The mayor of Sokolow refuses to change the name of the cemetery

 On August 12th I received a letter from the mayor of Sokołów Podlaski informing me that she refuses to change the name of the "Polish Red Cross Park" to the "Old Jewish Cemetery." The reason given is that the Polish Red Cross provided aid to Jews during World War II.

The Old Jewish Cemetery is the oldest Jewish monument in the town. The tombstones there were destroyed during and after the war.

I haven't researched the history of all the ghettos in Poland, but I'm quite familiar with the history of the Sokołów ghetto. The Polish Red Cross did not provide aid to Jews in Sokołów and the surrounding area. As we read in Edward Kopówka's book "Treblinka, Never Again" (2002), the Polish Red Cross provided food parcels to prisoners of the Treblinka I labor camp, but only to Poles. "Unfortunately, Jews did not receive any parcels," we read on page 102.

The mayor cites the 1968 issue of the "Palestra" magazine as the source of her information. That year was, among other things, a time of anti-Semitic campaigns unleashed by the communists. What did “Palestra” write at the time? It supported antisemitic campaign led by the communists’ authorities.

Jews were accused of inciting students to protest. At special rallies, slogans of fighting against Zionism were proclaimed. Tens of thousands of Jews were forced to leave Poland—deprived of jobs, apartments, property, even family heirlooms and photos of relatives murdered in the Holocaust. Jews were then stripped of their Polish citizenship. To prove their ingratitude, false articles and books were published about the alleged aid Poles provided to Jews en masse during the war. It served party propaganda.

The truth is that food was delivered to Jews in the Sokołów Ghetto by the JOINT (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), a Jewish organization financed by American Jews. We have lists of names of people who received such food parcels in the Sokołów Ghetto. Not all of them could write.

As we know, illiterate Poles signed their names in official situations with three crosses. Illiterate Jews used three circles. This is because the cross was a centuries-old symbol of violence against Jews. We also find such signatures on the lists of beneficiaries of Joint food aid from the Sokołów Ghetto.

Jews did not want to be associated with the cross. Descendants of those buried in the Sokołów cemetery supported the petition on this matter. In response, we received unreliable sources from the period of the anti-Semitic campaign. I apologize to the descendants of Sokołów Jews for being so naive as to believe that a change of the authorities also meant a change in attitudes toward Jewish history.

---

PETITION:

Sokołów Podlaski, December 10, 2024

The old Jewish cemetery in Sokołów Podlaski is currently named PCK Park. Although the PCK (Polish Red Cross) itself carries out commendable activities, the cross has historically been used multiple times as a symbol in conflicts against the Jewish community, including in our town and region. Therefore, it is not an appropriate name for the burial place of Sokołów’s Jews. For this reason, I address you with a petition to restore the original name of this place, which is “the old Jewish cemetery.” No one is registered as residing at this address, and no business activities are conducted there (the swimming pool is located at Bulwar 4 St.), so there will be no need to replace any individual or company documents. Such a change would be in line with the sense of historical justice and the need to restore respect for the deceased buried in our town.

Yours sincerely,

Katarzyna Markusz 

The petition is supported by descendants of Sokołów’s Jews:

Marla Budkowski-Cohen

Moshe Carmeli

James Cohen

Amir Earon

Fred Feldman

Enrique Zvi Fleischmann

Dory Goldberg

Judy Goldberg Jankowski

Debbie Kroopkin

Avi Last

Orie Niedzviecki

Rachel Pekarsky

Shoshi Shatit

David Spiegel

David Wiseman

Suzette Wishnia Lougassi

Dave Wladaver 

RESPONSE:

Mayor of the Town of Sokołów Podlaski

Sokołów Podlaski, July 24, 2025

In response to the petition you submitted on January 1, 2025, regarding the change of the name of the "PCK Park," referring to the area at Magistracka Street in Sokołów Podlaski, the Mayor of the Town of Sokołów Podlaski, after analyzing the legal, historical, and especially social context, informs as follows: The area in question covers plot no. 1472/1, where a Jewish cemetery was historically located. On December 17, 2007, the Town of Sokołów Podlaski entered into a settlement with the Jewish Religious Community in Warsaw before the Regulatory Commission for Jewish Communities (case no.: W.KŻ.-I-357/99). As part of this settlement, the Jewish Community waived its claims to the property, and the Town committed, among other things, to appropriately designate the area, remove elements of small architecture, and maintain order and respect for the burial site. All obligations arising from this settlement have been fulfilled by the Town, including the placement of a boulder with a commemorative plaque and signs stating, "Jewish Cemetery, Passerby, Respect the Peace of the Deceased." Benches were removed, and the area is maintained in proper order in accordance with religious law. 

The name "PCK Park," or more precisely, currently "PCK Square," has been used in the city’s public space for several decades and is deeply rooted in the consciousness of the residents. According to data obtained from the Public Library, the first mention of "PCK Park" appeared in the newspaper Trybuna Mazowiecka in 1974.The Polish Red Cross (PCK) is an organization with an unequivocally humanitarian character, operating since 1919 in the spirit of respect for human dignity, regardless of religion, nationality, or beliefs. 

During World War II, the PCK was one of the few entities that, despite German restrictions, provided assistance to the Jewish population as well. In this context, it is worth referencing a report published by Edmund Mazur in Palestra (No. 11/1968) regarding the activities of the PCK in the Podlasie region and Sokołów Podlaski, particularly in the context of aiding individuals escaping from transports to Treblinka and the Siedlce ghetto. The account of a long-time PCK activist, Attorney Marian Piesiewicz, indicates that despite formal prohibitions, local PCK members, through their contacts with the community, organized both ad hoc and ongoing assistance for Jews, providing food, medicine, and shelter. These actions were made possible thanks to the widespread generosity and courage of local residents. Quoting from the account:

"Although the PCK, as an institution, could not provide assistance to Jews, no one fleeing from extermination was deprived of it. [...] We, local PCK activists, having contacts with the community, were able to give these actions an organizational form and support them with material resources, especially food and medicine." (Palestra 12/11(131), 1968, pp. 65–104)

These facts emphasize that the PCK symbol in our town is not only not contrary to the idea of respect for the deceased but also commemorates those individuals and actions that provided assistance to Holocaust victims, including the Jewish community.

Considering the above circumstances, particularly the established local tradition and the humanitarian legacy of the Polish Red Cross, I deem it appropriate to retain the current name. However, I declare openness to initiatives aimed at further commemorating the history of the Jewish community in this place, with the caveat that any such actions should be conducted in consultation with the Jewish Religious Community.

Iwona Kublik, mayor of Sokołów Podlaski

Pinchas Ogrodnik

Today at the Jewish cemetery in Sterdyn I found this tombstone. It is written in Yiddish, which is unusuall. The reason for that may be that the person here was probably a leftist. I will try to find out more about him but maybe any of you have more information?

The tombstone reads:

Here lies the deceased companion OGRODNIK Pinchas. He died after a long time in prison in Siedlce. He was born on August 1, 1902, died on April 30, 1926.

Another pieces of the tombstones

 A few months ago, I appealed to residents of Sokołów to bring pieces of matzevot they have to the Jewish cemetery. And they did it! 

Another pieces of the tombstones are where they should be. Thank you to those who brought the matzevot! Thank you Joanna for the photos!

If you have this kind of stones at your home - bring them here. Thank you very much!

Yom haShoah 2022

 

Tombstone

Today I went to the Catholic cemetery in Sokolow to visit my mother's grave. At the cemetery alley I saw a matzeva. Someone put it there. Probably it was earlier on his farm. It is good that this man laid it at the cemetery. He could have thrown it out or destroy it. Thank you anonymous man! It was heavy but I took it home. One day it will come back at Jewish cemetery where it belongs.

Jewish cemetery in Sokolow

A few days ago I received a message from one Sokolow's resident that the area of "new" Jewish cemetery in Sokolow looks like a garbage dump. This area belongs to the state treasury. What can be done with this?

The old Jewish cemetery

The old Jewish cemetery in Sokolow 1925/2013 [Lublin State Archive/Google Maps]

A few words from me

At Holon cemetery on Yom HaShoah (April 8th). Video by David Lewis http://vimeo.com/63879816

The cemetery

Old Jewish cemetery in Sokolow. A short video made by Amnon Ophir. http://youtu.be/leBvdrpKGgA

To Cultivate Memory

Batami Engel was a small girl when her mother was invovled in the consturction of a monument of Jews from her native town murdered during World War II. Those who had survived and emigrated to Israel would meet by the monument at the Holon cemetery every year. Year by year, their ranks shrank until there was no one on Yom HaShoah who could come to the large stone with “Sokolow Podlaski” inscribed on it. Several decades later Batami returned to the cemetery with her grandson. She and forty other people whose roots can be traced to this small town in the eastern Poland decided to resume their meetings as their parents and grandparents did. And although not all of them had ever visited Poland, it is something important for them, and what they do inspires others to engage in similar actions.

The Batami family had lived in Sokołów for generations. When I inquire about the details, instead of Batami her teenage grandson, who knows the story very well, responds. His great grandmother had decided to emigrate to Palestine even before the war. She believed that through hard work she would be able to build a new country and that it was the right place for her. Her parents, wealthy and influential town dwellers would not consent. They could not imagine living outside Poland, particularly in such a remote and unfriendly place Palestine seemed to them at that time. However, their daughter was determined to go. When she left home with her luggage, her parents informed the police that she had stolen their money and jewelry. That is how they tried to keep her in Poland. But she had put one male clothes and a cap slipped by policemen who patrolled the railway station. When the train started rolling, she changed her disguise and waved goodbye to her parents standing on the platform. That was the last time they had seen each other.

The survivors were mainly those who had managed to emigrate to Palestine or America and those who were in Russia during the war. Some of them returned to their home towns in search of any of their relatives. But hardly ever did they find anyone. “You won’t find anything here any more. Leave this place”, was the advice the Jewish Holocaust survivors heard. And so they did. They would leave, first to Łódź, and later to Palestine or the United States. Behind they left their home towns, because no one waited for them any more. They abandoned their former life and started a new one in a different place. But they could not forget about their families, their neighbors, the people they had seen every day in the street, and whom they would have no chance of seeing again. That is why monuments of Jews from individual towns who had been murdered by the Germans were erected. At he Holon cemetery in Israel, Batami's mother was involved in such a project.

For years the survivors would meet by this monument, but from year to year there were fewer of them. Finally nobody would come. No one would light a candle, no one prayed, no one read out the names of their relatives. The monument stood there on its own, and life went on at its own pace. This began to change a few years ago. Shoshi Shatit, whose father had been born in Sokołów, decided to find out more about her roots and the town where her family had lived for many years. Initially, her inquiries arose astonishment among her relatives, as they took up a lot of her time and there was no way of knowing the result, and her first trip to Poland turned out to be disappointing. “There was nothing there. Nothing at all”, Shoshi recalls.

Shoshi was not the only person to look for information about her father’s home town. It turned out that there many more such people. They are bound by the common past of their ancestors who had been their neighbors. Today, even though they live in different countries they try to rebuild this community that bound their parents and grandparents. They meet, exchange information, revive memories of a world that will never come back. When they look at it, Shoshi’s friends themselves are taking interest in their family history. And they start their inquiries.

Batami was a small girl when she visited the Holon cemetery for the last time. On 8 April 2013, on Yom HaShoah, she came here for the first time after many years. She brought her grandson, who knows the family history very well. Apart form them another forty people came, whose family history can be traced to Sokołów Podlaski. They came here because memory is a very important part of their identity. They brought their children and grandchildren so that they could also cherish this memory.

“Today is the day when we want to say that we remember the 6 million of Holocaust victims, particularly the six thousand from Sokołów Podlaski”, said one of those who came to the cemetery. “We remember their death in the ghettos, camps or on the streets of Polish towns. But this cannot be the only thing one can say about a person - that they died. Because life is most important. What you do shows how much you want to find out more about the life of your ancestors, not only about their death. And this is something we’ll never forget.”

At the Holon cemetery, on Yom HaShoah, they gather by symbolic tombstones dedicated to people from a given locality. There are still many monuments there which nobody visits...

Katarzyna Markusz

This year's invitation

Sokolow Ceremony Holon 2012

This is a video in Hebrew documenting the first Holocaust memorial ceremony for the town of Sokolov-Podlaski to take place in Israel for many years. Participating in the ceremony were first, second and third generation descendants of the town now living in Israel.

http://vimeo.com/56378722

Jewish cemeteries

This is very interesting.

"Our database includes all inscriptions we collected in Jewish cemeteries at the following locations: Warszawa (Okopowa), Szydłowiec, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Otwock, Pruszków, Wysokie Mazowieckie, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Sochaczew, Karczew, Piaseczno, Żyrardów, Radom, Płock, Siedlce, Góra Kalwaria, Błonie, Mszczonów, Wiskitki, Żelechów, Garwolin, Łaskarzew, Okuniew, Brok, Węgrów, Gąbin, Wyszków, Łosice, Sierpc, Przytyk, Sopot, Palmiry, Korczyna and Strzegowo."

http://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/lang_en/

A Walk in History

Let's start our walk at the old Jewish cemetery in Sokolow. You won't find any gravestones here. Now it is Polish Red Cross Park. All the matzevot were taken from here by the Germans during the Second World War.

The Old Jewish Cemetery

There is one monument - a stone with a plaque and the inscription, "Old Jewish cemetery in Sokolow Podlaski. The cemetery was established in the mid-17th century. Jews settled in Sokolow Podlaski from the beginning of the 17th century, contributing to the economic and cultural development of the city. In 1939, almost 4,000 [it was 6,000] Jews lived in Sokolow Podlaski. World War II brought the annihilation of the Jewish community in our city. On 10th October [it was 22nd September], 1942, during Yom Kippur, the Nazis closed down the ghetto and transported its inhabitants to the extermination camp Treblinka. Let their souls be bound into the hand of everlasting life. To the memory of Jewish residents of Sokolow Podlaski, - City Council of Sokolow Podlaski, Jewish Community of Warsaw, Sokolow Podlaski 2009."

There are two mistakes on that plaque. Firstly: In 1939, almost 6000 - not 4000 - Jews lived in Sokolow. And secondly, the liquidation of the ghetto began on September 22, not October 10, 1942.

Gorski's house

From the cemetery, we can go to Kosciuszko Street. There is a little house here that was once the wartime hiding place of children Aaron Elster and his sister, Irene. Aaron spent two years in the attic of that house with no possibility to going outside and breathing fresh air, neither was he able to take a bath or brush his teeth, or even eat a good dinner. You can read his story in a book "I Still See Her Haunting Eyes". The people who saved Aaron and his sister, the Gorski family, were honored with a Righteous Among the Nations medal in 2010.

Flour mill

Now let's go to Magistracka Street. Formerly, this was called Shul Street. Just before the Cetynia River, you can see an old flour mill. Nuta Gurfinkiel was the last owner of it. He probably died during the liquidation of the ghetto. When the war begun, he buried part of the manuscripts of Rabbi Morgenstern in the ground near his mill with some sugar. Unfortunately, the sugar dissolved in the rain and the manuscripts were destroyed.

The site of the town's mikvah

The town’s mikvah, or ritual bathhouse, was located next to the river. The old building was destroyed. When we cross the river, we are at the site of the wartime ghettos. The two ghettos were divided by Sokolow’s main street - Dluga Street, a main thoroughfare for cars, tanks and people.

The site of the synagogue

On Magistracka Street you can find a shopping center with pharmacy, clothes stores and cosmetics shops. If you come inside, you'll see on the floor a Star of David with inscription: "Here was the synagogue that was burnt by Germans in 1939." Another mistake - the synagogue was destroyed in late 1942 or 1943. Unfortunately, nothing is left of the old building.

Beit Midrash

Opposite the synagogue site stands the old Beit Midrash building, which has survived and was renovated by the new owner in 2011 and 2012. Of course, it is not a Beit Midrash anymore. Now houses clothes shop.

The House of Rabbi

Next interesting building is the former house of Rabbi Itzhak Zelig Morgenstern. He was well-known rabbi and had many students from all over Europe in his yeshiva in Sokolow. The school was in the same building as his house. In 1939, he was very old and sick. He died in Otwock and was buried at Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. His grave (ohel) is still standing there.

The last Jewish grave

Now we are on Piekna Street, one of the town’s former Jewish streets. It is also the place where you can find what I call the last Jewish grave in Sokolow. During the liquidation of the ghetto Germans killed dozens of Jews here. They were the remnant of the ghetto, young men and women left to work after the main liquidation. Their job was to sort through clothes and furniture that were left in ghetto after the liquidation and send them on to Germany or sold to local people in Sokolow. After the work was finished, they were killed and buried in this pit near Piekna Street. Survivors who came to Sokolow after the war made a concrete monument here. After a few years somebody put a plaque there with inscription: "To the victims of fascism". The monument now sits in the garden of private house. Many people in the town don't even know of its existence.

The terrace

The next stop in our walk is Szewski Rynek (Shoemaker's Market). Here, there is the terrace made from gravestones taken from the old Jewish cemetery. Until recently, you could see Hebrew characters on the stones but they were covered with concrete by order of the town’s mayor in 2011 and removed 2 years later.

Judenrat office

Next to the Shoemaker's Market is Maly Rynek (Small Market). The office of the Judenrat is here.

Beit Midrash

Nearby is another Beit Midrash, where many of Sokolow’s Jews were praying on Yom Kippur 1942. On September 22 that year, the ghetto was closed and the liquidation began. The Small Market is the place where Germans brought all Jews from the ghetto. From here they started their walk to the railway station, where they forced onto death trains bound for Treblinka and, ultimately, their murder.

Jewish cemetery near Bartoszowa Street

There is also another Jewish cemetery near Bartoszowa Street, but it’s impossible to find without a guide. There is no plaque or sign, no matzevot are left here either. Just grass, trees, bushes and dump for trash.

Hundreds of years of Jewish history in Sokolow were obliterated by the Nazis. These few paragraphs represent only a small part of this great piece of Polish and Jewish history.

Show Jewish Sokolow Podlaski on a map

Ceremonia na cmentarzu Holon

טקס יום השואה לסוקולוב פודלסקי- 2012

נכתב על ידי שושי שתית

Zdjęcia z ceremonii upamiętniającej ludzi, którzy zginęli w sokołowskim getcie. Ceremonia odbyła się na cmentarzu Holon w Izraelu 19 kwietnia 2012 roku, a została zorganizowana przez Shoshi Shatit.

Wśród jej uczestników było dwóch urodzonych w Sokołowie mężczyzn, którym udało się przeżyć wojnę.

Dziękuję im wszystkim za obecność.

1.

ב-22בספטמבר 1942 במוצאי יום כיפור ירד חושך על העולם ועל סוקולוב פודלסקי. יהודי העיר וסביבותיה רוכזו בכיכר השורק הקטן ב- MALY RYNEK  ושולחו ברכבות מוות לטרבלינקה שם נשרפו למוות בידי מכונת ההשמדה  והרשע הזדונית.

עיר, שאלפי הודיה חיו בה מאות שנים, והעשירו את העיר בתרבותם וביצירתם ,,עיר שהצמיחה נוער ציוני שכמה לעלות לארץ ישראל, שהתברכה בישיבה מפוארת שחסידם הגיעו אליה מכל רחבי פולין. 

המשפחות היהודיות דיברו ברובן יידיש והיו דתיות, שמרו שבת והביאו לעולם ילדים רבים. עזרה הדדית וסולידריות, שמחה ושירה והשקט של השבת. תנועות נוער כמו השומר הצעיר ,ויכוחים ,משחקי שח מט .עיר קטנה אך שוקקת חיים.

יד הרשע קטעה את החיים היהודים העשירים האלה בסוקולוב לנצח. 

אבל היום , הנייה, שרול, רויזה, מנדל, שור'לה, היום באנו לומר לכם שלא שכחנו

German soldiers in Sokolow (II)

German soldiers in Sokolow (I)

All Saints Day

All Saints Day at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Sokolow

November 1, 2011

The old cemetery after the war

Late 1940s. The old cemetery. It is unclear what these are doing, but perhaps they are cleaning the area and reburying the bones after they were dug up looters.
2011. The Polish Red Cross Park.