Persecution of Jews in Poland

Council of Wrocław
The ecclesiastical Council of Wrocław, 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 Wrocław: “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, Sochaczew in 1556, Przemyśl in 1630, and Kraków in 1637. There were also expulsions in Brzeg, Głogów, and Strzegom due to the accusation in 1401. 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 Vasa of Poland decreed the expulsion of Jews from Bochnia in 1605. There was also an accusation in Kalisz in 1557.

Blood libels
Jews were murdered after blood libels, which are false accusations of having killed Christians (usually children) for rituals, in Kraków in 1407, Bielsk Podlaski in 1564, Lublin in 1598, Lenchitza in 1639, Sandomierz in 1698 and 1710, Jarosław in 1737, and Kalisz in 1763. There was also a blood libel in Gniezno in 1738.

Ladislaus of Bohemia
King Ladislaus of Bohemia decreed in 1455 to exclude Jews from Wrocław.

Polish monarchs
In the mid-1490s, John I Albert, King of Poland, expelled Jews from Kraków and relocated them to a ghetto in Kazimierz. King Sigismund I granted a “privilegium de non tolerandis iudaeis (privilege not to tolerate Jews)” to Warsaw in 1527, which gave the right to exclude Jews living there. His successor, King Sigismund II Augustus, granted one to the Masovia region during the 16th century and confirmed the privilege to Warsaw in 1570; later, King Stephen Báthory confirmed it in 1580. In 1588, King Sigismund III Vasa confirmed the right for Opoczno to exclude Jews living there, and following an accusation of host desecration, he decreed the expulsion of Jews from Bochnia in 1605. King Władysław IV Vasa also confirmed the privilege to Warsaw twice, in 1636 and 1648. In 1740, King Augustus III prohibited Jews from residing in Piaseczno.

Alexander of Lithuania
The Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania expelled Jews from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1495 and confiscated liens held by Jews against Christians.

Holy Roman emperors
The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II expelled Jews from Silesia in 1582. In 1713, Emperor Charles VI imposed extra taxes on Jews in Silesia, and in the 1720s, he restricted the number of Jews allowed in Silesia and allowed only one son in a Jewish family to marry and begin a family. He expelled the Jews from Silesia in 1738.

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

Russian monarchs
Empress Catherine II of Russia (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. Catherine II and all of the emperors after her reign were all Orthodox Christians. Jews were still restricted to the Pale of Settlement under Emperors Paul I (1796–1801), Alexander I (1801–1825), and Nicholas I (1825–1855). In 1827, Nicholas I 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. The later emperors, Alexander II (1855–1881), Alexander III (1881–1894), and Nicholas II (1894–1917), also kept Jews restricted to the Pale of Settlement.

Emperor Alexander III restricted the Jewish people. He imposed various rules and bans on Jews: 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 were restricted. He also supported pogroms and attacks on Jews.