WISLICA

WISLICA (Pol. Wiślica), village in Kielce province, central Poland; town in Sandomierz province in the kingdom of Poland until 1795. Jews settled in Wislica at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1542, after the townsmen obtained a royal privilege (de non tolerandis Judaeis) excluding Jews from Wislica, the Jews settled in the suburbs outside the town wall. During the war with Sweden (1656), 50 Jewish families were massacred by stefan czarniecki 's soldiers. At the end of the 17th century, Jews settled again in Wislica. An organized community was established at the beginning of the 18th century. A synagogue was then built in the outskirts of the town and a cemetery opened. In 1765, 184 Jews living in the suburbs and 72 in the surrounding villages paid the poll tax. In 1815 Wislica was included within Congress Poland. Until 1862, as Wislica was situated near the Austrian border, the settlement of Jews there was restricted. In 1827 there were 785 Jews living in Wislica (47.1% of the total population). Their number increased to 1,370 in 1857 (69%). Their main occupations were commerce on a small scale, crafts, and transportation. In 1921 there were 1,341 Jews living in Wislica (63%). -Holocaust Period On the outbreak of World War II there were about 1,500 Jews in Wislica. The community was liquidated on Oct. 3, 1942, when 3,000 Jews from Wislica and its vicinity were deported to jedrzejow and from there to the treblinka death camp. The community was not reconstituted after the war. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Halpern, Pinkas, index; R. Mahler, Yidn in Amolikn Poyln in Likht fun Tsifern (1958), index; B. Wasiutyński, Ludność żydowska w Polsce w wiekach XIX i XX (1930), 53; L. Lewin, Die Judenverfolgungen im zweiten schwedisch-polnischen Kriege (1901), 16; I. Schiper, Dzieje handlu żydowskiego na ziemiach polskich (1937), index.