Jews In Lomza
Background
Lomza is first mentioned as a place where Jews lived in 1494, but apparently Jews lived in Lomza much earlier, since in that year there was said already to be an organized Jewish Community, which had a synagogue and a cemetery - both near the palace of Prince Boleslaw Kandzezowy of Mazowia (d. 1148). The commercial privileges that were given to Lomza in 1444 and the exemption from taxes and duties drew many Jews to setle in the City, and most of the trade in timber in the fifteenth century was in the hands of Jews. The Mazovian princes protected the Jewish merchants and artisans, because of the taxes collected from them and the consequent benefit they brought to the City. In 1494, for example, a student in the seminary, Stanislaus Modzelow, was sentenced to several months imprisonment for leading other seminarists in assaulting Jewish merchants in Lomza.
But under the influence of nobles and the Church, Sygmund I promulgated decrees in 1544 reinstating the bridge tax and prohibiting the purchase by Jews of houses in Lomza. In addition, every Jew visiting Lomza was obligated to pay an entry fee of three Zloty. This reduced the number of Jewish merchants coming to the City. Because of pressure from organizations of Catholic artisans, the number of Jewish artisans also decreased. But with all this, the records of the City show that in 1570 Jews were continuing their economic activity, and that every Jew paid the "Poworow tax" in the amount of thirteen Zloty.
In 1556 King Sygmunt August granted to Lomza the privilege "De non tolerandis Judaeus", prohibiting the residence of Jews in Lomza. For this reason, many Jews left the City, and settled in Piatnica [which is directly across the Narew - SG], to which the prohibition did not apply. Jews were permitted to visit Lomza only on market and fair days, or for the execution of specific business purposes, and to stay for not longer than three days. But the law was not enforced rigorously, and it was possible to extend one's stay. There were even some who remained resident in Lomza in spite of the prohibition. Little by little, the Jewish population grew, even if illegally.
But in the reign of Sigmunt III Wasa, the "Non tolerandis" law was renewed in Lomza, and in 1598 every Jewish resident was expelled. The three-day limitation on sojourning in the City remained. An additional limitation was that imposed by the 1578 law regulating artisans, which permitted Jews to deal only with each other; only Catholic artisans could deal with Catholics. Jewish artisans were also obliged to pay the Catholic guild a tax of six Zloty annually, and to supply a barrel of gunpowder or beer, and a quantity of wax for the preparation of candles to illuminate the guildhouse.
Because the City of Lomza was closed to them, expelled Jews sought a nearby place to settle on which the residence prohibition did not apply. Such a place, as we have said, was Piatnica, and the merchants lived there. But visiting Lomza from Piatnica incurred the payment of a considerable tax, crossing the river, and applying for a permit to remain three days. The more that commercial needs grew, the more onerous this procedure became and the more difficult it was to manage business. Merchants therefore sought a solution closer to Lomza, and found it in a fishing village, Rybaki, on the Lomza bank of the Narew,
This village was at first distant from Lomza, the latter being situated atop a hill. Its advantage was that it was situated on the road between Lomza and Old Lomza, where Jews lived maintained connections with the City. Rybaki itself was absorbed by Lomza only at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The ground in Rybaki was muddy because it was close to the riverbank, and in rainy weather or at the time of the snow melt, it was dangerous to live there. Just before the expulsion of Jews from Lomza in the fifteenth century, a synagogue and Community house were built there, and a cemetery was established. As in other cities, Jews in Rybaki lived crowded together, and as far as possible from the riverbank. The connections between the Jews of Rybaki and Piatnica were maintained over the years; the rabbi and other community officials of Piatnica continued to supervise what happened in Rybaki. Generally, the more affluent Jews lived in Piatnica, while those in Rybaki were petty traders, pedlars, artisans, etc. Gradually, the latter prospered, bought larger parcels of land, and built themselves larger homes. They built a levee on the riverbank at several places, so that floods would not damage the homes, built warehouses for grain and timber, and strengthened their connections with Lomza.
There are no records of Jewish presence in Lomza from 1598 to 1731, and only toward the end of this period did Jews begin again to settle in the City; records show that in 1731 the Municipal council levied a head tax of 585 Zloty on the Jews, according to the evaluation and assessment of Tykocin, which was then the chief Jewish community of the region. In 1739 a head tax of 250 Zloty was levied on the Jews of Lomza - about half the sum levied eight years previously; perhaps protests on the level of the earlier tax had been effective.
During Zelig's lifetime
The citizens of Lomza were able to apply to the Jews of their city in 1807 a ten-year suspension of civil rights, as decreed by the Duchy of Warsaw, but this lasted only four years, until Napoleon arrived in Lomza on his way to Russia in 1812, and quartered himself in the home of the Jew Yudl Blomowicz, which was the largest house in the City. The enthusiastic reception with which the inhabitants of Lomza greeted the Grand Armee thawed the atmosphere. Residents, both Jews and Poles participated in supplying the Emperor's army. The Jewish Community Council was located in ul. Wozewodska, between the City and the Jewish settlement in Rybaki. The Community was not able to afford a rabbi and rabbinical court of its own, and therefore made do with a single rabbinical judge. Conflicts were referred to the rabbi of Sniadowo, Ze'ev Wolf.
There was no improvement in the legal position of Jews in Lomza when the Kingdom of Poland was established in 1815. True, there was no longer an explicit impediment to permanent residence in the City, but official residence permits were not issued to Jews either. Decrees of the defunct Duchy of Warsaw were still enforced zealously, e.g. forbidding Jews to deal in alcoholic beverages or to maintain a distillery. But the Jewish population grew steadily, and Jews opened shops for textiles, comestibles, and small goods.
On 10 December 1822 all the Jews of Lomza were ordered to move to Rybaki. Those who wished to continue to live in the City were obliged to obtain a special permit, the granting of which was conditional on proof that the applicant possessed capital in excess of a specified sum, and that he had adopted a European style of life (European dress, fluency in European languages, etc.), conditions that few could fulfill. In time, as a result of Jewish lobbying efforts, it was permitted to expand the limits of permitted residence somewhat, to include streets adjacent to Rybaki.
After the Polish rebellion of 1830 [the "Kingdom of Poland" was now part of the Russian Empire - SG], Jews were gradually permitted to settle in all parts of the City, and the Community gradually grew. In 1833 a cemetary and a Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) were established - previously, burials had been in Sniadowo, and only a funeral society existed in Lomza, to organize the funeral to Sniadowo with the participation of the bereaved family.
After the destruction suffered by Lomza in the wake of the suppression of the rebellion, the authorities no longer opposed seriously the settlement of Jews in the City, and in the three decades until 1860 the Jewish population doubled.. One of the causes of this was renewed Jewish activity in shipping from Danzig to Kaunas through the Augustian inter-river canal.
The years 1861 - 1862, the eve of the 1863 Polish rebellion saw reconciliation between the Jewish and Polish populations of Lomza. Some Jews had participated in the demonstrations that heralded the rebellion, and also in the fighting after the rebellion began. Many others gave material support in the form of contributions of money, medical assistance, and food supplies. Between 1856 and 1861 seven Jews of the Community were accused of distributing pro-Polish propaganda and inciting against the Russian officials, and the seven were exiled far from Lomza.
But the final abrogation of the limitations on Jewish residence in Lomza (and in all the rest of the Kingdom of Poland) was the result of a decree promulgated by Tsar Alexander III in June 1862, which caused the Jewish population of Lomza to increase.
