The first wooden church in Opole Lubelskie was probably built in the 12th century. In 1368, by decree of King
Casimir III the Great, Opole received Środa municipal rights, which was confirmed in documents issued in 1419. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Opole Lubelskie was one of centers of
Reformation in Poland. Several
Calvinists were active here. In 1625, a hospital was built outside the town, along the road to
Sandomierz. Between 1663 and 1675, a new parish church was constructed, which still stands. In the mid 18th century, Opole Lubelskie prospered, after
Piarists came here upon request of
Jan Tarło, who also rebuilt the Słupecki Palace (now
Lubomirski Palace) in the
baroque style. A new hospital and schools were built, the church was expanded and a monastery was opened. In the late 18th century,
Rozalia Lubomirska spent a few years in the palace of her husband Aleksander, located in the village of Niezdów, near Opole Lubelskie.
Jews first arrived in the town in the sixteenth century. During the
Cossack riots of the seventeenth century, many Jews of Opole were murdered and their property looted. Jews later returned to the town, and in the eighteenth century the town had a synagogue, a cemetery, and an entire Hasidic dynasty. The twentieth century brought change to the community. In addition to the Agudat Israel ultra-orthodox movement and a Beit Ya’akov school for orthodox girls, Zionist groups and secular youth movements, such as Hashomer Hatzair and Beitar, were founded in town. Before the
German occupation of
World War II, 4,325 Jews lived in Opole Lubelskie, comprising more than two thirds of the population. In September 1939 Opole was occupied by the Germans and the Polish population of the city immediately looted Jewish property. From the beginning of the war, the Germans brutalized, robbed, and humiliated the Jewish population. On 15 February 1941 and 26 February 1941, two deportation transports with 2,003 Jewish men, women and children on board left
Vienna Aspang Station for the
ghetto which had been set up in Opole Lubelskie. By March 1941, 8,000 Jews lived in Opole Lubelskie, including the native population, the Austrians, and others from nearby communities such as
Kazimierz Dolny and
Puławy. Jews from
France and
Slovakia were also brought here. Crowding in the ghetto was intense with between seven and ten people living in each room. The crowding and lack of indoor plumbing and fresh water led to a
typhus epidemic in the winter of 1941 from which hundreds died. From May 1941, men and women capable of work were deployed as
forced labourers in
Dęblin, Golab, Józefów, and elsewhere. Some worked in the residences, offices, and mess halls of German officials and police. The German authorities killed several dozen hospital patients in July 1941 and raped and murdered Jewish teenagers in 1942. The mass murder of residents of the ghetto began in the spring of 1942. Hundreds of Jews were brought there and then sent on to
killing or labor camps. Transports began in March with one to
Belzec extermination camp on 31 March 1942 and deportations to the
Sobibor extermination camp followed in May and October 1942. The last transport may have included most local Jews. Women and children rode in horse-drawn carts driven by local farmers; men walked. At Strzelce, a transit camp, they were put on trains to Sobibor where they were immediately murdered. Of the 2,003 Viennese Jews, only twenty-eight are known to have survived. The number of Opole Jews who survived is unknown. Today Opole Lubelskie is home to one of the most modern prison in Poland -
Zakład Karny Opole Lubelskie, which was opened in October 2009. ==Sights==