Tykocin

A Case Study in Ghettoization, Deportation, and Extermination

Establishment 1424: Tykocin

established on the left bank of the Narew River

16th century: There was a castle with a King and a mint

1522: King Augustus granted ten Jewish families a “privilege” to buy land, build houses, own businesses, build a synagogue, and open a cemetery Privilege confirmed and

expanded by subsequent privileges through 1639

Mostly Flourishing Life

1600s-1700s: Tykocin was a flourishing town for Jews, who served as merchants

They benefitted from Tykocin’s location at the center of trade routes and alongside a waterway, and traded salt, spices, and cloth The Marketplace was

the center of their livelihood and culture

1657 Blood Libel: Jews were accused of ritual murder and after a three year trial, two heads of the Jewish community were sentenced to death

The Church physically separated the Jewish and Christian communities Jewish and Christian

cemeteries and principle houses of worship are on opposite sides of the town

Tykocin’s River, Church, and Marketplace Today

The Great Synagogue Bulit in 1642 Christian church

regulations did not allow synagogues to tower over churches so it was built a little below ground level

The Jewish Cemetery is one of the oldest remaining Orthodox Jewish cemeteries in Poland

Population Facts & Figures

1772: Polish Kingdom Census named Tykocin’s kahal (community) the first Jewish community after Cracow

At the Jewish community’s peak in 1862: 3,545 Jews comprised 73% of the town’s population

Jews were poor between the World Wars and manufactured brushes and prayer shawls between the two world wars (petty trade and craft)

The Zionist movement was the most important social and cultural force in the community

Outbreak of WWII: 1,800 Jews comprised 44% of the Jewish and Catholic populated town

The Holocaust: Germans Arrive at Tykocin Anti-Semitic Mayor appointed (last mayor before WWII)

Local thugs and peasants robbed Jewish property for two days September 2, 1939: units of the German army entered

Polish and Jewish men were confined to a local church without food for three days

Soldiers robbed Jewish property during that time September 24: they left, robbing Jewish shops as they exited

June, 1941: Germans arrived and a Pogrom took place White arm band with magen david became a requirement Many Jews sent to do forced labor (drain sewer ditches, pluck

weeds, etc.) under supervision of Polish police Jews suffered from hunger—Polish police would not allow Poles

to sell Jews food

The Holocaust: More Trouble July, 1941: Jewish refugees from other villages

came to Tykocin News reached Tykocin of the murder of hundreds of

Jews in surrounding areas by Germans and Poles August 16, 1941: Four Germans came to

Tykocin claiming they would defend the Jews and ordered the Poles to return the Jews’ property to them. Jews started to trust the Germans, but found that

they were digging pits 15 km from town in Lupochowo Forest

“No one knew why they were digging,” says someone interviewed for the film “Diaspora”

The Holocaust: August 24, 1941 August 24, 1941: Jews ordered to report

the next day at 6:00 AM in the marketplace A few managed to escape

The Holocaust: August 25, 1941 Jews were told they were going to the Bialystok Ghetto and could

take belongings up to 25 kg Instead, they were to be massacred that day with the aim of

liquidation They were driven out by Wolfgang Birkner of the Warsaw

Gestapo and “Kommando Bialystok” (local police units 309, 316) 1,400 Jews made to run in rows of five Jezewo Zawady

Lopuchowo Forest, forced by neighbors to sing a song of hope to the accompaniment of violins and trumpets as they left Tykocin.

Lupochowo Forest“T

hey a

re g

on

e…

gon

e in

the fo

rest.”

The Holocaust: Those who didn’t go to the forest on August 25

•There were 17 survivors who escaped to the forest•In total, 2,100 Jews were murdered

August 26: The next day, the Germans caught about 700 unreported Jews and murdered them at the pits

About 150 people found shelter in Bialystok Ghetto and surrounding communities, only to later perish with the members of those communities

Quotations from the Film “Diaspora”

“It was as if all Tykocin was dead. Very few people lived through it.”

“How could the Germans have committed this crime? They took so many people and assassinated them. 1500 people were no longer there. It was deserted.”

“The city was empty. The Jews were gone.”

Tykocin Today A few years ago, a group

of Polish Catholics started dressing up as Jews to re-enact the holiday of Purim.

“Listen to the story of Purim. Increase the miracles that cannot be understood,” they say.

In a place where an entire Jewish community was killed, they celebrate a time when the Jews were saved.

Works Cited Diaspora. Dir. Frederic Brenner. DVD. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Detroit: Thomson

Gale, 2007. 211-11. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During

the Holocaust. New York: New York UP, 2001. 1352-353.

Wisniewski, Tomasz. Jewish Bialystock and Surroundings in Eastern Poland; A Guide for Yesterday and Today. Ispswitch, Massachusets: The Ipswitch P, 1998.

Rubin, Arnon. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their Relics Today. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv UP, 2006.