The Jewish population of Maków began to thrive in the 16^th century. A Jewish community was established in the town in the middle of the century; it was subordinate to the kehilla in Ciechanów. The Jewish district was located in the northern part of the town. The community owned a ritual bath, a synagogue and an old people's house, as well as a cemetery located on the left bank of the river.

The community suffered significant losses during the Swedish Deluge, in the years 1655–1660. When the Polish army was advancing and pushing the Swedes out of the area, its soldiers murdered many local Jews, who were believed to have collaborated with the invaders.

The second half of the 17^th century saw the emergence of the phenomenon of witchcraft trials. Many of the victims of such accusations were Jews. Nachman ben Natan of Maków was sentenced to death by beheading for the alleged murder of a Christian boy. His trial provided an opportunity to destroy and plunder Jewish shops in the town.

Despite the growing religious intolerance in the last years of the 17^th century and the early 18^th century, the life of the Jewish community in Maków began to stabilise. The ruler of the country confirmed all privileges previously granted to the residents of the town, both Jews and non-Jews. The construction of the synagogue was completed in 1717.

At that time, crafts joined trade as one of the principal factors contributing to the development of the town and the Jewish community. Tailoring was the dominant profession among Jewish craftsmen. In 1731, the authorities of Maków imposed an annual fee of 10 zlotys on artisans. In the same period, a certain Jew called Joel obtained permission to build a brewery at Mostowa Street. Town councillors were not blind to the benefits brought by the presence of Jewish craftsmen working independently from local guilds and thus defended them against attacks from Christian guild masters. Leasing salt and oil monopolies to Jewish merchants brought considerable income to the town.

The Maków authorities made many efforts to reconcile the Jewish and the Catholic population of the town, which eventually led to an agreement concluded on 3 April 1750. Jews had already owned various squares in the town, and were now officially allowed to trade in various goods, sell honey and wine, produce alcohol, use the municipal pasture and forest. In return, they were to pay a poll tax and a hiberna tax [a type of tax existing since the mid-17^th century – editor’s note] of 400 zlotys per year. On 22 June 1750, King Augustus III of Poland granted the Jews of Maków a privilege to sell alcoholic beverages from their houses. This privilege was confirmed by Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1766.

The relations of Maków Jews with the local church were also good. The church handed five squares at Przasnyska Street over to Jews in return for a rent payment. In 1775, the kehilla authorities (Gedalia Gerszowicz, Gerszon Lewkowicz, Kiwa Nachmanowicz, Hersz Notkowicz, Szmul Zacharewicz) borrowed 1,000 zlotys from the local parish, with the annual interest rate of 5%.

In 1758, the Maków kehilla had 1,528 members, 820 of whom lived in nearby villages. In 1765, there were 113 Jewish families (431 people) in the town, living in 54 houses. Crafts were dominated by tailors, but there were also many furriers and bakers. Jews were the dominant force in the trade in grain and wool. Several merchants exported canvas made in local weaving workshops to Russia. Some people earned their income from vodka production. Several were involved in agriculture and cattle breeding. Jews who lived in the villages subordinate to the Maków kehilla worked in court inns and breweries.

In the 18^th century, the Jews of Maków began to question their subordination to the Ciechanów kehilla. In 1753, they rebelled and became independent. They chose their own rabbi, Abraham Abish Dinsurg. The case was considered by a committee of rabbis appointed in Jarosław, however, it proved to be outside of its authority. Eventually, the independence of the Maków kehilla was confirmed in 1758. In 1798, the Jewish community in Wyszków was incorporated into the Maków kehilla. Jews from Pułtusk were also subordinate to the community.

In 1813, during the existence of the Duchy of Warsaw, a Jewish district was established in Maków. Its borders were limited by the Ciechanów highroad – a street passing through the city centre from the west to the east – separating the market square and the entire town into the northern part, inhabited by Jews, and the southern part, reserved for the Christian population.

In 1816, the members of the board of the Maków kehilla were: Kielman Boruch Frankiel, Aron Markus, Berek Mośkowicz. The office of the rabbi was held by Lajbuś Solomon. In the 1830s and the 1840s, his successors were Orthodox rabbis: Natan, Abraham Awli Rose, Mosze Cwi Zinger, Eliezer Lipszyc.

In 1855, Efraim Fiszel Najman-Salomon took over the post of the rabbi. Two years later, he invested his own money in the construction of a joint house of prayer and school – a beth midrash. The building was erected at Bóżnicza Street, and the rabbi’s apartment was situated on the first floor. In 1864, Salomon transferred a significant amount of money to the synagogue supervision in Warsaw.

The Maków community experienced major difficulties in the first half of the 19^th century. Many issues were brought about by the local Hasidim who, despite the resistance of rabbis, started to gain importance in the town. The community also experienced administrative and financial problems. The latter resulted from significant arrears owed by the synagogue fund to the district authorities and churches.

In 1855, the community owed 1,200 silver roubles to the Pułtuski Distict, 487 roubles to the parish church in Maków, 450 roubles to the parish church in Sokołów, and 165 roubles to the Pułtusk chapter. Due to such circumstances, the elders of the community strongly opposed the aspirations of the communities from Pułtusk and Wyszków to become independent from the synagogue supervision in Maków.

In the 19^th century, Maków Jews began to establish small industrial enterprises. Soon, there were several weaving plants in the town, as well as tanneries and mills. In 1894, Dawid Pasamonik established the only rope-making plant in the Łomża governorate. At the beginning of the 20^th century, Wajsberg opened a printing house in Maków. Jews from northern Mazovia, including merchants from Maków, also lived off of providing supplies to the Russian troops stationing in the area.

In 1827, the Jewish community in Maków accounted for 90% of the entire population of the town. However, at the turn of the 20^th century, economic difficulties forced many local Jews to migrate to bigger cities and overseas. The wave of migration intensified in 1904, when the tsar announced compulsory conscription to the army following the outbreak of the Russian-Japanese war.

Anti-Jewish incidents which took place in April 1882 were some of the most tragic events in the history of Maków Jews. A wave of pogroms swept the town after a rumour had been spread among the local population, suggesting that Jews, who were awaiting imminent arrival of the Messiah, were planning to murder all Christians.

In the second half of the 19^th century, one of the most important investments undertaken by the kehilla was the purchase of equipment for the newly built brick synagogue. It was located in an area of today’s Bożniczna, Franciszkańska, and Zielony Rynek streets. In 1873, the kehilla offices with an apartment for the rabbi were completed. Their construction was partially funded from the donation made by merchant Hersz Chaim Blum. The building was located at the corner of Bóżnicza and Kotlarska streets.

Another important project of the kehilla involved the selection of the site of a future new cemetery in the 1870s. The community eventually chose a plot located north of Ciechanowska Street and west of its intersection with Kopernika Street. At the turn of the 1880s, the ritual bath was moved to the bankside of the Orzyc River.

In 1882, Jehuda Lejb Grabart took over the post of the rabbi from Efraim Fiszel Salomon. In 1904, he was succeeded by Israel Nisan Koperstock, who had previously worked as a rabbi in Różan.

In the first half of the 1880s, a yeshiva renowned all around northern Mazovia was established in Maków. Its first principal was Nuta Delinowicz, who later left Maków for Toronto. Numerous societies were active in the town: the Chevra Kadisha burial society, the Chevra Mishnayot Talmudic studies society, the Chevra Thilim psalm society, Ein Yaakov, Midrash. Each had its own house of prayer.

At the end of the 19^th century and in the early 20^th century, supporters of Zionism and left-wing ideology emerged from the Jewish population of the town. The first branches of the Lovers of Zion and the “Mizrachi” Zionist Orthodox Organisation were established at the time. The future leader of the Zionist movement, Nachum Sokołów, moved to Maków in 1876. He married Rywka Necha Segał, the daughter of wealthy merchant Chaim Jakub Segał.

In 1904, three residents of Maków – Abram Baumgarten, Aron Gutman and Eliezer (alias Kop) – founded the local branch of the All-Jewish Workers’ Bund in the town.

Mazovian Jews with socialist views were very much involved in the activities of the Polish Socialist Party. After the organisation split into two opposing camps, its Jewish activists also had to decide which one to align with. At that time, a unit of the PPS Combat Organisation was formed in Maków, some of whose members were Chaim Nuta Rogoza, Hersz Średni, and Pikus Zieliński.

In the years 1906–1908, a library of the Society of Book Lovers, an organisation supporting Zionism, was established in Maków. Its primary manager was Markus Wilenberg, while some of his co-workers were Chil Majer Flattau and Sara Sagał. They were not able, however, to legalise the institution.

In 1917, a local branch of Tserei Zion operated in Maków.

In the first years following the creation of the Second Polish Republic, the Maków branch of the Bund enjoyed great influence in the town – its representatives received the largest amount of votes in the 1919 municipal elections. At that time, the branch had 80 members and its leaders were Jonasz Najman and Dawid Minoga. As many as 15 Jews were elected to the 24-member Municipal Council in Maków: seven representatives of the Bund, three Orthodox Jews, two members of the Mizrachi, one independent candidate, one Zionist, and one representative of Poale Zion.

There was also a unit of the Zionist Organisation in Maków. In 1919, it had 2,000 members in the entire district. The president of the branch was Mojżesz Skórnik. In 1930, a district convention of the Organisation was held in Maków.

A significant part of Mazovian Jews supported the communist movement, which became particularly evident in 1920, during the Polish-Bolshevik war. A revolutionary military committee – so-called revkom – was established in the town at that time. It was headed by Fajwel Blum, who had previously deserted from the Polish army. A branch of the folk police, consisting entirely of Jews, was also established in the town. Interestingly, despite his strong communist beliefs, Blum saved the life of a priest, because he believed that killing him would bring bad luck to the Jews.

In 1924, the Maków branch of Agudath Israel had ca. 300 members. Some of them were rabbis – Srul Segał was one of the party’s best known activist. The Maków branch opened a school for boys called “The Basics of Torah.” In 1924, the Mizrachi also had a strong influence in Maków.

The first elections to the Jewish community board in Maków held in the Second Polish Republic took place on 22 September 1924. The following persons were elected as members of the board: Majer Ostry (chairman), Mendel Klajner (vice-chairman), Juda Rosenbaum (secretary), Mendel Student, Josek Hendel, Uszer Icek Szamowicz, Łaszer Szmul Majer, and Mojsze Froim Grynberg. The Bund managed to introduce its members into the community representative council. The council was composed of the following persons: S. Pianka – chairman, C. Wilenberg, F. Ungier, Ch. J. Ungier, D. Minoga, E.D. Ryszelewski, I. Gogol., W. Fajncajg, A. Małach, I. Sagał, J. Sztern, and S. Grynszpan.

In the next municipal elections, held in 1931, the Agudath won three seats, the joint Zionist and Mizrachi Bloc – one, the Craftsmen Bloc – two, the Hasidim – one. The Bund decided to boycott the election, which significantly lowered voter turnout among leftist and anti-Zionist circles. The situation changed in 1936, when the Bund succeeded in introducing its representatives to the community board. The board members were: M. Student – chairman, M. Mączkowski – vice-chairman (Agudath), A. Garfinkiel (Hasidim), A. Orlik, J. M. Rajczyk, D. Minoga (Bund), A. Faskowicz (butchers), Ch. A. Lichtensztajn (Civic List).

Meanwhile, the election of the rabbi aroused just as much emotion as the elections to community authorities. Between 1904 and 1926, the office was held by Israel Koperstock. After his departure to Palestine, the position was taken by Mordechai Dawid Ajdelberg, who left Maków in 1929 and became the rabbi of Płock. The winner of the elections held on 31 January 1930 was Icek Hersz Adalberg, an Orthodox rabbi from Aleksandrów Kujawski (he received 289 votes). The Zionist candidate, Żuromin-based Rabbi Beniamin Blumberg, received slightly less votes (281).

In the 1927 local government elections, the Jewish bloc – called the United Party of Jews – won 10 seats in the 24-member Maków Municipal Council. After the elections of 1934, eight representatives of the Jewish community sat in the 16-member Municipal Council.

In the 1930 elections to the Sejm, Jewish lists in Maków received the highest number of votes, i.e. as much as 50%, with the largest number of votes cast for representatives of the Bund and Zionists.

Just as many other Jewish communities, Maków too boasted an active branch of the Linas Hatsedek. It was established in 1935 and soon gained as many as 400 members. Izaak Wesołek became its president. Another organisation operating in the town was Keren Kayemet LeIsrael, a fund raising money for Jews who wished to settle in Palestine. In 1936, the fund organised a Purim ball in Maków.

The wave of anti-Semitism sweeping Poland in the 1930s soon reached Maków, where Jewish shops were boycotted, shop windows broken, and owners harassed. In 1937, the Maków branch of the Bund planned to organise “self-defence militias” to protect the Jewish community from the threat of OWP (Camp of Great Poland) and ONR-Falanga (National Radical Camp) militias.

There was a large tannery and sawmill in the town, both owned by Zalman Orli in the 1920s. The Rayczykow brothers ran two tanneries on Przasnyska Street, Całko Wilenberg was the owner of a steam mill on Pułtuska Street, while a cotton wool factory on Ciechanowska Street was the property by Jankiel Rusiniak.

In the interwar period, three libraries operated in Maków: the Grosser Library (est. 1919), the B. Brochów Library at the Workers’ Evening Courses Society (est. 1921), and the I. L. Perec Library (est. 1923).

Local press, such as the newspapers Do Pracy, Express Mazowiecki, Pułtuski Kurier Codzienny 5 groszy (all issued in Pułtusk) or the local Express Makowski (1928) and Mazur (1935), had many Jewish readers. In 1930, the children’s magazine Nasze Pisemko edited by I. Wesołek and H. Wassercug started to be published in Maków.

The Jews of Maków also enjoyed physical activity and fitness. In April 1931, Maków was the venue of a meeting of scouts and members of sports clubs from northern Mazovia organised by the Hashomer Hatsair.

In 1926, J.M. Skórnik and Rekant founded a branch of the “Tarbut” Jewish Cultural and Educational Association in Maków. They organised performances, readings, theatre shows. All proceeds from these events were spent on educational purposes and aid for unemployed Jews.

Several schools for children aged 6–13 operating in the town were financed by the Jewish community. One of the schools was maintained by the Agudath (perhaps the aforementioned boys’ school - the Basics of Torah), another – by Orthodox Zionists from the Mizrachi.

Jewish youth could attend a six-grade humanities middle school and a 5-grade humanities school for girls. Religious Jews continued their education at the local yeshiva.

Germans seized the town in September 1939. Before proceeding with the extermination the Jewish population of Maków, the Nazi authorities targeted the sick and disabled. In February 1940, a “treatment centre” for physically and mentally disabled people from the entire Maków District was opened on Pułtuska Street. Ca. 500 Poles and Jews were gathered in the fake hospital. At the end of February 1940, Germans transported all patients to the Wąski forest near Sewerynów and murdered them. In 1944, the Germans dug the bodies out of the mass grave and transported them to an unknown place.

In 1940, some Jews from Maków were displaced to Hungary. From 1940 to 1944, a German labour camp for Poles and Jews operated in Maków. Its prisoners were held in the building of the ritual bathhouse, ca. 400 people at a time. They usually worked in the fields of the nearby estates owned by Germans.

At the end of 1940, Germans established a ghetto in Maków. It was located in the northern part of the town, encompassing Franciszkańska Street, Zielony Rynek Street, and adjacent alleys. The area was surrounded with a 4-metre-high wooden fence. The Judenrat was headed by A. Gurfinkiel [or Garfinkiel – editor’s note]. Dawid Orlik became the head of the 20-member Jewish police unit. A Talmud-Torah and a Relief Committee were set up in the ghetto.

A total of ca. 12,000 people lived in the ghetto throughout its existence. Apart from local Jews, its population encompassed refugees from various parts of Poland and displaced persons from towns and villages in Maków District and Pułtusk District.

In October 1940, Germans held 5,800 people in the ghetto, including ca. 2,000 refugees. The already poor living conditions inside the Jewish quarter deteriorated even further after 8 December 1941, when Jews from Chorzele, Przasnysz, and Mława were moved to the ghetto. The poorest people were accommodated in the synagogue; several small rooms were arranged inside the building. The situation was becoming desperate. Epidemics and hunger started to decimate the inhabitants of the ghetto. Persecutions and harassment were an everyday occurrence; ghetto commander Steinmetz was particularly vile towards Jews.

The German commander was also responsible for inciting mass murders and executions which took place inside the ghetto and in other parts of the town. On 30 December 1940, 20 Jews and Poles from the camp in Działdowo were executed in front of the synagogue. In another execution, held on 4 June, Germans killed 15 Jews. A month later, on 9 July 1942, 20 Jews were hanged on the square in front of the synagogue; on 26 September 1942, six Poles and Jews from Działdowo were publicly executed.

The ghetto was completely closed off from the outside world in early November 1942. Beforehand, Jews from the nearby labour camps had been transported inside. On 14 November 1942, Germans gathered all inhabitants of the ghetto in the Zielony Rynek square, near the Judenrat building, and announced that persons fit for work would be deported to the Auschwitz labour camp and women and children under the age of 16 would be deported to the Małkinia camp. The ghetto was liquidated four days later. Ca. 5,500 people were displaced to the ghetto in Mława. Ca. 50 people were killed during the brutal liquidation process. In Mława, the newcomers were accommodated in the deserted ghetto buildings. They were all sent to the Nazi German extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in subsequent transports, the last of which left the town in late 1942.

Both Jewish cemeteries in Maków were destroyed by Germans, who used tombstones to pave sidewalks and build kerbstones on today’s Moniuszki, Kościuszki, Kościelna, and Grabowa streets.

During the war, a Jew from Maków – Lejb Langfus – kept a diary documenting his life in the Maków Ghetto and his deportation to Mława. Later, as a prisoner of the Auschwitz concentration camp, he described the selection on the unloading ramp in 1942, the gas chambers, and the process of gasification. At the time, Langfus became involved in the resistance movement and was one of the leaders of the Sonderkommando uprising which broke out on 7 October 1944. Ca. 600 people took part in the rebellion, which was eventually suppressed by Germans. Among the people killed in the uprising there were also Jews from Maków: Towie Segal, Lejb Kac, Władek Frenkiel, Izrael Lewkowicz, Mosze Fuks, Josef Litwinowicz, Welwel Fuks, Meir Piekarczyk, Berko Toper, Hersz Kurnic. Langfus hid his diary near Crematory III; it was found after the war. Currently, it is exhibited at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim. Selected excerpts were published in the 14^th issue of Zeszyty Oświęcimskie in 1972.

Bibliography

• Bartoszewicz H., “Projekty rewirów dla ludności żydowskiej w miastach mazowieckich 1807–1830,” Rocznik Mazowiecki 2006, vol. 18.
• Grynberg M., Żydzi w rejencji ciechanowskiej 1939–1942, Warsaw 1984.
• “Rozdeptane nagrobki,” Tygodnik Ostrołęcki (Maków issue) of 16 November 2004, p. 4.
• Szczepański J., Społeczność żydowska Mazowsza w XIX–XX wieku, Pułtusk 2005.
• Wesołek I., Monografia m. Makowa, Maków 1838.