Lubaczów

Names

Other historic forms and spellings of the town's name include Lubacew, Ljubacew, Lubachow, Lubatchow, Libatchov, Libechuyv, Liubachev, Lubachov, Lubatchov, and Lubichuv.

History

Lubaczów was first mentioned in written documents in 1214, when, following the Spiš Treaty between Duke Leszek I the White and King Andrew II of Hungary, the gord was placed under the authority of Voivode of Sandomierz, Pakosław Lasocic. Until 1376, Lubaczów was spelled Lubacew or Ljubacew. Upon receiving its town charter in 1376, the spelling of the name was changed to Lubaczów. Until 1462, Lubaczów was governed by the Dukes of Mazovia, as a Polish fief. In that year, it was directly annexed into the Kingdom of Poland, as part of the newly created Bełz Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province, in which it remained until 1772. During the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–76), the Battle of Niemirow took place near Lubaczów (October 7–8, 1672).

From 1772 to 1918, Lubaczów belonged to the Austrian Galicia, as the town was annexed by the Habsburg Empire after the First Partition of Poland. In 1868, the Austrian authorities moved the seat of the county to nearby Cieszanów, while in 1880, Lubaczów received a rail connection with Jarosław. In 1896, a hospital was built, but three years later, most of the town burned down in a large fire.

In 1918, Poland was declared an independent state: Lubaczów became part of the Second Polish Republic’s Lwów Voivodeship. The Lubaczów Company of the Polish Army took part in the Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–1919). In mid-September 1939, during the German Invasion of Poland, heavy fighting between the advancing Wehrmacht and retreating Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division commanded by General Jozef Kustron. On September 16, the Battle of Oleszyce took place near Lubaczów, in which General Kustron was killed.

On September 7, 1939, Lubaczów was bombed by the Luftwaffe, and five days later, the town was occupied by the German forces. On September 26, however, the Soviet Red Army seized Lubaczów (see Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact). The town remained under Soviet occupation until June 22, 1941, while German occupation lasted until July 1944, when Lubaczów was recaptured by the Soviets.

After World War II, Lubaczów was one of the few locations of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lwów to remain within Poland, when the national boundaries were redrawn in 1945. As a result, the former parish church in Lubaczów was named a cathedral, and the part of the Lwów Archiodiocese, which remained in Poland, was named the Lubaczów Archdiocese, as the Communist government banned all traces of Polish presence in the city of Lwów. In 1984, an inventory of the parish records from the archdiocese of the church archive established there was drawn up. In 1992, the position of the Lubaczów area within the Polish diocesan structure was regularized, and it became part of the Diocese of Zamość-Lubaczów. There was still a church archive in Lubaczów. In 1999, Lubaczów became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship.

Following World War II and the change of borders, several relics from Eastern Borderlands were transported to Lubaczów. Among them was the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Bełz, relics of Blessed Jakub Strzemie, and the urn with the heart of Archbishop Jozef Bilczewski. Furthermore, from 1946 to 1980, the miraculous painting of Our Blessed Lady of the Latin Cathedral was kept at Lubaczów. It was brought here by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak.

Jewish history

1498: The Jews of Lubaczów are mentioned for the first time, when they were granted a lease to collect Lubaczów customs duties that year.

1532: The Polish King forbade the Jews of Lubaczów from doing any business with the population in the surrounding villages.

1538: Tax records show that eighteen Jewish families were living in Lubaczów who paid taxes to the King.

1565: The lustration of this year mentions only three Jewish families living in the town.

1621, 1633 & 1639: Lubaczów Jews were involved in trade and crafts, and also had the right to brew beer. They still held the lease for the collection of municipal fees, as well as the royal taxes from the entire starostwo (local administrative unit) in these years.

1648–1649: The Cossacks and Ruthenian farmers led by Bohdan Chmielnicki opposed the Polish government. In their eyes, the Jews were agents of the Polish rulers, and with barbaric methods, they attacked the Jews. In Lubaczów, the shops at the Rynek (town square) and in the surrounding streets were completely burnt down.

1662: The lustration of that year does not mention any Jewish households, though by the early eighteenth century, a relatively large community did exist there, as evidenced by the amount of taxes paid to the royal treasury.

1670: There were only five Jewish families in Lubaczów.

1765: According to the census of that year, there were 687 Jews obliged to pay taxes who were living in the town and surrounding villages.

1787: Around thirty Jewish families in Lubaczów asked the Austrian government to give them land so that they could be farmers, but there was no response to their plea.

Sights

Kresy Museum (Polish: Muzeum Kresów)

St. Nicolaus Orthodox church,

Historical town hall

Rail station (1880), with a water tower,

Jewish cemetery

Roman Catholic cemetery (19th century)

Castle hill with remains of a fortress, granary and park

Notable people

Aleksander Bandrowski (1860–1913), singer

Stanisław Dąbek (1892–1939), Colonel of the Polish Army, who in September 1939 commanded defence of the Polish Coast

Stanisław Dębicki (1866–1924), painter

Dana Demkiv (b. 1932), Ukrainian ballet master and ethnographer

Robert Korzeniowski (b. 1968), racewalker, Olympic golden medallist

Franciszek Misztal (1901–1981), engineer, co-creator of such planes, as PZL.23 Karas and PZL.38 Wilk

Józefina Szałańska (b. 1951), actress

Władysław Witwicki (1878–1948), psychologist, philosopher, translator and artist

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Lubaczów is twinned with: