Records of the town of Kańczuga

Collection

Date note:: Documents date from 1521–1523, 1635, 1657, 1669, 1695 and 1701–1866.

Scope and content:: Apart from documents of lesser importance to Jewish issues, the municipal records, including those from the period of Austrian rule, contain civil law-related records: arrangements and orders related to real estate, receipts, assurances and securities, proprietors’ disposals and ordinances and later, ordinances of the Austrian authorities and litigations or legal actions.

In the early period from 1672-76 the Jewish elements in the municipal registers include cases of Jews of Rzeszów or Przeworsk soliciting for return or payment of debts in merchandise; there is a case of the municipality’s debt repayment to a local leaseholder publican, along with protests against the quality and price of vodka and private contracts (DEP 331, pp. 29-30, 35, 88, 101-103, 110, 121-122, 201, 221-222, 234, 267-268, 287-288, 305, 322-325, 336-337). Later, dated 1735-1782, notes on real estate appear, including intromissions (official introduction into a realty); there are also debts (DEP 332, s. 43-44, 597-599, 616-617, 623-625, 693, 719-721) accompanied by Hebrew signatures. The administrative orders of the Austrian government include an interdiction to compel Jews to baptism (DEP 336, pp. 7, 87-97, 234) and an ordinance dated 1786 of the Precinct (cyrkuł) of Rzeszów to the municipal authorities (magistrat) and the Jewish commonalty with respect to publicans; a note in Hebrew is attached to this document.

Archival history:: In 1887 the authorities of Galicia acted to gather archival materials from towns and villages so they could be protected and preserved. Admonished by the authorities, the municipality sent inventories of its archival resources in 1889 and 1903, but it was not until 1917 that Krakow received the documents. At that point it transpired that more archives were available, and Kańczuga sent more of them in the same year: 23 documents and municipal registers up to the 19th century (1738-1866, nine in total) and guild files, plus two books from the village of Gać.

Administrative/biographical history:: Kańczuga was a private town located 34km south-east of Rzeszów. Until 1772 Kańczuga belonged to the Przemyśl land within the Ruthenian voivodeship (województwo ruskie) and was under Austrian rule from 1772 to 1918 as part of the region of Galicia.

Jews began settling in Kańczuga in the late 16th century, with twelve families recorded by 1707; the community had a synagogue (bóżnica) around 1750. The Jewish population had grown to 199 by 1785 and 726 by 1870.

Kańczuga was granted its city laws and regulations in 1440. The municipality was formed of a council led by a burgomaster (burmistrz) with four counsellors, and a judiciary, the bench (five aldermen or assessors plus a deputy vogt (podwójci) and a scribe, the body being headed by the wójt (mayor); for major cases and adjudications, joint sittings were held. The verdict would be approved by the leaseholder or the proprietor, to whom appeals could be made, including in administrative cases. Under Austrian rule, from 1772, the local government (municipality) turned, after a dozen years, into a domanial administration reporting to the proprietor as well as to the Austrian circular or precinct, national and central authorities. Kańczuga was owned from the late 16th century by families of renown: Kostka, Lubomirski (from 1622) and Sanguszko (1710-93).

Subject terms:: Conversion to Christianity; Financial matters--Debt; Hospitality industry; Hospitality industry--Inns; Legal records; Real estate; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: The collection is arranged by type of archival material, and within this in chronological order:

Documents, 1523–1674 (Dok. DEP 236, 238–256); Council and Bench, 1672–1782 (DEP 331–332); Municipal privileges/charters, 1521–1866 (DEP 334); Municipal authorities (the magistrat), 1773–1855 (DEP. 336, p. 686).

Access, restrictions:: If a copy (microfilm, scan, photocopy) of a document exists, this is what will be made available. Access to the originals requires the consent of the Director.

Finding aids:: Inventory available online.

An inventory in Polish is available in the reading room at the archive.