Story Summary:
The First Independent Weislitzer Benevolent Association was founded in 1909 by immigrants hailing from Weislitz (Wislica), Poland. The society, dissolved in 1995, held social events, and provided death and sickness benefits/aid to its members. The society has subsidized burial at the Beth David and Mount Hebron cemeteries. Initial Jewish presence dates to the 16th century. The Jewish community of Wislica engaged in the professions of moneylending and trade, and maintained multiple communal institutions, such as the synagogue, prayer houses, a mikvah, and a cemetery. The Jews of Wislica perished during the Holocaust. Their memories continue to live on.
1st Ind. Weislitzer Benevolent Assn.
The First Independent Weislitzer Benevolent Association was founded in 1909 by immigrants hailing from Weislitz (Wislica), Poland. The society, dissolved in 1995, held social events, and provided death and sickness benefits/aid to its members. The society has subsidized burial at the Beth David and Mount Hebron cemeteries.
Initial Jewish presence dates to the 16th century, with many participating in the usury (moneylending) and trade (mostly liquor) professions. Following a “de non tolerandis Judaeis" in 1542, Jewish presence ceased, however, by the 1670s, settlement resumed. In 1674, there were 20 Jews recorded. This number increased to over 700 by the 1850s, and over 1500 by the 1930s. During the Swedish Deluge (1655-1660), the Jewish community of Wislica faced severe hardships, as the town was destroyed by fire in 1657. In 1872, the Jewish craftsmen of Wislica were permitted by the Poles to join the guild, engaging in the manufacturing of Morocco leathers. This strengthened Jewish-Polish relationships moving forward. By the 1880s, however, there was an increase in anti-semitic incidents.
Prior to WWI, the Jewish community of Wislica maintained a synagogue and three houses of prayer. A directory shows that there were tinsmiths, tailors, bakers, butchers, and watchmakers active in the town. Jewish children received an education in religion, liturgy, and Jewish history through attending the towns cheders (in 1909, there were a total of seven cheders). During the interwar period, the community had established a mikvah, a funeral parlor, and a cemetery in addition to the already existing synagogue and cheders.
The town was occupied by the Germans following their invasion of Poland in September of 1939. Its Jewish inhabitants were relocated into a ghetto in May of 1941. Many passed due to starvation and/or epidemics. Those who survived were moved to Pińczów or Jedrzejow following the ghettos' liquidation on October 3rd, 1941. From there, they were sent to Treblinka. The Jewish community of Wislica was not reestablished after the war. A monument, erected by the Nissenbaum Family Foundation in 2016 in the Jewish cemetery, memorializes Wislica’s Jewish community. The cemetery is near Złota and Tysiąclecia Państwa Polskiego (“776”).
http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=34223
https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/wislica/wislica-history.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/wislica
https://wislica.pl/1641/history-of-the-jews-in-wislica-from-the-beginning-until-the-end-of-the-xixth-century.html
https://wislica.pl/1640/history-of-the-jews-in-wislica-1900-1939.html
https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/wislica/wislica.html
https://www.esjf-cemeteries.org/survey/wislica-jewish-cemetery/
~Blog by Olivia Scanlon
