Łańcut: Renaissance Synagogue and the Ropshitz Tradition

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The first Jews settled in Łańcut in the first half of the sixteenth century, when the town belonged to the Pilecki family. The community grew slowly — by the middle of the seventeenth century it numbered about two hundred people, organised around a wooden synagogue and a small cemetery outside the town. The turning point came when the Lubomirski family took over the estate at the beginning of the eighteenth century — the magnate family actively supported the development of the Jewish community, seeing in it a source of economic vitality. In 1761 Stanisław Lubomirski founded a masonry synagogue in the late Renaissance style — one of the most magnificent in Galicia. The interior was covered with polychrome whose iconography makes it exceptional on a European scale: the walls bear depictions of the instruments of the Jerusalem Temple (the seven-branched menorah, the table of showbread, the altar of incense), the signs of the zodiac marking the months of the Jewish calendar, Hebrew inscriptions from the Psalms, and depictions of the Tower of David. A central bimah supports the vault; the Aron ha-Kodesh on the eastern wall retains its original gilding. In the second half of the eighteenth century Łańcut became an important centre of Hasidism. The tzaddik Naftali Tzvi Horowitz of Ropshitz, a disciple of Elimelech of Leżajsk, spent part of his life in Łańcut and led a Hasidic court here. His work Zera Kodesh — commentaries on the Torah arranged by weekly portions — belongs to the classics of Hasidic literature. Under his influence the Łańcut Hasidic shtibels multiplied; alongside the dominant Ropshitz dynasty there were influences from Sanz, Belz and Dzików. Under Habsburg rule from 1772, the community grew. By 1880 it numbered 2,500 people — forty per cent of the town. Two yeshivot operated, a dozen or so cheders, a credit bank, a primary school with Hebrew. Jewish merchants of Łańcut supplied the Potocki residence at Łańcut Castle — one of the most distinguished in the Habsburg monarchy — with luxury goods, textiles and wines. In the interwar years the Jewish population numbered three thousand — fifty per cent of the town. The Tarbut and Mizrachi schools operated, a public library of 5,000 volumes, the Hapoel sports club, two theatre clubs (Yiddish and Hebrew), and a Jewish fire brigade. The Hasidic tradition persisted alongside an active Zionist movement — in 1935 about a hundred and fifty young people emigrated from Łańcut to Palestine under the agricultural hachsharah programme. German occupation began on 9 September 1939. In the first weeks the Germans burned the wooden Hasidic prayer house on Sokoła Street, but the Renaissance synagogue — protected by its monument status and proximity to the Potocki residence — remained intact, though requisitioned as a fodder warehouse. In the summer of 1942 the Germans established a ghetto, into which they confined all Łańcut Jews and the Jews of Kańczuga, Pruchnik and other surrounding towns. In September 1942, as part of Operation Reinhard, the Łańcut Jews were taken to the transit camp at Pełkinie and from there to Bełżec. The final deportations took place in November 1942. After the war about thirty-five people returned to Łańcut. All emigrated within the first five years. The synagogue, used in the immediate post-war years as a municipal warehouse, was transferred in 1972 to the Castle Museum in Łańcut. Conservation of the polychrome took twenty years — today the synagogue is a branch of the museum with an exhibition of Judaica and community documents. The cemetery on the outskirts of Łańcut, with the monument to the victims of the 1942 liquidation, is in the care of the Social and Cultural Society of Jews in Poland. Memory of the Łańcut Hasidic tradition of Ropshitz lives on in the community of descendants in Brooklyn, Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.

The Germans occupied Łańcut on 9 September 1939. In the first weeks of the occupation they burned the wooden Hasidic prayer house on Sokoła Street, but the Renaissance synagogue — protected by its monument status and proximity to the Potocki residence — was requisitioned as a warehouse but physically unharmed. In the summer of 1940 forced labour was imposed on all Łańcut Jews, along with the Star of David armband. In March 1942 the Germans established a ghetto within the historic Jewish quarter, into which they confined about three thousand Łańcut Jews and additionally Jews from Kańczuga, Pruchnik, Markowa and other surrounding towns — up to five thousand in total. In September 1942, as part of Operation Reinhard across the entire Kraków district, the Łańcut Jews were marched out of the ghetto and taken to the transit camp at Pełkinie, fifteen kilometres away. From there, by rail transport, to the death camp at Bełżec. The final deportations — chiefly of the sick and those unfit for labour — took place in November 1942. Of the three thousand Łańcut Jews, about thirty-five survived the war.

The synagogue in Łańcut is open to visitors year-round as a branch of the Castle Museum in Łańcut. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:00-16:00, summer season until 17:00. Admission is paid (about 10 PLN; combined ticket with the Castle 30 PLN). Audio guides available in Polish, English and Hebrew. The exhibition includes Judaica, community documents and interwar photographs. The cemetery is accessible year-round at no charge — the gate is usually open. For visitors arriving outside the synagogue opening hours, an external visit within the former Jewish quarter (Sienkiewicza Street) is possible. Etiquette: men cover their heads when entering the synagogue and the cemetery. Kippot available at the museum. One does not walk on graves. Photography inside the synagogue is allowed without flash. Recommended day plan: depart Kraków at eight in the morning, two hours and twenty minutes on the A4 motorway. In Łańcut begin at Łańcut Castle (an hour and a half) — the Potocki residence is one of the most distinguished palace ensembles in Central Europe and connects organically with the history of the Łańcut Jewish community (the Potocki were the chief patrons of Jewish merchants). Then the synagogue (an hour and a half) and a short walk through the former Jewish quarter. Lunch at one of the restaurants on the market square. In the afternoon, the cemetery (forty-five minutes). Return to Kraków by seven in the evening. A full day of about eleven hours door-to-door.

Mercedes V-Class from Kraków to Łańcut is two hours and twenty minutes on the A4 motorway heading east. The 170-kilometre route runs through Tarnów and Rzeszów. Rush-hour traffic around Kraków can extend the journey by half an hour — we recommend departure at eight in the morning. Parking in Łańcut: free parking at the Castle (three hundred metres from the synagogue). In the summer season (July to August) the car park fills by midday — we recommend earlier arrivals. The Mercedes V-Class fits in all standard bays. Recommended transfer duration: eleven to twelve hours door-to-door — a full day taking in Łańcut Castle and all the Jewish sites. Departure at eight in the morning from your hotel in Kraków, return between seven and eight in the evening. For visitors combining the visit with Leżajsk (the ohel of Elimelech, thirty kilometres from Łańcut), a day extended by two hours. A two-day variant with overnight stay in Łańcut (Hotel Łańcut directly beside the Castle) is also possible.