The date of the arrival of the first Jews onto Polish soil is unknown.
Ibrahim ibn Jakub (a Jewish traveler, merchant and diplomat from
Tortosa,Spain) in the account of his journey in 965, mentioned Krakow and
wrote of his first historic Duke of Poland, Mieszko I. The author of these
historically valuable notes was certainly not the only Jew to travel through
the Piast lands. Some settled here permanently with their families to make
their livelihoods through commerce and the crafts. In later times, banished
from many countries, victims of social and religious upheavals, intolerance,
and persecution, Jews looked to Poland for asylum and here they found it.
Polish dukes and kings, such as Boleslaw Pobozny (1221-1279) and Kazimierz
Wielki (1310-1370), appreciated their talents and thus granted them
privileges and conditions for a peaceful life. Boleslaw Pobozny's Charter of
Kalisz (1264) guaranteed full security for Jews, their communities, and property.