THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN TYSZOWCE IN SIXTEENTH-EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES (Gmina zydowska w Tyszowcach w XVI-XVIII wieku)

In the period reviewed in the article Tyszowce was a royal town situated in Belz voivodship. The town's convenient location and friendly legislation influenced the settlement of Jews at the locality already in the early 16th century. The first record of Jewish settlers dates back to 1528. From that moment, the number of members of this group steadily increased, with only brief exceptions. In the 16th and 17th century, the Jews accounted for between 16 and 49% of the town's population. Information about Tyszowce's Jewish community and its officials is fragmentary. The oldest mention about the synagogue in Tyszowce dates back to 1668. We can learn about the Jewish school from the register of damage caused to it by fire in 1645, about a hospital from an entry from 1762 and a mention of a bath was made three years later. Tyszowce Jews engaged in crafts, commerce and lease of mills, breweries, distilleries, wax shops, city taxes, duties, etc. Many of them operated in the food processing sector, as butchers, bakers, meadmakers or distillers. In addition to them there were tailors, hatmakers, fullers, a cordovan maker, furriers, wax collectors, pine tar makers and joiners. Barbers, teachers and musicians represented the service crafts. The sources demonstrate that the Jewish population was an active component of the Tyszowce community and made an everlasting contribution to the town's history.