The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy which ended after the Partitions of Poland in the 18th century. During World War II there was a nearly complete genocidal destruction of the Polish Jewish community by Nazi Germany and its collaborators of various nationalities, during the German occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945, called the Holocaust. Since the fall of communism in Poland, there has been a renewed interest in Jewish culture, featuring an annual Jewish Culture Festival, new study programs at Polish secondary schools and universities, and the opening of Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Moses Isserles, also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek. He is considered the "Maimonides of Polish Jewry."
Olyka is a rural settlement in Lutsk Raion, Volyn Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located east of Lutsk on the Putylivka Rriver. Its population is 3,032.
World Agudath Israel, usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism. It succeeded Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel in 1912. Its base of support was located in Eastern Europe before the Second World War but, due to the revival of the Hasidic movement, it included Orthodox Jews throughout Europe. Prior to World War II and the Holocaust, Agudath Israel operated a number of Jewish educational institutions throughout Europe. After the war, it has continued to operate such institutions in the United States as Agudath Israel of America, and in Israel. Agudath Israel is guided by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Israel and the USA.
Nathan Nata ben Moses Hannover was a Ruthenian Jewish historian, Talmudist, and kabbalist.
Aaron Samuel ben Israel Kaidanover was a Polish-Lithuanian rabbi. Among his teachers were Jacob Hoeschel and his son Joshua Hoeschel.
Chaim Elazar Spira was a rebbe of the Hasidic Munkacs dynasty.
Haim Nathan Dembitzer was a Polish Galician rabbi and historian.
Yitzhak HaLevi ben Mordechai Raitzes was a Polish rabbi.
Megaleh Amukot is a 1637 work by Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira who lived in Poland (1585–1633).
Dow Ber Meisels was a Chief Rabbi of Kraków (Cracow) from 1832 and later, Chief Rabbi of Warsaw. He was active in the Polish nationalist movement, and was a politician in the Austrian partition of Poland and (later) in the Russian partition. A vocal supporter of Polish-Jewish cooperation, he supported the cause of Polish independence, for which he was persecuted by the Russian government.
The Old Jewish Cemetery of Kraków, more commonly known as the Remah Cemetery, is a historic necropolis established in the years 1535–1551, and one of the oldest existing Jewish cemeteries in Poland. It is situated at 40 Szeroka Street in the Kazimierz district of Kraków, beside the 16th-century Remah Synagogue. The cemetery bears the name of Rabbi Moses Isserles, whose name is abbreviated as Remah.
Spira is a surname with a variety of origins. In Germany, the surname Spira originated as a corruption of Speyer, the name of a town in the Rhineland.
Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz was the first Rebbe of the Radomsk Hasidic dynasty and one of the great Hasidic masters of 19th-century Poland. He is known as the Tiferes Shlomo after the title of his sefer, which is considered a classic in Hasidic literature.
The Horowitz family is a prominent Ashkenazi Levitical rabbinic family that is widely acknowledged for its ancient and well-chronicled Levitical pedigree. The family chiefly descends from Rabbi Joseph HaLevi, who settled in Hořovice, Bohemia, in 1391 and adopted the surname "Ish-Horowitz".
Shimon Sofer was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg.
Wieluń, Poland is a small town situated in the south of central Poland, between the large cities of Łódź and Kraków. A Jewish presence in Wieluń was recorded from the early part of the 16th century (1537). Before World War II (1939–1945), Wielun had a large Jewish community, which was completely destroyed by the Nazis between 1940 and 1944.
The Kraków Ghetto Jewish Police were a law enforcement service in the Kraków Ghetto, part of the system of the Jewish Ghetto Police. The OD were subordinated to the Judenrat of each ghetto. The Kraków OD, unlike many other Jewish Police forces, served as willing enforcers of Nazi policies and the Gestapo. Among other duties, they oversaw the liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto and helped transport Jews to Bełżec extermination camp.
Judah Leib ben Isaac of Szydłów (Szydłowski) was an 18th-century Polish rabbi who served as a representative of Kraków in the Council of Four Lands. He is also known by the Hebrew language acronym Rischak.
Symcha Spira, also known as Symche Spira, served as the head of the Krakow ghetto Jewish police during the Holocaust.
