| Szczuczyn: By the 18th century (1700's), many Jewish
families lived in this village, and the numbers increased in the 19th century.
They comprised almost 75% of the population of the area. Most of the Jewish male
professions were that of tailors and shoe makers. Some of them opened small
factories. Many synagogues and schools were established in the 1850's. Many
prominent Rabbis lived in the city and had many students (one being Rav Yehuda
Leib). After WWI, many students left the city, but in 1920, the Rabbi renewed
the Yeshiva. After that, in 1928, he made aliyah to Israel, where he died in
1936. Zionist and other Jewish organizations were established prior to the War.
Between World War I & II:
Jews were still prominent in business
ventures: they opened oil factories, owned fish markets, they were writers, etc.
The economic situation worsened in the late 1920's. A big fire broke out in the
city in 1929 and many residents became homeless. Many people started to raise
money for the poor.
In 1925, the joint bank in the city was
financing 1/5 of the families (Jewish), giving out loans with low interest
rates. After the big fire of 1929, an organization was formed, called the
Emergency Help Committee, which included such members as the town priest and
former citizens that once lived in the city and now resided in America. In 1925,
a Jewish traders organization was formed that protected their economic
well-being. The workers union was also formed around the same time. Loans were
granted in the community in times of great need without any interest penalties.
Other organizations such as medical care clinics - visiting sick groups and open
kitchens - invited needy people into homes for meals. However, Jews continued to
leave town, and especially, the teenage population, which took off to the big
cities. Therefore the population between the two World Wars was smaller.
The cultural life continued to develop
despite economic troubles. New schools were opened immediately after WWI. In
1921, a Jewish school called "Tarbut - Cultere" opened. It enrolled 350
students. In 1923, a public school with the name of Y.L. Peretz opened,
emphasizing the language of Yiddish. However, due to a lack of funds the school
closed in 1928 when the founder Eliezer Veitz went to South America. In 1928, a
Bais Yaacov school for girls opened, as did one run by the government, for girls
only. Two Jewish Libraries opened. The Bundists also opened a cultural
organization and a drama school. In the early 1920's the maccabbi sports center
opened up. However, in 1927, with the migration of youngsters to other cities,
the organization closed down. It reopened in 1930 once again.
In town, branches of every Jewish
political party were present, just as they were in the rest of Poland at the
time. In between the Zionists stood the "Easterners" (who were the strongest
force at the time), and next to them stood the Torah Avoda (workers) and the
Shomer Hadati (religious group). The religious group set up a base station in
the city itself and one outside of town for other religious members to come to
from other cities. There was also a youth group called Hechalutz. In the 1930's,
the majority of the youth groups attracted the Zionist youth. The Bundist
established a group that dealt prominently with cultural educational issues.
During the Time of WWII:
Szczuczyn was 3km (about 2 miles) away
from the Polish/German (Prussian) border. Many Jews fled at the outbreak of
WWII. Most returned, however, and from the 8th to the 23rd of September,
Szczuczyn was under German rule. The Germans set the Shul and two Yeshivas
(schools) on fire and robbed Jews of their valuables.
The new German rule brought the economy
to a standstill: farmers, traders, mill operators, shop owners. About 20
families were exiled into Russian territory for fear of being communists. They
were later sent to Siberia.
In 1941 - June 22 - when Germany and
Russia declared war against each other, some Jews tried to escape from town.
Most of the Jews were not successful and over 2000 stayed.
On the 28th of June 1941, Polish
hooligans entered the city around the market on Lomzinska Street. Armed with
axes and knives, they entered the homes of Jews and killed whole families. Most
of the families were well-respected, educated and well-known in town. The next
morning the murders displayed the bodies in carriages - more than 300 men,
women, and children - and threw them into ditches outside of town.
Women went out to ask the help of the
Priests and Polish citizens of the city. Nobody helped them. A group of German
soldiers arrived that day. The women gave them presents and begged them to save
the other remaining Jewish families from the Polish attacks. For the time being
the attacks stopped.
In 1941 - July 24 - the Polish youth
gathered the Jews of the city. The Polish police picked 100 Jews out of this
group; the rest were sent home. These people were murdered by the police in the
graveyard and were buried in a mass grave.
On the 1st of August 1941, the Gestapo
arrived in town. According to the Gestapo orders, the Poles were to round up the
Jews in the center of the market area. They were separated into four groups: old
people, men and young people, women and young women, and women with children.
The first three groups were crammed into three small buildings and the women and
children were made to wait out in the sun and heat of the day without any food
or water.
A ghetto was to be created on a street
called Keshiva Betil (Krimma Gus/Crooked Street). Women and children entered,
along with some men and young workers. Also, 15 members of the Judenrat who were
appointed that day by the Germans, and some Poles. These people perished. Among
them was the Rabbi of Szczuczyn, Harav Efron/Ephron. On the ghetto on Keshiva Road,
people lived in shacks, 15-25 to a room. With the lack of food, clothing, or
utensils and wood for creating heat, many did not recover from their sickness
that winter. On Nov 2, 1942, the ghetto was destroyed. The couple of hundred
persons left were then transported to a ghetto in Bogusze, and from there, were
sent to the death camps in Treblinka and Auschwitz in December and January of
1943.
In Szczuczyn - not a Jew remained.
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