A small Jewish community lived in Radziłów as early as the 17th century. The number of Jews increased over time. They made their living from crafts and trade. The wooden synagogue, which survived until the Holocaust, is also said to date as far back as the 17th century. Before the First World War, social and cultural activities flourished. The first Zionist group was formed in 1916 under the German occupation. From 1917, a Hebrew school operated here, which later became part of the Tarbut school network. The Tarbut school became a cultural centre, and Zionist parties also became active. One hundred seats were purchased for the Zionist congress in Radziłów. Youth organizations such as Hashomer Hatzair, HeHalutz and Beitar were active, as well as branches of the Agudath and Bund.

During the interwar period, the economic situation was difficult. Craftsmen, merchants and door-to-door traders could barely support their families. A cooperative bank operated from 1926, which provided loans to almost half of the Jewish families. In 1929, the Gemilut Chesed Foundation was established with an agricultural department, which was joined by approximately 100 Jews from the surrounding villages. After a fire in 1930, which burned down approximately 60 houses, support was organized to help those affected, in which neighbouring villages also participated.

Anti-Semitic incidents began in the 1920s and became more frequent over time. In 1935, a young Jew, provoked by a Polish peasant, beat him up. When word of it came out, violence against Jews began.

After 17 September 1939, Radziłów found itself under the Soviet occupation. The Soviets nationalized the Jews’ sources of income: shops, bakeries and mills, and prohibited them from running shops. Craftsmen could hardly earn enough to support their families. The Jews were forced to work on Saturdays and other holidays. In March 1941, many men worked on reinforcing the German-Soviet border. In June 1940, as part of the Third Deportation, many families were sent deep into the USSR, accused of being “capitalists and enemies of the Soviet Union”.

When the Germans entered Radziłów in June 1941, there were approximately 800 Jews in the town. According to Jewish witnesses, the town’s Polish residents welcomed the German army as liberators from the Soviet occupiers and the “Judeo-Communism”. They also mistreated Jews who previously welcomed the communist authorities with enthusiasm. Initially, the Germans gathered Jewish men, mostly old, near the synagogue. They ordered them to bring the Torah and other books to a meadow near the river, and then they set fire to the synagogue. The German unit left the town a day later, but then local Poles began harassing the Jews, attacking them and robbing their homes [1.1].

The first days of July 1941 brought news to the town that all the Jews in Wąsosz had been murdered. On 7 July, an Einsatzgruppe B unit (Zichenau-Schroettersburg) commanded by SS-Obersturmführer Herman Schaper, a Gestapo officer from Ciechanów, arrived in the town. Local peasants also began to arrive in Radziłów by carts. Under the auspices of the German unit, the Poles gathered all the town’s Jewish residents in the square. Women and children were also involved in bringing Jews to the square. The harassment and beatings began. The Germans left the town after a while, leaving the Poles to do as they pleased. The Jews were forced to go into a barn owned by a man named Szitkowski. After locking the Jews inside, a fire was set. According to various reports, between 500 and 800 people died there. Until 10 July, a “hunt” for survivors continued in the town. Those who were caught were murdered on the spot. On 10 July, the Germans returned to the town to prevent further rioting. Only about 20 people survived the pogrom, and they were confined to a small ghetto in the town. On 2 November 1942, they were transported to the transit camp in Bogusze, from where they were later moved to the Nazi German death camps in Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only Izrael Finkelsztejn’s family of six survived the war, hiding with a peasant friend in a village outside the town. Thanks to the family’s testimony, the crime was well documented.

Bibliography

• “Radzilow”, in: D. Dombrovska, A. Wein, A. Vais (eds.) Pinkas Hakehilot. Polin, Jerusalem 1976–1999, vol. 4, pp. 424–426 [online] http://www.radzilow.com/pinkas.htm[Accessed: 6 April 2023].