Poland

Timeline. Through history.

If we don’t understand the past, how can we understand our present and future? To truly absorb, appreciate, and reflect on the country we are visiting, we need to look at pivotal moments in history. Begin your journey through the ages now.

  • Jewish timeline
  • General timeline

  • 1038 Krakow is the capital of Poland
  • 1237 Permanent Jewish settlement in Warsaw
    1333-1370 King Kasmir the Great: free residence and transit, helpful to Jews
    1335 Kazimierz established in Krakow
    1510-1574 Maharshal Rabbi Shlomo Ben Yechiel Luria, Lublin
    1527-1572 R. Moses Isserles commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Krakow
    1530s-1560s Golden Age (Krakow)
  • 1569 Warsaw is the capital of Poland
    1772, 1773, 1795 Poland divided between Russia, Prussia & Austria
  • Partitions of Poland – most Jews under Russia
    1572-1802 “De Non Tolerandis Judaeis”. Jews are not allowed to live in inner Warsaw
    1580-1648 Golden Age
    1700-1760 Baal Shem Tov Hasidut
    1745-1815 The Seer of Lublin (Hasidut)
    1780 Expulsion (Lublin)
    1802 Warsaw Jews were officially able to settle in the city of Warsaw
    1804 11,630 Jews in the city of Warsaw, 17% of population
    1875-1878 Tlomackie Street Synagogue (Warsaw) symbol of rising Jewish influence
    1917 Beis Yakov school for Orthodox girls. Krakow
  • 1918 United Poland. Wilson’s 14 Points – # 13: United, Free, Independent Poland
  • 1920 Chachamei Lublin Yeshiva
    1921 Almost 3 million Jews, 10.5% of population
    1921-1937 400,000 Jews emigrated. 30,000 made Aliyah
  • 1926 Coup d’état – Joseph Pilsudski in power until his death in 1935
  • 1931 Census: Polish-Jews mother tongue: 79% Yiddish, 12% Polish, 8% Hebrew
    1939 381,000 Jews in Warsaw, comprising approximately 30% of the city’s population
  • August 1939 Ribbentrop-Moltov Pact
  • 1 September 1939 German invasion of Poland – 3.3 million Jews in Poland, approximately 10% of total population
  • 1939-1945 World War II – 6 Million Poles Died (1/2 Jews)
  • 1941 Podgorze Ghetto established in Krakow
    1942 Plazow Concentration Camp in Krakow
    April-May 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
  • Aug.-Sep. 1944 Polish Uprising
  • 1944-1946 Peak of anti-Semitism, Krakow
  • 1945 Potsdam Conference – New borders for Poland. Borders moved 150 Miles to the west
  • July 1946 Kielce Pogrom. 46 Jews killed
    1947 20,000 Jews in Krakow
  • 1947-1989 Communist Rule
  • 1948 Ghetto Heroes Monument by Nathan Rapoport
    1950 4,000 Jews in Krakow
  • 1980-1981 Solidarity – Lech Walesa
    1989 Free Elections. Large number of Poles returned home
  • 2000 Jewish Studies program in the Faculty of History at Jagiellonian University, Krakow
    2012 Museum in Oskar Schindler’s Factory, Krakow
    2013 3000-30,000 Jews in Poland
    2013 Opening of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw  
 

JOIN A JOURNEY.

JOIN  

PLAN A JOURNEY.

EXPLORE  
 

J2 STUFF.

We have everything you need to know before you go. Check out our Instagram my_j2adventures for cool updates and interesting tidbits.

 
 

START PLANNING LET’S EXPLORE.

Whether you have a journey in mind, want to join a featured trip, or simply want to explore, drop us a note. We work really hard to be a loved travel company that delivers amazing and memorable experiences. So please do not be surprised when we say “yes” to every reasonable request you make!

     
     

    Just like you we're concerned for the future. And like you, J2 stands for equality, tolerance, pluralism, and true democracy.