| 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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