Editing Olsztyn (section)

===Jewish community===

Although [[Jews]] were permitted to trade in the city itself and its fairs during the [[medieval]] times, they were restricted from trading freely in the villages surrounding the town.<ref>W. Knercer, Cmentarze i zabytki kultury żydowskiej w województwie olsztyńskim, "Borussia", no. 6, 1993, p. 53; vide K. Forstreuter, Die ersten Juden in Ostpreussen, "Altpreussische Forschungen", ch. 14, 1937, pp. 42–48.</ref> In 1718, Bishop [[Teodor Andrzej Potocki]] imposed a ban on Jewish trade in the city as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/5,history/#footnote_0|title=History – Jewish community before 1989 – Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101153323/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/5,history/#footnote_0|archive-date=1 January 2014}}</ref> The ban, even if continued by successive bishops, proved not to be particularly successful in the light of repeated complains by the local merchants about Jewish dealing in animal leather and similar products as the one recorded in 1742. Permanent Jewish settlement can be dated to 1780 when the Jews were finally permitted to settle in the city albeit outside the immediate city walls.<ref>J. Jasiński, Olsztyn w latach 1772 – 1918, in: Olsztyn "1353 – 2003, ed. S. Achremczyk, W. Ogrodziński, Olsztyn 2003, p. 228.</ref> In 1814, the Simonson brothers opened the first Jewish store. Yet the growth of the Jewish community worried city authorities, who tried to curb it with restrictions and punitive measures. In 1850, a new law imposed fines and imprisonment on anyone who harboured a “wandering” Jew in their home.<ref>J. Jasiński, Olsztyn w latach 1772 – 1918, in: Olsztyn 1353 – 2003, ed. S. Achremczyk, W. Ogrodziński, Olsztyn 2003, p. 229.</ref>
[[File:Bet Tahara in Olsztyn Außenansicht 2012.jpg|thumb|Former [[Mendelsohn House|Jewish Tahara house]]]]
The roots of the Jewish congregation in the town can be traced to 1820. Shortly after that date, an official prayer room was established on Richterstraße. In 1877, the congregation bought a plot of land on Liebstädterstraße and built a synagogue there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/11,synagogues-prayer-houses-and-others/322,old-synagogue/|title=Old synagogue – Synagogues, prayer houses and others – Heritage Sites – Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> A Jewish cemetery was built on Seestraße (present-day Grunwaldzka). At its peak, the town's Jewish population reached 448 people (1933).

During the ''[[Kristallnacht]]'', the town synagogue was destroyed by Nazi Germans, only to be later used as a bomb shelter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://germansynagogues.com/index.php/synagogues-and-communities?pid=71&sid=92:allenstein|title=Archive – east-prussia – Allenstein|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> Today, the site of the former synagogue is occupied by a local sports club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/cms/activity/863,jewish-culture-in-olsztyn/|title=Jewish culture in Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref>

By 1939, only 135 Jews were left in the city. The remainder fled the country. Those who still lived in the town by 1940 were deported to [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>https://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/directory.html#frmResults (matches for "Allenstein", with marked: "Wohnort" and "Geburtsort"; (as of 25 March 2009); http://www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_2KE?next_form=advanced_search (people living in Olsztyn before the war – matches for "Allenstein", with marked: "Before the War", (as of 25 March 2009); http://www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_2KE?next_form=advanced_search (people born in Olsztyn – matches for "Allenstein", with marked: "Birth"; (as of 25 March 2009).</ref> In June 1946, 16 [[Holocaust]] survivors settled in the city and in 1948, the congregation had 190 worshipers. Most of them emigrated to [[Israel]] throughout the next few decades. There is no trace of the Jewish cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/12,cemeteries/1944,cemetery/|title=Jewish Cemetery (Zyndrama z Maszkowic Street) – Cemeteries – Heritage Sites – Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref>

The city was the birthplace of world-famous Jewish architect [[Erich Mendelsohn]]. In town, Mendelsohn planned the mourners' chapel (called the [[Mendelsohn house]]) next to the cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/39,heritage-sites/26740,dom-rodzinny-ericha-mendelsohna/|title=Family House of Erich Mendelsohn – 21 Podgórna Street (Oberstrasse, today's 10 Staromiejska) – Heritage sites – Heritage Sites – Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101164720/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/39,heritage-sites/26740,dom-rodzinny-ericha-mendelsohna/|archive-date=1 January 2014}}</ref> The building is restored.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/cms/news/850,mendelsohn-s-house-will-be-renovated/|title=Mendelsohn's house will be renovated – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> In addition, it was the birthplace of German [[Socialist]] and [[SPD]] leader [[Hugo Haase]]. {{ill|Frieda Strohmberg|pl}}, an [[Impressionist]], lived and worked in the city from 1910 to 1927. Documentation of the Jewish owned shops in town exists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/5,history/#footnote_17|title=History – Jewish community before 1989 – Olsztyn – Virtual Shtetl|access-date=17 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101153323/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/olsztyn-607/5,history/#footnote_17|archive-date=1 January 2014}}</ref>