Wojnicz (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjɲitʂ] ⓘ) is an ancient historic town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

[1] In the early medieval period of the Polish state, it became one of the most important centres in the province of Lesser Poland, as part of the system of Dunajec river castles.

It had town and market rights, its church was raised to collegiate status with links to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków 64 km away.

The Coat of arms of Wojnicz consists of an escutcheon bearing the figure of Roman martyr, St. Lawrence against a gridiron, symbolising his gruesome death by roasting.

Wojnicz lies on the boundary of two distinct geographical regions in Poland: the Sandomierz Basin and the Western Carpathians.

According to legend, some time in the late 10th century, warriors (Polish: wojowie) of Mieszko I or his son Bolesław I Chrobry built a military stronghold and named it Wojnicz in their honour.

In 1109, the original parish church dedicated to Saint Lawrence was erected, probably on initiative of Prince Bolesław III Wrymouth, as a votum for victory in the Battle of Nakło.

In 1239, after Princess Kinga of Poland was engaged to Bolesław V the Chaste in Wojnicz, the settlement was granted town rights, although no documents are extant to confirm this.

In 1856, the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis bypassed the town, laying its route some ten kilometers to the north.

In 1928, it was visited by President Ignacy Mościcki, but seven years later Wojnicz was stripped of its town privileges and reduced to the status of a village.

As in many towns across Poland, Jewish settlement was severely restricted since the Middle Ages, which translated as a ban, unless they converted to Christianity.

An early instance of a Jewish convert living in Wojnicz in the first half of the 18th century was Michał Kędzierski, administrator of the Crown lands on behalf of Starosta, Jakub Karwowski.

The German invasion of Poland led to most members of the Wojnicz community being rounded up in 1942 and taken to the Zakliczyn Ghetto from where they were transported to Belzec extermination camp.