Persecution of Jews in Poland

Council of Breslau
The ecclesiastical Council of Breslau, in the mid-13th century, ordered for Poland the prohibition of Jews from living next to Christians, the requirement of Jews to wear a distinctive hat, and that Jews were not to have more than one synagogue in a town.

Statement by the papal legate of Pope Clement IV at the Council of Breslau: “Since the Poles are a new plantation on the soil of Christendom, we must continually be on our guard lest the Christian population here, where the Christian religion has not yet taken deep root in the hearts of believers, succumb to the influence of the counterfeit faith and the evil habits of the Jews living in their midst.”

Persecution of Jews during the Black Death
Jews were falsely blamed for the Black Death or bubonic plague pandemic in Europe during the mid-1300s. They were persecuted and massacred. Jews were often used by Christians to blame due to their resentment of them, considering the antisemitic Christian belief that Jews as a people hold the responsibility for killing Jesus Christ, known as Jewish deicide. Many Jews were murdered in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Host desecration accusations
Jews were murdered after accusations of host desecration in Poznań in 1399, Głogów in 1401, Wrocław in 1453, and Sochaczew in 1556. In Wrocław, Franciscan John of Capistrano's sermons incited Christians to burn Jews at the stake and expel the others. Jews were also expelled from Świdnica and Strzegom. Following an accusation, King Sigismund III of Poland decreed the expulsion of Jews from Bochnia in 1605.

Blood libels
Jews were murdered after blood libels, which are false accusations of having killed Christians (usually children) for rituals, in Kraków in 1407, Lublin in 1598, Lenchitza in 1639, Sandomierz in 1698 and 1710, and Jarosław in 1737.

Polish monarchs
In the mid-1490s, John I Albert, King of Poland, expelled Jews from Kraków and relocated them to a ghetto in Kazimierz, and in 1527, King Sigismund I gave permission for Warsaw to bar Jews from living there. Following an accusation of host desecration, King Sigismund III of Poland decreed the expulsion of Jews from Bochnia in 1605.

Khmelnytsky massacre
The Orthodox Christian Cossacks led by Khmelnytsky massacred Jews in Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine in the mid-17th century.

Charles II
King Charles II of Bohemia restricted the amount of Jews allowed in Silesia in 1727, allowed only one son in a Jewish family to marry and begin a family, and expelled Jews from Silesia in 1738.

Russian monarchs
Empress Catherine II (who reigned from 1762 to 1796) segregated Jews and restricted them to the Pale of Settlement. She doubled the taxes on Jews; the added taxes were lifted if they converted to Orthodox Christianity.

In 1827, Emperor Nicholas I (1825-1855) required by law that Jews from 12 to 25 years old join the military and be required to complete 25 years of service. Jews were also compelled to convert to Christianity.

Emperor Alexander III (1881-1894) favored Orthodox Christianity. He supported pogroms and attacks on Jews and imposed various rules and bans on them: they weren't allowed to own land and property in rural areas; they weren't allowed to hold government office, run schools, or appeal against a court sentence; they could be deported if they lived outside the Pale of Settlement; they weren't allowed to work in the legal, military, or medical professions; their entrance to universities and secondary schools was restricted; they weren't allowed to vote in zemstva and municipal elections; they were forced to sell up businesses; and their rights to trade or sell products was restricted.