The first mention of the presence of Jews in Siemiatycze dates back to 1582. An official kehilla was established in the town in the 17^th century. However, the community remained subordinate to the Tykocin kehilla until the mid-18^th century due to a tax dispute between the two administrative centres.

In 1691, the elders of Tykocin issued a cherem (a curse) on the Siemiatycze community:

May they be cursed and isolated and separated from all Jewish communities in Poland. May their bread be the bread of pagans and their wine not be their wine. May nobody who lives farther than four ells engage in trade with them. May all debts they are due be withheld from them, and their promissory notes become null and void. May this curse last until they come to us and pay us. May they live forever under the threat of this curse[1.1]].

However, Siematycze continued to stand up to Tykocin and the conflict lived on. In 1726, Tykocin cast another cherem, withdrawn following an apology. The Siemiatycze kehilla eventually became independent in 1730. At the time, the municipal administration was headed by Anna Jabłonowska, who made great contributions to the town’s development. In 1775, she founded a synagogue as a token of compensation for having constructed a road to her palace running directly through the Jewish cemetery. Houses and squares owned by Jews were mostly located in the Market Square and around the synagogue. Apart from the main synagogue, there were also two other houses of prayer in the town, as well as a beth midrash (founded in 1900) and a cemetery.

The local Jews were mostly engaged in trade, especially grain trade. Some also worked in artisan and industrial production. In the late 18^th century, the merchants of Siemiatycze had extensive trading relations, reaching as far as Leipzig or Frankfurt. The textile industry started to develop in 1860. Several tile factories were established in the area in the interwar period, after it was discovered that the local clay perfectly lent itself to the production of ceramic. The first tile factory was founded by Hersz Belkes. Six similar plants operated around Siemiatycze in the 1930s, five of which were owned by Jews[1.2]. Towards the end of the 19^th century, Jews constituted 75% of the town’s population.

Following the 1905 Revolution, a number of Jewish organisations and political parties opened their branches in Siemiatycze. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the town boasted, among others: the Workers’ Club, the Shoemakers’ Trade Union, the “Mizrachi” Polish Zionist Party (its long-time leader was the rabbi of Siemiatycze, Chaim Baruch Gerstain).

According to the 1921 census, there were 3,718 Jews living in the town. The community continued to develop and new schools were opened (including a yeshiva). On the eve of World War II, a total of 4,303 Jews lived in the town.

After the outbreak of the war, Siemiatycze was initially seized by Germans, who took the community board hostage and threatened to kill them if even one German died. Soon afterwards, the town was captured by the Soviet army. Many Jews, mostly merchants and industrialists, were deported to remote areas of the USSR.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Siemiatycze returned into German hands. On 1 August 1941, all local Jews were imprisoned in a ghetto. Right before its liquidation, the Judenrat received a heads up from the local Home Army unit, and 300 people managed to escape from the closed district. Those who remained in the ghetto were transported to the Nazi German death camp in Treblinka; upon arrival, several people fled the camp through a gap in the fence. After the war, ca. 100 Jews returned to Siemiatycze, but they soon left and scattered around the world[1.3].

In the years 1944–1946, Siematycze was a scene of several assaults of the local Jews. These incidents would often end in the victim’s death – for example, an unidentified Jewish woman was killed during a house invasion on 15 May 1945[1.4].

Bibliography

• Korniluk M., Obrazy pamięci [online] http://www.nawschodzie.pl/obrazy_pamieci_folder.pdf [Accessed: 30 Jun 2022]