Jarosław (Polish:[jaˈrɔswaf]^ⓘ;Ukrainian:Ярослав,romanized: Yaroslav,IPA:[jɐroˈslɑu̯];Yiddish:יאַרעסלאָוו,romanized: Yareslov;German:Jaroslau) is a town in southeasternPoland, situated on theSan River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023.^[1] It is the capital ofJarosław County in theSubcarpathian Voivodeship.

Jarosław
Town Hall
Flag Coat of arms
Jarosław
Coordinates:50°1′7″N22°40′47″E / 50.01861°N 22.67972°E /50.01861; 22.67972
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Subcarpathian
County	Jarosław
Gmina	Jarosław(urban gmina)
First mentioned	1152
Town rights	1375
Government
• Mayor	Marcin Nazarewicz (PL2050)
Area
• Total	34.46 km2 (13.31 sq mi)
Population  (2023)
• Total	35,475
• Density	1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	37-500
Car plates	RJA
Website	http://www.jaroslaw.pl

Jarosław is located in the territory of the old Polish tribe of theLendians, which became part of the emerging Polish state underMieszko I. According to tradition, the town was established in 1031 byYaroslav the Wise, after the area was annexed fromPoland by theKievan Rus', although the first confirmed mention of the town comes from 1152. The region was eventually regained by Poland, and the settlement was grantedMagdeburg town rights by Polish DukeWładysław Opolczyk in 1375.

The city quickly developed as an important trade centre andport on theSan River, reaching the period of its greatest prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries. It hadtrade routes linkingSilesia withRuthenia,Gdańsk, andHungary. Merchants from such distant countries asSpain,England,Finland,Armenia andPersia arrived for the annual three-week-longfair on thefeast of the Assumption. In 1574 aJesuitcollege was established in Jarosław.

Jarosław was aprivate town ofPolish nobility, including theTarnowski, Jarosławski,Odrowąż,Kostka,Sieniawski,Zamoyski,Wiśniowiecki,Koniecpolski,Sobieski,Sanguszko andCzartoryski families. The Jarosławski family ofLeliwa coat of arms hailed from the town.

In the 1590sTatars from theOttoman Empire pillaged the surrounding countryside. (SeeMoldavian Magnate Wars,The Magnate Wars (1593–1617), Causes.) They were unable to overcome the city'sfortifications, but their raids started to diminish the city's economic strength and importance. Outbreaks ofbubonic plague in the 1620s, and the invasion known as theSwedish Deluge in 1655–60 further undermined the city's prominence. In March 1656, led by Polish national heroStefan Czarniecki, the Poles defeated the invading Swedes under KingCharles X Gustav in theBattle of Jarosław. In theGreat Northern War of 1700-21, the region was repeatedly pillaged byRussian,Saxon, andSwedish armies, causing the city to decline further.

After the fall of theRákóczi's War of Independence againstAustria in 1711, Hungarian leaderFrancis II Rákóczi and his court, including essayistKelemen Mikes, found refuge in Jarosław.^[2] In 1711, Rákóczi and some Hungarians left forGdańsk, while some stayed, and later on, several Hungarians were buried in the local Corpus Christi Collegiate Church, before their exhumation and burial in Hungary in 1907.^[3]

In the mid-eighteenth century, Roman Catholics constituted 53.7% of the population, members of the Greek Catholic Church 23.9%, and Jews 22.3%.^[4]

Jarosław was annexed byAustria in theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772. It was part of newly formedGalicia (Austrian Partition) until Poland regained independence in 1918 following World War I. In 1914,Russian soldiers carried out apogrom in the town, killing more than 150 Jews.^[5] In the interbellum period the city was administratively located in the PolishLwów Voivodeship.

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  Market square, after 1895
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  Town hall, ca 1915
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  Orsetti House, ca 1915

During the Germaninvasion of Poland in September 1939, which startedWorld War II, this was the site of theBattle of Jarosław. Germany defeated the Poles and captured the town. Shortly afterwards the GermanEinsatzgruppe I entered the town to commit variousatrocities against the population.^[6] UnderGerman occupation, the town was part of theKraków District of theGeneral Government.^[7] ThePolish resistance movement was active in the town, and from May 1940, the underground Polish newspaperOdwet was distributed in Jarosław.^[8]

In 1944, the town was captured by theRed Army of the Soviet Union and restored to Poland, although with aSoviet-installedcommunist regime, which remained in power until theFall of Communism in the 1980s. Some local Polish resistance officers were arrested by the Soviets and imprisoned in a Soviet camp inTrzebuska.^[9] The communists expelled most of Jarosław's Ukrainian population, at first toSoviet territories and later toterritories regained from Germany.

It was administratively located in theRzeszów Voivodeship (1945–1974) andPrzemyśl Voivodeship (1975–1998).

The first Jews reportedly arrived in Jarosław in 1464. The first rabbi of Jarosław was Rabbi Nathan Neta Ashkenazi, in 1590. A year later, the newCouncil of Four Lands (Vaad Arba Aratzot) began convening in Jarosław, rotating the meetings with the city ofLwów (Lviv).

Until 1608 with a small Jewish community, religious facilities were not allowed. Still, Rabbi Solomon Efraim of Lontschitz (the author of "Kli Yakar"), a prominent and well known rabbi, lived here. By 1670 there was a large "government" synagogue created, although protested by the Christian community of the city. During attacks on the city by Tatars and Swedes, Jewish merchandise and sometimes homes were set on fire. In 1765, there were 1,884 Jews in the city and towns around it. A Jewish school was established sometime later. The famous rabbi Levi Isaac ofBerdyczów (Berdychiv) studied in Jarosław circa 1760 and was called "the genius of Yeruslav". A fire in 1805 burnt down the old synagogue and a new one was established more according to tradition to replace it. The new synagogue was completed in 1811. A census taken in 1901 notes that Jews were 25% of the population: 5701 Jewish families.

In a story aboutJacob Kranc told by Rabbi Jacob Orenstein around 1850, about the appointment of the Jarosław rabbi, Rabbi Orenstein had refused the appointment of Rabbi of Jarosław because it would be against his old uncle's appointment. The city council had already written his appointment and wished to express their sorrow for its cancellation. TheDubner Magid had just entered the city on a snowy winter day, and was taken directly to Orenstein's house, together with the city council, who happened to pass by him. But the walk up the steps was enough to create a moving speech, remembered years later, and accounted for in the book.

In 1921 the last rabbi was appointed, Rabbi Shmaiya HaLevi Steinberg. He wrote a book about the Jews of his town, and in the 1930s sent two copies to theNational Hebrew Library inJerusalem. These copies are the only surviving copies of the book after theHolocaust.

In September 1939, Jarosław was captured by Germans. Most of the Jews crossed theSan river to theSoviet-occupied part of Poland and hid in the Carpathian mountains, including the elder rabbi and his family. Those that stayed were shot and killed by the German soldiers.

Jarosław is a town with a long sports history. In 1889, a branch of the"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society was founded in Jarosław. Nowadays, the town's most notable sports club are:

• JKS 1909 Jarosław, one of the region's oldestfootball teams, which competes in the lower leagues
• Znicz Jarosław, men'sbasketball team, which competed in thePolish Basketball League (country's top division) in the past, most recently in the 2009–10 season
• JKS Jarosław, women'shandball team, which competes in thePolish Women's Superliga (country's top division)
• San Jarosław, women'svolleyball team, which competes in the I liga (second division)

Jarosław istwinned with:^[11]

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  Baroque Dominican church
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  Rynek ("Market Square") filled with colourful historic architecture
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  The Jarosław Museum
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  Renaissance Corpus Christi Church
•  
  Municipal Cultural Centre
•  
  St. Nicholas church and Benedictine abbey
•  
  Juliusz Słowacki Street
•  
  Nicolaus Copernicus High School
•  
  Greek Catholic Church of the Transfiguration
•  
  Center for Culture and City Promotion
•  
  Baroque Church of the Holy Spirit
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  Monuments toPolish-Hungarian friendship and Major Leon Czechowski

• Jarosław city portal
• Jewish Jarosław (Hebrew)
• Jarosław (Yaruslav) Hassidim in Modern day Israel