Przytyk ( yi, פשיטיק) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

Radom County Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

, in east-central Poland, founded in the year 1333. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Przytyk. It lies in historic

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

, approximately west of

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

and south of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. In 2006 the village had a population of 990. For centuries Przytyk belonged to

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Polan ...

, and used to be a town from 1333 to 1869.

History

In the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the area of Przytyk belonged to the Podlodowski family (

Janina coat of arms Janina is a Polish heraldry, Polish nobility clan coat-of-arms. Borne by several szlachta, noble families descended in the-male line from the medieval lords of Janina (the eponyms of the clan) or legally adopted into the clan upon ennoblement. Hi ...

), whose seat was located at a village of Zameczek (also called Ostrow). The town of Przytyk was founded in 1333 by Piotr Podlodowski (Piotr z Podlodowa). In 1488, due to efforts of Jan Podlodowski, the castellan of Zarnowiec, King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk granted to Przytyk the privilege to hold two fairs a year, and markets on Mondays. The tradition of Monday markets survives until this day. In 1570 a wedding of one of the most famous Polish poets,

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz. ...

, took place at Przytyk’s church. His wife was Dorota Podlodowska of Przytyk, and as a result of the marriage, the town became the property of the Kochanowski family. Przytyk remained in their hands until 1835, when the family lost it after the November Uprising. Like almost all towns of Lesser Poland, Przytyk was completely destroyed in the Swedish invasion of Poland (1655-1660). Until the Partitions of Poland, Przytyk belonged to Lesser Poland's Sandomierz Voivodeship. The town took advantage of a convenient location, at the intersection of two important merchant routes - the so-called Royal Trail (

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 the Greater Poland Trail ( Lublin -

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

). In 1834, the government of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland opened a new road from Warsaw towards Kraków via

, which bypassed Przytyk. In 1869, as a punishment for the January Uprising, Przytyk lost its town charter. In 1895, the village was completely destroyed by a fire, leaving 4,000 inhabitants homeless. The one building not destroyed was a church.

20th century

In the Second Polish Republic, following Poland's return to independence, Przytyk became an urban settlement in the

Kielce Voivodeship Kielce Voivodeship ( pl, województwo kieleckie) is a former unit of administrative division and the local government in Poland. It was originally formed during Poland's return to independence in the aftermath of World War One, and recreated within ...

with 2302 inhabitants in 1930, of whom 1852 (80 percent) were Jewish. The economy was almost entirely dominated by the Jewish craftsmen, tradesmen and farmers. The Jews owned and operated bakeries, slaughter houses, tailor shops, breweries, tobacco manufacturing plants, and groceries. Central markets were organized once a week, always on Mondays, drawing in crowds from nearby towns and villages. There was a power station in Przytyk, owned by Lejb Rozencwajg and two transportation companies, one owned by Pinkus Kornafel, and a second one owned by Moszek Rubinsztajn. There was also a Jewish-run credit union in the city. The competition for market share between Jews and a much smaller community of gentile Poles was intense, and the area was plagued by extreme poverty among both groups. The town was the site of the 9 March 1936 Przytyk pogromA People Apart: A Political History of the Jews in Europe 1789-1939
David Vital, page 794, Oxford University Press In spite of economic migration, prior to the

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 ...

and the ensuing

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, about 80 percent of the population remained Jewish. Most Jews of Przytyk were murdered in the Holocaust. In March 1941, Przytyk and the surrounding area was turned into a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

training facility. All Polish residents were ordered to leave the town, and all buildings were destroyed by the Germans, except for the church. The destruction of the church was ordered on September 8, 1944, but this plan was halted due to lack of time. As a result, there are no historic buildings in Przytyk.

References

External links

Jewish Community in Przytyk
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Villages in Radom County Holocaust locations in Poland Historic Jewish communities in Poland