Gorlice Poland

Location - Southern Poland, 178.5 miles south of Warsaw - Map Coordinates: 49°40'/21°10' Gorlice is located on local road #98 south of Krakow between Jaslo and Nowy Sacz in what is now the Polish Province of Malopolskie ("Little Poland"). It lies in the Ropa and Sekowka River Valley, ringed by ridges of the Carpathian mountains. The Gorlice of today is in a heavily populated region 14.6 miles from Jaslo, 21.2 miles from Nowy Sacz, 25.5 miles from Tarnow, and 62.6 miles from Krakow. The name "Gorlice" is pronounced as if its English spelling were "Gor-leetz-eh," with the stress falling on the middle syllable.

Political History with Regard to Location Prior to 1772, Gorlice was in Poland. Almost no Jewish families lived in Gorlice, though Jews were allowed to live in the nearby town of Nowy Sacz. At the time of the first partition of Poland in 1772, the large mountainous area that includes the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and the valleys of the upper Vistula, Dniester, Bug, and Seret rivers--and which also includes Gorlice--came under Austrian domination as the political entity of Galicia.  Eventually, this area was densely populated by Jews, with many of them settling in Gorlice during the 19th century. Between World War I and World War II, the area that had been Galicia belonged to Poland. Today, although some of the territory that once comprised Galicia is in Ukraine, Gorlice and its surrounds are located in Poland.

Gorlice in the 19th Century Even before the end of the 19th century, Jews in Gorlice comprised 50% of the local population, which, by the end of the century, numbered more than 6,000 souls. The non-Jewish population was engaged primarily in farming; and there was also a lumber trade, with lumber coming from the many forested hills of the surrounding Carpathian mountain region. Gorlice's Jews traded primarily in wine and corn. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, oil was found in the area surrounding Gorlice. In 1883 the Glinik machinery manufacturing plant was built, and in 1885 the Glimar oil refinery was established. Life in 19th-century Gorlice was peaceful, perhaps almost idyllic. Jews communicated with each other in Yiddish, the universal language of European Jewry despite local differences in pronunciation. Jewish mothers in Gorlice in the 19th century and the first part of the 20th might have sung for their children the famous Yiddish lullaby "Rozhinkes mit Mandelen" ("Raisins and Almonds")

Holocaust Period  By the outbreak of World War II, almost 10,000 Jews lived in Gorlice.  Some of them managed to get to Soviet territory before the German invasion of Poland on September 6, 1939.  Some few also managed to hide or join partisan units.  Mass shootings of the Jewish population began in 1942. On August 14, 1942, the Gorlice Ghetto was established. Gorlice's remaining Jews were crowded into it and were joined by Jews from some of the surrounding areas. In Poland, there were organized efforts by the non-Jewish population to resist the Nazi's plan to exterminate Jews. There were also efforts by ordinary Poles to save their Jewish neighbors. The Gorlice area was no exception. 

Modern Gorlice Today, Gorlice is a large, modern city with more than 30,000 inhabitants. It has three post offices, three railway stations, a regional museum, a cultural center, a public library with two branches, a music school, a technical school, various sports facilities, a hospital, and a large hotel as well as a motel and guest houses. Its numerous restaurants even include pizzerias! Gorlice is, however, devoid of Jews; and its former synagogue has been turned into a bakery.  Despite sad sights like the former synagogue, there is some measure of hope for the future because of the number of young Poles who have found that they have partially Jewish ancestry and are now eager to learn more about their roots in this culture that was once so vibrant in Poland.

Copyright © 1999 M S Rosenfeld The end Copyright © 1999 M S Rosenfeld