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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ two miles southeast of Wieliczka, Poland in the administrative district of Gmina Wieliczka. The current population is 1298. The village name comes from "Ledo" which translates to field crops, the field after harvesting crops or fallow (uncultivated) land. It is unclear of Lednica was considered part of the nearby town of Wieliczka. It is also unclear what the total population of Lednica was through history, and specifics about the Jewish population. Today it is divided between upper Lednica and lower Lednica. The Wieliczka Salt Mines were a steady source of local jobs and revenue for residents in the area from the 13th Century until today. The population of nearby Wieliczka is today around 20,000. During the Holocaust, the Wieliczka sub-camp of the Krakau-Plaszow Concentration Camp forced inmates to produce Heinkel aircrafts. Most of the Jewish population of Wieliczka had fled the town prior to the approach of the Nazis in September, 1939. As a result of the absence of males, the town became the only one with an all- female Judenrat. From 1940-41, thousands of refugees were placed in the town. The ghetto was formed in May, 1941 and was liquidated on August 28, 1942. During its existence, about 7,000 Jews lived in the ghetto. Most of the Jews were transferred to the ghetto in Krakow, and from there to the death camps. The camp was abandoned in September of 1944. In 1893 the Jewish population of Wieliczka was 614. It is unclear if a nearby village like Lednica had a Jewish population, or if Lednica was simply considered a part of Wieliczka during the period. By 1921 the Jewish population of Wieliczka was 1135 and consisted of nearly 16% of the total town population. The turn of the 15th and 16th century saw local Jews actively engaged in the production of the salt mines. They received a lease from king Ludwig of Hungary to do so. When Jews were banned from trade and production in Wieliczka in the 1500s, they went to nearby Klasno. But they didn't stay away for long. Bitter competition between the town of Wieliczka and the Jews developed in the spirit trade -- a lucrative source of income at the time. Conflicts between Jewish and Catholic innkeepers were all too frequent. In 1701, the city councilmen of Wieliczka were brought in front of a tribunal by the townspeople, who accused them of enabling the Jews to settle in the town against the regulation. King Stanislaw August issued a document barring Jews from settling in Wieliczka and trading in the taproom market in 1765. Breaking that law resulted in the confiscation of all possessions. The document also forbid the local gentry from bringing Jews to their estates in order to lease them inns. This continued until 1770, when the local Jewish population was finally allowed to once again engage in the salt trade and innkeeping. The period of the Austrian occupation marked a change in the legal status of Wieliczka Jews and growth of their economic importance in the town's structure. The 1789 law of the Kaiser Joseph II awarded Jews the right to buy property in designated parts of the town and synagogues were equal with Catholic churches in status. It was at this point that the kehilla was established. Jews increasingly became influential in the economic life of the town from this point forward. On August 26, 1942 a large scale action occurred during which some Jews of Wielickza were selected for labor. Many of the men had left the town before the war. Women and men left over were forced to perform labor. The majority of the leftover Jews were sent to the Belzec Death Camp. In nearby Klasno, which is less than one mile south of Lednica, there was a hospital for the poor, a cheder and several mikvahs in 1780. The Klasno kahal, officially a part Siercza Jewish kehilla, had 200 to 300 members in the year 1789. There was also a distillery, a brewery, a sparkling water factory, several bakeries and a tannery in the town at that time. Klasno's 1867 pop. was 558. Please donate to the Jewish Records Index - Poland translation of Wieliczka records. Without your support, we can't appropriately memorialize our families. Please review the site content below. Zachor - We Remember. [History - Wieliczka] [Synagogue and Cheder - Wieliczka] [Wikipedia - Wieliczka] [Holocaust - Wieliczka] [Cemetery - Wieliczka] [Memories - Wieliczka] ------------------------------------------------------------------------  Click to subscribe to Wieliczka      Village of Lednica: Lednica on Map - C3 - Germans in Austrian Galicia Lednica Gorna - Wikipedia Lednica Gorna - A History The Galitzianers: The Jews of Galicia, 1772-1918 (Book) Wieliczka Jewish Community Statistics Klasno Jewish Community Statistics Jewish Klasno (in Polish) Town of Wieliczka: The Galitzianers: The Jews of Galicia, 1772-1918 (Book) Wieliczka Yizkor Book (Non-English Full Version) Families of Wieliczka - Lednica: Hormann family Mahl family Smallheiser family Survivors of Wieliczka: A list of Wieliczka Survivors Online from Shoreshim (membership required) Menacham Kleinman Genealogy: The All Galicia Database Jewish Records Indexing Poland - Klasno Jewish Vital Records in the Polish State Archives Remember Your Family JewishGen Family Finder JRI-Poland: Search for Your Family Yad Vashem: Search for Your Family Yad Vashem: Submit Names of Your Family Members Nearby Communities: Jewish Krakow - Kehilla Links U.S.: Aaron, genealogykid20@aol.com  |
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