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- Nasielsk Synagogue on Wikipedia
- Nasielsk on Wikipedia
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In the 17th century, Jews started to settle down in the area of the town inhabited by the gentry. The local Jewish residents belonged to the Community Co-operative in Tykocin; nonetheless, the town had its own wooden temple, erected around 1650[1.1]. Its constructor was Simcha Weiss, the son of Shlomo from Luck. It was one of the most beautiful synagogues in Poland. Even though it was dismantled in 1880, its appearance is known thanks to a number of pictorial sources[1.2]. In the 1660s, the Jews of Nasielsk stopped paying taxes to the Community of Tykocin. They claimed that the it did not provide them with funds necessary to support the children of Jewish refugees and exiles who settled down in Nasielsk after the war against Sweden. The result of legal proceedings carried out in 1671 turned out to be unfavorable for the Jews of Nasielsk.
The community of Nasielsk gained independence in the 18th century. It had jurisdiction over all Jews living in Ziemia Zakroczymska (Zakroczym Land). For a short period, from 1795 to 1798, Jews from the general area of Wyszków were also incorporated into the Jewish Community Co-operative of Nasielsk. In the 19th century, the community dealt with financial problems and was gravely indebted. In the 18th century, it had borrowed 7500 zlotys and in 1821, 4267 zlotys out of that amount remained outstanding. The community did not have funds sufficient to pay off the debt, so its representatives, along with Rabbi Berko Dauer, pleaded the town's owner to free them of the yearly domanial fee (132 roubles in silver). The owner did not accept the plea, asked the community to cover the outstanding debt and started to forcefully execute it. Moreover, the community experienced some internal turmoil, with the members of the synagogue supervision being accused of embezzlement by the rest of the community. In the middle of the 19th century, the case was investigated and some accusations against the synagogue supervision turned out to be true. Some elders – Icek Lichtenstein, Judka Goldberg, and Füstenberg – were accused of fraudulent collection of the rekrutowe taxrefr:|A fee paid for being released from the obligation of military service. – ed.. Another source of hardships was the activity of Jews living in Serock, who in the 1820s sought to create their own independent community. In 1826, the elements of the communal infrastructure were described as follows: “A big wooden temple, roofed with tiles, built at the end of the 17th century by Symcha Weiss, had come to Nasielsk from Luck... A wooden Jewish hospital with shingled roof. A small wooden Jewish school, covered with shingles.”[1.3]
In the 18th century, the main sources of income for the Jews of Nasielsk were leases of inns, distilleries and breweries. Some of them dealt with craft. In 1753, the first artisan guild associating tailors, furriers, and haberdashers was established in Nasielsk. In the years 1815– 1862, it had 60 members. The guild was independent of the Municipal Council and owned its private temple[1.4]. Gradually, trade started to play an increasingly important role, partially thanks to eight fairs organised in Nasielsk each year and to the permanent markets operating there. In 1830, Jakub Mendlowicz Bergozyna, along with four assistant distributors, became the Pułtusk District's official distributor of tobacco in Nasielk and surrounding villages[1.5]. Apart from the aforementioned professions, the Jews of Nasielsk also owned industrial plants. In 1820, both the local tannery and the cloth factory, producing high quality leather and cloth, were owned by Jews. They sold their products in the neighbouring localities situated in the Płock County, the Przasnysz County and the Ostrołęka County.
In time, less and less people lived off taverns. In 1844, there were 12 tavern in Nasielsk; in 1857, the number fell to 7. The issue of the production and sale of vodka caused disagreements between Jews, the clergy, and the owners of the town. In 1847, Aleksander Kurtz, the owner of Nasielsk, planned to monopolise the production of vodka, but the Jewish population opposed the idea and, eventually, a group of protesters attacked municipal guards. The attackers were so aggressive that the owner had to use the army to suppress them. The events came to be known as the “Jewish Rebellion.” In June 1852, fighting once again broke out in the town and Jewish protesters were likewise pacified by the military. The last phase of the “Jewish Rebellion” took place in May 1854, when the Jewish community decided that they would import vodka to Nasielsk against the owner's will. They attacked the court guards, seeing that it was them who blocked shipments of vodka from being delivered to Jewish shops. Once again, the army was asked to intervene. During the investigation following the events, the district governor ordered to tie up one of the rebellion's instigators – Motel Kędzior – and have him dragged to a nearby village behind a horse.
During the November Uprising (1830–1831), the Jews in Nasielsk opposed the orders issued by the leaders of Polish military units and in result, fell victim to numerous repressions. The participants of the Uprising were especially brutal when it came to the instances of the cooperation with the Russian authorities and the Russian Army. The Jews of Nasielsk and Nowe Miasto were accused of an act of treachery which led to Russians destroying one of the partisan detachments.
In the second half of the 19th century, Jews specialised in trading in dairy products from the local estates. At the same time, they became suppliers of various items for manor houses and peasants in return for eggs, chickens or craftwork. The latter were later sent to bigger cities and sold at a profit. In Warsaw, for example, Jews were known for selling toy whistles made of clay.
The wooden synagogue was demolished in 1880 and a new brick temple was constructed on its site. Abraham Bornstein, a Hasidic leader and the founder of the Sochaczew Dynasty, worked there in the years 1883–1887[1.1.4]. In 1900, there were 10 cheders in the town.
Numerous political organisations were established in Nasielsk when mass social movements began to appear among the Jewish community at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. Among those, there were Zionists, who started operating in 1904, the Bund (1905), and the Agudath (1916). In interwar period, the economic status of the Jewish community was quite low; at the beginning of the 1920s, the Joint (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) provided help for 200 poor families. Nonetheless, political and social life flourished. Among the Zionist movements, the Mizrachi Party had the most supporters. The Aguda opened a branch of its Beit Yaakov schools; it was meant to provide education for 100 girls[1.1.4].
Germans entered Nasielsk in September 1939 and started to exercise a reign of terror. On 3 December 1939, all 3,000[1.1.4] Jews were cast out of the town. At 7:30AM, all Jews were ordered to gather on the market square within 15 minutes. Germans divided the crowd into two groups. The first group, comprising about 2,000 people, was sent to a train station situated 4 km away from the town. The other group was taken to the synagogue. Having spent 24 hours in the temple, these people were also sent to the train station. One of the people taking part in the march described it as follows:
On the way to the station, Jews were forced to make a detour through an extremely muddy area. (Germans called this area Rotes Moor). They [military policemen] stood on both sides [of the road]. Jews were told to run through the mud and sing, while a hail of whips was falling on their heads. The mud was so thick that shoes got stuck in it… People's heads, especially men's, were bleeding. They threw away their bundles, so that they could run in the mud… Finally, they reached the station… A new ordeal started. Body searching. They looked everywhere. Those who looked better were told to undress and naked women were carefully examined… Those who had something to hide had to roll naked in the mud (in December!). Those who had undergone the search were packed onto railway cars… The journey took 36 hours” [1.6].
Both transports were directed to Kaliningrad. Immediately after their arrival, they turned back and after a long journey, they reached Międzyrzec Podlaski and Łuków. The Jews of Nasielsk also ended up in other cities of the General Government, for example in Jadów, Kock and Warsaw[1.7]. Wherever they arrived, they suffered the same tragic fate of Jewish people during the Holocaust.
A labour camp for Poles and Jews operated in Nasielsk from 1941 to 1943. It was situated in a story house at Berka Joselewicza Street. On average, 150 people stayed there[1.8].
Bibliography
M. Grynberg, Żydzi w rejencji ciechanowskiej 1939–1942, Warsaw 1984.
Nasielsk, [in] The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, ed. S. Spector, G. Wigoder, vol. 2, New York 2001, p. 876.
J. Szczepański, Społeczność żydowska Mazowsza w XIX–XX wieku, Pułtusk 2005.