polish neighbors murdered the Berger family, who had returned to Polaniec. The synagogue in Polaniec was landmarked in the 1980's. The cemetery restoration occurred [June 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000236
Polaniec is located in Tarnobrzeg, Poland at 50º26 21º17, 42km from Tarnobrzeg. The cemetery is located at ul. Partyzantow on the outskirts of town. Present population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy Polaniec, ul. Ruszczanska 27, tel. 65-06-22; 65-08-16; 65-01-00.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, (Mgr. Dominik Komada) of Tarnobrzeg, ul. Pilsudskiego 40, tel. 22-81-61 and Dyrektor Wydzialu Spraw Spotecznych Urzedu Wojewodzkiego, (Edward Kuracinski), Tarnobrzeg, ul. Kosciuszki 32, tel. 22-19-99.
The earliest known Jewish community was 14th century. 1931 Jewish population (census) was 1500. The Orthodox Jewish cemetery was established in 1647 with last known burial 1940. The isolated suburban flat land at the outskirts of town is reached by turning directly off a public road and open to all with no sign or marker, wall or gate. There are no gravestones, structures, or known mass graves. The cemetery was vandalized during and after World War II, and there is no maintenance. The approximate size of before WWII was 1.00 hectares and now it is 0.80 hectares. Seasonal flooding posed a problem. The municipality currently owns the cemetery property used for agriculture, but barren. Properties adjacent are agricultural and residential. The cemetery boundaries are now smaller than in 1939 because of flood control measures.
Private visitors rarely visit. Vegetation, continued vandalism, and existing incompatible development pose moderate threats. Marek Florek of ul Chopina 12/2, tel. 26 completed survey on 22/10/1991. Documentation: Karta ewidencji cmentarza; Andrew Wojciechowski Polaniec studium historyczno-urbanistyczne; Lublin 1987, [Eng.: Polaniec Urban-Historical Study], which contains information about historical and urban development (1987) including Jewish community of that small town at the Vistula river bank.
Marek Florek visited the site for this survey on 21/10/1991.
A. (Andrew) Wojciechowski This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. wrote that anyone can contact him with questions about Polaniec. His book written originally in Polish has not been translated into English. He thinks it would become a great source for Jewish researchers if someone would be interested in publishing it. In Polaniec in 1987, the former one-story 19th century stone Jewish cheder was now a small cardboard box factory (altered in 20th century). Until 1943, there was a c. 1785 shingled, wooden synagogue standing on Mielecka Street. Andrew Wojciechowski is translator and genealogist.