1919 elections

 In 1919, in the elections to the Sejm, the inhabitants of Sokołów voted mainly for the National Group. Among the Jewish parties, the Jewish National Electoral Committee enjoyed the greatest support, followed by the Orthodox Union.

The table below shows: the city of Siedlce, Siedlce county, Sokołów county and Węgrów county.

Table columns: number of electoral districts, valid votes, invalid votes, 1. National Group, 2. Polish People's Party, 3. Democratic Party, 4. Bund, 5. Jewish People's Party, 6. Ortodox Union, 7. Jewish National Electoral Committee , 8. Poale Zion, 9. National Workers' Union, 10. Polish Socialist Party.

"In the shadow of Treblinka"

 For those of you who read Polish. Simche Polakiewicz's book "In the shadow of Treblinka" has just been published. Inside there are two of his books: "In the shadow of Treblinka" and "A Day in Treblinka" translated from Yiddish into Polish. This is a very important testimony. Highly recommended!

Details: https://austeria.pl/produkt/sokolow/

Szafran's mill

 Szaja Szafran's mill and power plant were located here in this place. In June 1931, the mill workers went on strike. They demanded a raise and an eight-hour work day. After 16 days, Szafran agreed to their demands.

When another strike broke out in 1933, Szafran refused to agree to a raise. So he hired Polish workers to replace the striking Jews.

Yom HaShoah 2023

 Yesterday, on Yom HaShoah, at the Holon cemetery.

Thank you Moshe!

Before Yom HaShoah

 Before Yom HaShoah and the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, we remember the victims of the Sokołów Ghetto. The deaths of mothers who voluntarily went to the gas chambers with their children to make them less afraid is no less heroic than the deaths of the ghetto fighters. They are all heroes and we will remember them all.

The photo was taken by a German soldier in the ghetto in Sokołów, it comes from the collection of Łukasz Biedka.

Pogrom of 1937 in Sokolow

 Let's not forget about the pogrom of 1937 in Sokolow.

"On Thursday, April 1, 1937, during Pesach, as always, there was a market day in the town. Organized groups armed with sticks came to the town's center and attacked the Jewish stalls. The Endeks overturned the stalls, destroyed the goods, beat the traders. When they had done their job, they moved towards the Jewish streets, where they broke windows in houses and beat everyone with iron rods and sticks. 20 Jews were beaten and wounded. Some of them were seriously injured. Approx. 10 Jewish stalls were demolished. About 600 windows were broken. 

The atmosphere in the town after the events of that bloody Thursday was tense. The Jewish community lived in fear. People were afraid to walk the streets at night".

Source: YIVO Archive

About our work

 Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland writes about our work in their 2022 report. The Association supported this project from the start.

https://szih.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SZIH-%E2%80%93-Report-2022-%E2%80%93-web_en.pdf