Metadata: Records of the town of Oświęcim
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- National Archives in Krakow
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie
- Postal address:
- ul. Sienna 16, 30–960 Kraków
- Phone number:
- (+48 12) 422 40 94; (+48 12) 4212790; (+48 12) 421 68 81
- Web address:
- http://ank.gov.pl/
- Email:
- sekretariat@ank.gov.pl
- Reference number:
- PL 29/111
- Title:
- Records of the town of Oświęcim
- Title (official language):
- Akta miasta Oświęcimia
- Creator/accumulator:
- Municipality of Oświęcim
- Date(s):
- 1509/1866
- Language:
- Latin
- Polish
- German
- Extent:
- 1 linear metre (13 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- poor
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is formed of the town administration’s books and registers with entries generally related to civil and criminal law.
In the self-government period before 1772 the Jewish items chiefly consist of real estate purchase or sale deeds, production of documents, letters of summons for appearance at court, testimonies and statements (some sworn), criminal issues, debts, liens and pledges, appraisals and valuations, trade settlements, financial claims or pretences, failures to keep agreements, empowerments, protestations, and bills or receipts. The official decrees concern debt repayment orders and appraisal and sale of property to enable payment of debts. Circulars from after 1772 contain deeds by Austria’s highest national and local authorities; there are ordinances concerning Jews, including lists of indebted persons, arrest warrants of criminals and lists of stolen objects and horses being sought for, plus administrative ordinances. In the criminal affairs thefts, extortions, batteries, injuries and witness testimonies prevail.
The following contain Jewish items: DEP 341: town council book of Oświęcim, 1777-86; DEP 343: register of ordinances for the precinct (Cyrkuł) of Myślenice, rough drafts of residents’ applications and municipal administration’s letters to them, 1785-6 (Jewish-related items: pp. 16, 132, 134; pp. 174-175, 177-180, 183-184); DEP 345: circular of Oświęcim (1772[?]), 1786; DEP 346: circular of Oświęcim, 1787-89]; DEP 346: municipal administration book, 1788-90 (Jewish-related items: pp 15, 69, 145).
- Archival history:
- As resolved by the Galician authorities, the early archives of towns in the province were to be gathered and protected in Lwów and Krakow. However, the archival resources of Oświęcim had been destroyed by fires at the town office in 1863 and 1881. Around 1890 a total of seven town-council and assessors’ registers, dated 1763-89, were found and eventually placed in the archives of Krakow. In 1918, after a search, more archival matter was found, decrepit; this included remains of municipal registers, part of which have been stored at the archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Oświęcim (German, Auschwitz; Yiddish, Oshpitzin) is a town situated 64km west of Krakow. Originally a Małopolska-region castellan castle-town (gród), Oświęcim was incorporated into Silesia in 1179. From 1312/17 it was capital of the Duchy of Oświęcim, which from 1327-1457 was a fiefdom to the Crown of Bohemia and subsequently formed part of the voivodeship of Krakow in the Kingdom of Poland, remaining so until 1772. From 1772-1918 Oświęcim was part of Austria, in the Galicia region; between 1918 and 1939 the town was again in Poland, but from 1939-45 it was incorporated into the German Third Reich.
Jewish settlers first arrived in Oświęcim around 1550; in spite of a locally binding numerus clausus, a synagogue was built in 1588. Twenty Jewish houses were recorded as of 1666, and 133 adult Jewish residents in 1765. The local kahal extended to the entire former Duchy area. 2,535 Jewish residents, 50% of the town’s population, were reported around 1880.
In 1272/1291 Oświęcim was granted municipal rights after the model of Lwówek-Śląski (Löwenberg in Schlesien). Oświęcim was a royal town and its association with Bohemia bestowed elements of Bohemia’s legal and political system. The town was officially ruled by the Polish starost, which in practice was the starost‘s deputy. In the Austrian period it was governed by the authorities of the precinct (Cyrkuł) of Myślenice and of the Gubernium in Lwów; after 1861 Oświęcim was administered by the autonomous authorities of Galicia. The self-government bodies (assumed after Lwówek) were similar to those of the Magdeburg system, with four councillors sitting on the council, including a burgomaster and a bench.
- Subject terms:
- Crime
- Financial matters--Debt
- Legal records
- Real estate
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is organised by creator, chronologically: Town Council, 1760–89 (Dep. 339, 341, 342); Municipal Bench, 1763–75 (Dep. 340); Municipal Administration [Magistrat], 1784–92, 1808 (Dep. 326, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347); Varia, 1509–1866 (Dep. 327, 348); A parchment document dated 1518 (Dok. Dep. 235).
- 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.
70 records from DEP 345, 346, 347 are available in the database of the Jagiellonian University: http://www.uj.edu.pl/web/judaiki
- Yerusha Network member:
- Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
- Author of the description:
- Janusz S. Dąbrowski; Kraków; 2015
