It is not known exactly when Jews first settled in Sokołów Podlaski as the documents of the local Jewish community (Pinkasy) were burnt during the fires of the city at the turn of the twentieth century. Perhaps it was at the end of sixteenth century or at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The documentation of Jewish presence in the city comes from that period: from 1650 - a privilege granted in 1665 by Prince Bogusław Radziwił, the owner of the town, concerning the settlement right of “new inhabitants.” The first wooden synagogue and cemetery may have been built in the town during this period; the Jewish community, one of the richest ones in this region of Poland, also may have been established. Around the synagogue (later called the Old Beit Midrash) at Bóżnicza Street (now Magistracka Street), there were houses of the community members, a small hospital, mikveh and large synagogue (szul). The development of the Jewish community was largely dependent on granted privileges and taxes imposed on it by the owners of the town[1.1]. From the beginnings of settlement until the Holocaust, the Jewish inhabitants of Sokołów lived in a hermetically closed community that was bounded by a few streets in the middle and western part of the town, including two main streets: Długa and Rogowska (now Wilczyńskiego Street), separated by the towns’ main square. Most of the buildings in that part of the town were small wooden houses covered with straw, tar-board, or sheet metal [1.2]. The cases of assimilation were very rare.

The most rapid development of the community and population growth took place during the nineteenth century. The location of the town at Drohiczyn Road - a trade route leading to the east facilitated urban growth. The population decreased during the turn of the century, due to the emigration of members of political organizations and other community members to Argentina, Palestine, the United States, and other nations. These emigrants had had an impact not only on the economic development of the town, but also on the cultural and political development of its inhabitants. Many of the emigrants wanted to avoid being arrested by tsarist authorities, as some of the Bund activists were arrested and imprisoned by tsarist authorities in 1905. Another wave of emigration came in 1918-1939 due to the poor economic conditions in the town; for example, a large number of women moved to Warsaw to work as servants[1.3].

In the nineteenth century, when the town was under the Russian occupation, a rabbi and a Community writer from the Synagogue Supervision, which was engaged in managing community finances along with other organizations, led the Jewish community. Individuals covered most of the community’s expenditures. From the end of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of World War I, its staff included: Alter Rozenblum, Hersz Tuwia Ber, Mosze Moszezon (the rabbai of the Chewra Kadisha Burial Society) and the rabbi Icchak Zelig Morgenstern. The previous rabbis were Abram att Suler, the rabbi of Sokolów in 1828 and Józef Moszkowicz in 1853. During the interwar period, the rabbinate was composed of two rabbis: Icchak Zelig Morgensten and Mordechaj Halbersztat[1.4].

During the nineteenth century, the town was one of the centres of Hassidism in the Podlasie region. There were shtiebels (small synagogues) in the town, including one belonging to Hasidim from Kock, Góra Kalwaria, Aleksandrów and Kałuszyn, where local Hasidm prayed and was a place of prayer for Hasidim from other towns and cities during holidays. There were also the Misnagdim with whom Hasidim had fierce disputes and theological arguments.

In 1855, an epidemic of cholera, brought by Russian soldiers from Asia, broke out in the town. According to official records, the outbreak resulted in the death of 56 Jewish inhabitants of the town[1.5].

The Jewish community was troubled by frequent fires caused by the high density of small, wooden, often thatched houses. Only a few houses were covered with sheet metal – a sign of wealth. The fires impeded the economic development of the town.

Until the outbreak of World War II, life in the Jewish community of Sokołów Podlaski was concentrated mainly around the Grand Synagogue and the Old Beit Midrash. There were approximately 21 prayer houses in the town: synagogues, where prayers continued during the day and night, as well as small synagogues and prayer houses where Jews prayed at Sabbaths and during holidays[[ref:|Rafałowicz B., Batej tfila in Sokolow, [in:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, Geldbart M., ed., Tel Aviv 1962, page 255.]]. On 18 August 1922, a list of synagogues and prayer houses in the district of Sokołów was drawn up: synagogues were located on Bóżnicza Street (now Magistracka Street), Długa, Szkolna (now Kuśnierska Street). There was also a private synagogue – on Rogowska Street (now Wilczyńskiego Street). 2000 people a day attended prayer houses in Sokołów [1.6].

The Jewish community in Sokołów led a relatively quiet life until a fire in 1910, which destroyed most of the houses in the Jewish quarter and the buildings belonging to the Jewish community, including the Grand Synagogue and Old Beit Midrash. The town was rebuilt with the help of neighbouring Jewish communities – e.g.: communities in Siedlce, Węgrów, Kosów and Sterdyń[1.7].

Another event that interrupted the economic development of the community was the outbreak of World War I, and then the Polish-Soviet War. Many Jews who exported their goods to Russia lost their clients. Another serious problem in the town was the arrival of refugees from parts of the former Polish territories. The community also endured famine. In 1915, during evacuation, the Russian army robbed and destroyed the property of Sokołów Jews. The Cossacks, whilst leaving the town, arranged a pogrom, which lasted a few days, and resulted in the destruction of Jewish shops and the deaths of approximately 10 Jews. Subsequently, from August 1916 to 1918, the town was occupied by Germans. During this period, Sokołów Jews suffered from famine and epidemics. The Germans drew up a list of inhabitants and demanded taxes from them. The Jewish community agreed on a permanent budget, which was to be spent on the reconstruction of community buildings damaged during the fire. The community was led by Jeszaja Szafran, Mosze Moszezon, Hersz Tuwia Ber, Ch. Sz. Rozenbojm, Jeszaja Landau, Abraham Białylew (secretary)[1.8].

During the war, aid from the American Joint was of high importance. The Joint opened a public canteen at the Old Beit Midrash, which provided hot meals. The organization continued its activity in town until the extermination of its last inhabitants in 1942. In 1918-1939, the Joint funded the repair of a mikveh on Bożnicza Street. It was modernized by installing baths, showers and laying tiles. Additionally, both Jewish cemeteries were fenced[1.9].

World War I brought electricity to the town. Jeszaja Szafran built a power station in town[1.10] and owned a mill[1.11].

During World War I and the years immediately following it, cultural life and education began to develop gradually among the youth associated in political parties and in Hassidic shtiebels despite the difficult economic conditions. Two libraries were established; recitation and literary societies were active as were musical bands. Education flourished as well. New institutions were established by or with the help of political parties, whose activity was legalized after the war. Novelties were brought from the weekly markets in Warsaw. There was a choir at the Grand Synagogue, which gave concerts, for example, in the rabbi’s house during Jewish holidays. Operas with biblical themes were also staged in the town [1.12]. In the interwar period, Jewish inhabitants of Sokołów constituted the highest percentage of Jews in the entire district of Sokołów[1.13].

In 1919-1939, the Jews from Sokołów took part in the political life of the town, including the elections to the Sejm. During the elections to the Legislative Sejm on 26 January 1919, the Jewish Election Committee obtained three percent of the votes, the Orthodox’ Society two percent and Bund about one percent. In the following elections in 1922, voters supported, among others, the Bund and the Block of Minorities of the Republic of Poland seven percent.  In 1928, the Block of Minorities received four percent of the votes as did the Bund. In 1930, Poale Zion received ten percent (the list was ultimately withdrawn), and the Jewish Block eight percent.  In the same year, in the elections to the Senate, the Jewish Block in the city obtained 29% of votes (5% in total)[1.14].

After the war, in addition to the Bund and Poale Zion, new political parties began to be established that included Jews and Communists. The political mosaic was represented among the authorities of the Jewish community in Sokołów. Zionists organizations became increasingly popular during this period. In 1921, during the elections to the Council of Representatives and to the Board of the Jewish community, only the representatives of the Orthodox were elected, whilst, in 1925, the Orthodox obtained 67 percent and Zionists 33 percent of the votes, and the Zionists won a majority in the Board. The Zionist movement’s success was also connected to some Orthodox Jews leaving the Mizrachi movement to join the Zionist one. The last chairman of the Jewish community before WWII was Chajim Jekl Szpadl. Jews also ran in the elections for the town council of Sokołów. In the elections in 1927, Poles won 11 and Jews 13 mandates (Orthodox - 5, Poale Zion - 3, Zionists - 4, an independent Communist - 1). In 1928, due to the abuse of power by the town council, a committee composed of 6 persons and a commissioning system (3 Poles, 3 Jews) was established. Bund was also represented in the Council after the elections in 1934[1.15].

Apart from some exceptions, Jews in Sokołów did not publish their own press. Information on Jews in the Sokołów community could be read in the press published in Siedlce and Warsaw. Newspapers, Jewish weeklies, including the press published by various parties, which were later read at meetings. In Sokołów, from the available information we know that, a special edition in Yiddish, Di Tetigkeyt fun der TOZ. Obteylung in Sokolow Podlaski” (a report bulletin of November 1938), was printed along with other publications. [1.16]. Most of the books and press read came from local libraries that also functioned as cultural centres, most of which were set up by parties. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there wasthe Library named after Szolem Alejchem established by Poale Zion along with other libraries. After a split within the party into the left and right wing, its rich holdings were also divided to form a library named after Borochow (Left) and one after Brener (Right), located on Długa Street[1.17].

From the beginning of the twentieth century until the extermination of the Jewish inhabitants in 1942, anti-Semitism first detected  during the revolution in 1905 increased gradually in town and became particularly intense after the death of Marshall Józef Piłsudski in 1935 and rise of the National Democracy (endecja). Anti-Jewish attitudes were particularly visible on market days, when calls for a boycott were made and Poles refrained from trading with Jews. Incidents of violence, organized mainly by the National Democracy, were also common on market days. During Passover, on 27 March 1937, more serious riots took place, during which several stalls in the main square were burnt. Other riots took place in September 1937 and February 1938[1.18].

After the outbreak of World War II and the German invasion of the town, the restrictions towards Jews were put in plcae. Bans were introduced in spring 1940. In August 1941, the Germans established a ghetto that existed until 22 September 1942, when most of its inhabitants were sent to Treblinka II, the extermination camp. Only a few Sokołów Jews survived the Holocaust, either by hiding on the Aryan side (mainly in forests) or in the Soviet Union, where they escaped from the Germans in 1939-1940[1.19].

After the war, there were about 98 people of Jewish origin in Sokołów who had lived in or near the town before 1939. Most of them stayed in one building. They protected, among others, the Jewish cemetery because their Polish neighbours turned it into a pasture for cattle. Due to the poor economic conditions – most products were imported from Lublin – and the unwillingness of Poles to return properties to the Jewish owners, the Jews from Sokołów and nearby towns left the town. Additionally, Jews did not want to stay in the place where everything that was a part of their old world had been destroyed. On Bóżnicza Street, out of the old buildings, only the building of the Old Beit Midrash has survived. Only one large stone remains of the Grand Synagogue. Nothing has remained of the former Szeroka and Szklana Street, and the houses that survived the war were taken over by the Polish inhabitants of Sokołów[1.20].

Bibliografia

• Ber-Szalom Ch., Sokolow in dem jorhundert, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart,Tel Aviv 1962
• Białylew A., Sokolow bizn churwn, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart, Tel Aviv 1962, s. 112-115
• Białylew A., Rafałowicz P., Di jidisze kehile in Sokolow, s. 171, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart, Tel Aviv 1962
• Niemirka B., Sokołów w latach 1815–1866 [w:] Sokołów Podlaski. Dzieje miasta i okolic, red. G. Ryżewski, Białystok-Sokołów Podlaski 2006
• Rejzman I., Sokolow-Podliaski, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart, Tel Aviv 1962, s. 25; Białylew A., Rafałowicz P., Di jidisze kehile in Sokolow, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart, Tel Aviv 1962
• Rusiniak-Karwat M., Zagłada Żydów Sokołowa Podlaskiego. Świadectwa, [w:] Żydzi na Podlasiu, red. Z. Chyra-Rolicz, R. Tarasiuk, E. Kopówka, Siedlce 2010.
• Zajanej M., Sokolow cwiszn bejde welt milchomes, s. 84; Szpadl A., Sokolow Podlask, s. 313, [w:] Sefer ha-Zikaron Sokolow Podlask, red. M. Geldbart, Tel Aviv 1962.