Tarnobrzeg & Sandomierz (1,385 km)

(2023-05-22/27) My great-great-grandfather Abraham Fleischer, born in as early as 1800, lived in Tarnobrzeg in 1880 with one of his four sons, with his daughter-in-law and seven grandchildren. Jews formed the majority of this small town in western Galicia in the mid/late 19th century, accounting for 80% of the population. The situation was quite different in the Polish Catholic town of Sandomierz, twice as large, a prosperous trade and crafts center on the Vistula, which received its town charter as early as 1236. Here the Jews were in the minority with 30%, but nevertheless played an important role in the economic life of the city, many as grain traders or craftsmen. This and much more can be found out in the Polish State Archives, which, significantly, have their branch in Sandomierz on Judengasse and store the archival collections in the former Synagogue. Are you surprised that I spent the last few days there, looking through old registers and taking about 900 photos? After "closing time" it‘s time for the Old Town, one of the best preserved in Poland, with its urban structure typical for the second half of the 14th century.

From Tarnobrzeg and Sandomierz we are going south, following the footsteps of my great-grandfather Mechel Fleischer, who moved to Czernowitz as early as the mid-19th century, where he became the sole owner of his men's outfitter's atelier on Herrengasse in 1881.