At the beginning of the 16th century, an independent Jewish community was created in Drohiczyn. It existed until the 1730s, when, as a result of the intensification of anti-Semitic tendencies, two riots took place in the town and caused a big part of the local Jews to move out. The migration wave increased again in the second half of the 18th century. In 1765, there were 880 Jews living in Drohiczyn; in 1799, the number fell to only 37. Jewish people moved out of the town mainly due to the fact that old trade routes started to lose importance and were replaced by new ones. The 19th century marked the period of great influx of people into Drohiczyn. Following with the wave of migration to the USA, the number of Jews living in the town decreased once again; in 1939, Drohiczyn had ca. 700 Jewish inhabitants. The number of people belonging to the Jewish community of Drohiczyn was, respectively: 37 (3%) – in 1799; 443 (25%) – in 1874; 498 (35%) – in 1881; 784 – in 1897; 814 – in 1921; 711 (29%) – in 1931; 700 – in 1939; 500 – in 1942.

In 1939, Drohiczyn was taken over by the Soviets. On 22 June 1941 – the first day of war between the Third Reich and the USSR – the synagogue of Drohiczyn was set on fire. When Germans took control over the town, they forced ca. 700 people to move into the ghetto. On 2 November 1942, the ghetto was liquidated and the Jewish population was sent to Siemiatycze and, subsequently, to the death camp in Treblinka[1.1].

Ca. 30 Jews from Drohiczyn were aided by Poles during the Holocaust. Eight members of the Reznik family hid in the nearby village of Miłkowice, in the house of Jadwiga Kosk and the Zalski family. Jews were also given shelter in the villages of Makarki and Koczery. Nonetheless, most of the people who had escaped from the ghetto were not given help. Many Poles denounced the same Jews they had promised to help. Those who managed to escape created a self-defense unit led by Szlomo Gruda and Szlomo Warszawski, who cooperated with the Jewish partisan unit working around Siemiatycze. They were murdered by Poles after the war, most probably when they were attempting to take revenge for the events of the war. In 1945, a unit of National Armed Forces stormed a house where 28 survivors had been hiding and killed one of them[1.1.1].

Bibliography

Drohiczyn, [in] Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1939–1945, vol. I, Ghettos in German-Occupied Eastern Europe, Part A, eds. P. Megargee, M. Dean, Bloomington 2012, p. 882.