Gorlice ( uk, Горлиці, translit=''Horlytsi'') is a city and an urban municipality ("
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
") in south eastern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
with around 29,500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated south east of
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
and south of
Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn ...
between
Jasło
Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesse ...
and
Nowy Sącz in the
Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of
3,404,863 (2019).
It was created on 1 ...
(since 1999), previously in
Nowy Sącz Voivodeship
Nowy Sacz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government, located in southern Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Its capital city was Nowy Sącz.
Major cities and towns (popul ...
(1975–1998). It is the capital of
Gorlice County
__NOTOC__
Gorlice County ( pl, powiat gorlicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish l ...
.
Geography
The city lies between the
Ropa and Sękówka river valleys, surrounded by several mountain ranges of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
, namely their part called Beskid Niski (
Low Beskids
The Low Beskids ( sk, Nízke Beskydy) or Central Beskids ( pl, Beskidy Środkowe; cs, Centrální Beskydy; uk, Центральні Бескиди) are a mountain range in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia. They constitute a middle ...
) massive. It is located in the heartland of the
Doły (Pits), and its average elevation
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
is , although there are some more considerable hills located within the confines of the city. The city is nowadays situated in a heavily populated region from Jasło, from Nowy Sącz, from
Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn ...
, and from Kraków. Gorlice is known in uk, as Horlytsi, Горлиці; in yi, גאָרליץ as Gorlitz; and in german: as Görlitz.
History
Gorlice was founded during the reign of
Casimir the Great in 1354. In that year, the
Stolnik
Pantler (, , russian: сто́льник, ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office.
Stolnik in Crown of Poland
In the Crown of Poland und ...
of
Sandomierz
Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Prov ...
, Derslaw Karwacjan, received royal permission to found a town in a densely forested area of the Carpathian foothills. The existence of the town is mentioned in sources from 1388, 1404 and 1417. In the 15th century, Gorlice remained private property of the Karwacjan family.
The town quickly developed, becoming a regional center of crafts and trade. In 1504, Jan Karwacjan received royal permission for two fairs annually and a weekly market. In the period known as
Polish Golden Age
The Polish Golden Age was the Renaissance period in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, roughly corresponding to the period of rule of the King Sigismund I the Old and his son, Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellonian Dynasty monar ...
, Gorlice prospered. Its artisans and merchants had contacts not only with other Polish towns, but also with merchants from
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation of ''Felvidék'' (literally: "Upland"), the Hungarian term for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been ...
. In the second half of the 16th century, Gorlice became property of the Odrowaz family, which supported
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–60) brought widespread destruction: the population of Gorlice fell from 1200 (in 1657) to only 284 (in 1662).
Age of Partitions
As a result of the first
Partition of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
(Treaty of St-Petersburg dated 5 July 1772), the town area was attributed to the
Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
(for more details, read the article
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...
). In 1806, the Austrian government sold the town to a local nobleman, Jan Nepomucen Stadnicki of Roznow.
Until 1918, the town remained part of Austria-Hungary (
Cisleithania) after the
compromise of 1867
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...
, head (since 1865) of the county with the same name, one of the 78 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in
Austrian Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...
province (Crown land). By mid-19th century, the population of Gorlice reached 4000. The town entered the period of its prosperity after its 1854–1858 resident
Ignacy Lukasiewicz invented the
kerosene lamp
A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...
in 1853. In a few years, sprawling oil wells emerged in Gorlice, and the town was called the cradle of Polish
oil industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
; its rapid industrialization was spurred with the construction of a railroad (1883).
By early 20th century, the population of Gorlice grew to 6000, but its development was halted by
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The city was the focal point of the German
Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, in May 1915. Extremely heavy and prolonged fighting took place here, Gorlice frequently changed hands, and as a result, the town was completely destroyed. Hence the "Gorlice fair" or "Gorlice days" held every year during the May Bank Holidays and adjoining days, which are enjoyed by many visitors both domestic and from abroad.
20th century
During the First World War, Gorlice played a strategically significant role in the 1915
Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. On May 1, 1915, the combined forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany initiated artillery barrages against Russian soldiers stationed on the battle line stretching from Gorlice to Tarnow. The following day, Austro-German infantry units launched an unsuccessful attack near Tarnow. In Gorlice, the weakened Russian forces were unable to defend against the Austrian and German attackers. On May 6,
General Radko-Dmitriev, commander of the Russian Third Army, ordered his troops to retreat. An attempt by General Radko-Dmitriev to counterattack on May 7 and 8 resulted in disaster for the Russians, as German reinforcements outnumbered the defenders.
The following spring,
General Alexei Brusilov, commander of the Russian Eighth Army, launched a counteroffensive that nearly destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army. The
Brusilov Offensive, as it is known, is regarded as one of the most successful operations in the First World War.
In the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, Gorlice belonged to
Kraków Voivodeship. Since local oil wells had been almost exhausted, the center of Polish oil industry moved eastwards, to
Boryslaw. This resulted in widespread unemployment, street demonstrations and increased popularity of Communist ideology among local workers. On 1 May 1936, a May Day rally attracted 20,000 people.
German occupation of Gorlice began on 7 September 1939 (see
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
). During the war, the town's Jewish community was first herded by Nazi Germans into the newly formed
Gorlice Ghetto
The Gorlice Ghetto was established in 1940 after German occupation of the Polish city began on September 7, 1939. As one of many ghettos created by Nazi Germany in the General Government, its establishment meant further persecution and violence a ...
and then murdered at
Belzec. On 16 January 1945, the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
captured Gorlice.
History of Jews in Gorlice before German Occupation
When Gorlice was first founded there were not any Jewish communities. Most of the Jews in the area would live in villages or Polish landowners estates. There were a few reasons for Jews at this time to not live within Gorlice. One was the
Madgeburg Rights, by living outside of Golice in villages or on estates, the Jewish communities did not have to follow the city's laws. Some of the suburbs that Jews did live in were
Ropica Polska,
Siary, Strezeszyn, Marianpolski and Magdaleni. Another reason that Jews were not residing in Gorlice in earlier times was because of "''De non tolerandis Judaeis".''
This was a ruling that some cities had during the 16th century, forbidding Jews from living in them. (These were anti-Semitic edicts, used to prevent competition in business and other areas of work).
In the 18th century there were a few Jewish families living in Gorlice. When the Jews first settled in Gorlice they were mostly making a living through trading wine and corn.
The first Jewish families also had a sawmill to process wood as well as trading items like wine, corn, and tobacco. Even though there were only a few Jewish families during the 18th century, when the 19th century came around there was already a Jewish community forming including their own cemetery and synagogue.
It was not until the later half of the 19th century that Jewish people started really settling into the city.
The Jews settling in Gorlice at that time were mostly settling in the area by the market square and its nearby streets. This area that most Jews were settling in would in the future, under German occupation, become the
Gorlice Ghetto
The Gorlice Ghetto was established in 1940 after German occupation of the Polish city began on September 7, 1939. As one of many ghettos created by Nazi Germany in the General Government, its establishment meant further persecution and violence a ...
.
In the 19th century, when more Jews started settling inside of Gorlice, the current non-Jewish residents worked mostly in crafts and agriculture.
At the time that the Jews were moving into Gorlice, there was also the discovery of oil in the Gorlice region in that later half of the 19th century.
While the non-Jewish residents were working with agriculture, the Jews were prevailing in the oil industry with trade and development. In 1874, Jewish investors helped with the development of an oil refinery, along with another one nearby in 1883.
The population of the Jews in Gorlice is not well documented or reliable before the latter half of the 19th century. There are statistics on the Jewish population from 1880 to 1910 though. Looking first at the Gorlice district in 1880 there was a total of 74,072 residents and out of those 6.4% (4,755) were Jews. Just in the city of Gorlice itself, there were 2,257 Jews out of the around 5,000 residents of the city which is close to 50%. The population of Jews in Gorlice grew to 7.5% of the Gorlice district composed of Jews in 1910 and 51% of residents in the City of Gorlice were Jewish at that time (3,495 out of 6,600).
Because of World War I, the population did drop from 1910 to 1921. In 1921, after the war, there were about 2,300 Jews left, which was about 41% of the population.
During World War I, the Russian army was one of the main reasons for this drop in the number of Jews. There were rapes, robberies, and murders,
and many Jews fled Gorlice to other countries and never came back after the war.
Even though the war affected the Jewish population, they were able to get back on their feet and restore their economic status to what it was pre-war. 90% of shops in Gorlice were Jewish and 30% of craft workshops. Jews contributed much to the Gorlice economy and their activity was an important part of the industrial and commercial life. They led in trade and other services. Jews were also represented in the Municipal Authorities at this time. There were 22 members of the Town Council who were Jewish in 1924 and during municipal elections that year there were 23 Jews elected. Not only were they thriving in the economy, the Jewish life was also ideal culturally and religiously at this time. Cultural and religious life was centered around two synagogues in the city, one on Mickiewicza Street and another newer one on Piekarska Street.
When World War II started in 1939, the population of the Jews in Gorlice was back up to around 5000 which was once again above half of the residents of the city. At the start of the war, many of Jews in Gorlice fled elsewhere before the German occupation began.
Notable figures
* Born in 1865, Eugeniusz Kozierowski was a practicing physician in Gorlice during the turn of the 19th century. Using a method of
transillumination
Transillumination is the technique of sample illumination by transmission of light through the sample. Transillumination is used in a variety of methods of imaging.
Microscopy
In microscopy transillumination refers to the illumination of a sample ...
pioneered by
Walery Jaworski
Walery Jaworski (born March 20, 1849 in Florynka – died July 17, 1924 in Kraków) was one of the pioneers of gastroenterology in Poland.
In 1899 he described bacteria living in the human stomach that he named ''Vibrio rugula''. He speculated ...
(also of Poland), Kozierowski diagnosed neoplastic pylorostenosis. The process of transillumination, or diaphanoscopy, involved inserting an illuminating device into the stomach of a patient to observe body tissues and tumors. Kozierowski announced his findings at a meeting of the Krakow Medical Society in the early 20th century.
* Shmuel Fuhrer was born in 1863 in the village of Sekowa (Sękowa), near Gorlice. At 20 years old, Fuhrer was ordained as a rabbi and selected to lead the Jewish community of Milowka. Then, in 1904, rabbi Fuhrer was chosen to organize the growing Jewish population of Krosno. During his thirty-five-year tenure serving the Krosno Jewish community, rabbi Fuhrer oversaw the establishment of a Jewish cemetery. In 1942, the Germans shot and killed rabbi Fuhrer.
*
Robert Drąg (born 1983), footballer
*
Mirosław Nahacz (1984–2007), novelist
*
Joseph Durst
Joseph Durst (January 15, 1882 – December 31, 1973) was an American real estate developer, founder of the Durst Organization, and patriarch of the Durst family.
Early life
Born to a Jewish family, Durst immigrated to the US from Gorlice, Gal ...
(1882–1974), American real estate developer and philanthropist
*
Barbara Bartuś (born 1967), politician
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Gorlice is
twinned with:
*
Bardejov
Bardejov (; hu, Bártfa, german: Bartfeld, rue, Бардеёв, uk, Бардіїв) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskyd Mountains. ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
*
Pápa
Pápa is a historical town in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 32,473 inhabitants (2011), it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the re ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
References
External links
Jewish Community in Gorliceon Virtual Shtetl
*
{{Coord, 49, 40, N, 21, 10, E, region:PL_type:city, display=title
Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Gorlice County
Lesser Poland
Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795)
Populated places in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Shtetls
Holocaust locations in Poland