Bircza

Collection

Scope and content:: The collection was created by local government and domanial authorities.

The register, which is an unsequenced record, predominantly features civil cases, contracts, property-related instructions (the right of directness being observed, i.e. relatives consenting to alienation of immovable estate; otherwise the deal was null and relatives could regain the land without paying back the price), warrants, arrangements and settlements. Contentious issues are also included.

Jewish-related items are scattered; these include acquisition and sale deeds for a house, mill, or garden by a Jewish leaseholder, in the years 1633, 1636, 1651, and 1672 respectively; there is an instance of a Jewish-Christian brawl in the market square in 1688, a mention of Jewish houses in 1738 and the trial of a thief who robbed Jewish residents in 1742 (DEP 6, pp. 66, 73-74, 144-145, 216, 234-235, 253, 254, 256, 279-284; also, cf. p. 12).

Archival history:: The Galician authorities acted in 1887 to accumulate the archives from towns and villages so that they could be protected and preserved in Krakow and Lwów. In 1890 the Commune of Bircza compiled an inventory of the archives they held at the time, but the registers were not given over the Archives in Krakow; this finally happened after 1918.

Administrative/biographical history:: Bircza (originally named Biercza) was a private town located 35km south-west of Przemyśl. Until 1772 it remained within the Przemyśl land of the Ruthenian voivodeship (województwo ruskie). Between 1772 and 1918, the town was under Austrian rule within Galicia. Bircza is now a village.

Two Jewish families are reported to have resided in Bircza in 1570-77; a religious community existed locally in the early eighteenth century. As of 1785, 160 Jewish residents accounted for a third of the town’s population. From 1890 onwards, the rate of Jewish residents exceeded 50% (1,150 people as of 1939).

Initially a village under the Valachian Law, and from 1483 onwards under the German Law, Bircza has been a town since at least 1515. The municipality was composed of a council with the burgomaster (burmistrz) exercising management of the town, and the bench, including the vogt (wójt or mayor), and/or his deputy or podwójci; issues of special importance, including court cases, were considered jointly. The owners, including the Bal, Biecki, Drohojowski and Humnicki families entered judgments or accepted appeals. The town’s area was frequently divided among different proprietors. In the Austrian period, Bircza became a centre of domanial administration that reported to the precinct (cyrkuł) of Sambor and from 1782 the precinct of Lisko and national and central-tier authorities.

System of arrangement:: The collection only consists of two municipal record books, both of which observe chronological continuity: (i) ref. no. 5, 1569-1616 [The Assessors’ Book of the town of Bircza; loose notes dated before and inclusive of 1680]; (ii) ref. no. 6, 161-1616 [The Assessors’ Book of the town of Bircza].

Finding aids:: Inventory available online.

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