Kazimierz Woliński and his Assistance Foundation for Converts at St. Mary’s Church in Kraków
Kazimierz Woliński and his Assistance Foundation for Converts at St. Mary’s Church in Kraków

Summary/Abstract: A foundation established in 1731 by Kazimierz Woliński at Craców’s St. Mary’s Church was an interesting attempt to aid poor converts from Judaic to Catholic faith. Woliński himself had converted from Judaism and before he died without leaving any descendants, he placed part of his assets at the disposal of the archpresbyter of the St. Mary’s Church of Cracow. The annual rent from a tenement house in Cracow’s Market Square was to be distributed among the neophytes in need. Alas, before long the new owner of the house stopped paying the amounts due. After court trials, until the 1760s, a mere quarter of the amounts due was disbursed. The operation of the foundation was only resumed after 1784 and it continued at least until 1846. Due to scarce funds, it never played a major role in the mission operation among Cracow’s Jews.

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