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

In Chicago

 The Sokolow immigrants in Chicago were a strong group that ran charitable campaigns to help relatives in Poland. Here are the names of the first Sokolowers in Chicago. Do you know any of them?

Talmud-Torah school

 Talmud-Torah school in the interwar period. A group of Sokolowers from Chicago came to Sokolow to give children new clothes (and take this picture). 

The economic crisis that broke out in the USA in 1929 spread to other European countries in the following years. The 1930s meant great poverty and hunger for many families. Some emigrated, others stayed in Poland, hoping that their fate would improve.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

 A group of survivors returned to Sokołów after the war to find that they were not welcome here. Other people lived in their houses, other people ran their shops, and the mayor of the town told the Jews who had survived the war to move to Węgrów. 

They still managed to visit familiar places - cemeteries, houses of prayer, a bathhouse - and take photos documenting the emptiness left in the town.

Today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 78 years after the end of the war in Sokołów, this emptiness has still not been filled.

Polish daily about Sokołów

 If you happen to be in Warsaw today, you can read about Sokołów in the largest daily - "Gazeta Wyborcza". The article concerns the translation of memorial books from Yiddish into Polish and the challenges in the study of Polish-Jewish history (especially when it comes to the current town authorities).

Hanukkah 1928

 "People attending a Hanukkah ball for the benefit of the community.

Sokolow 5689 [December 1928]"

I understand it was a charity event, right? Do you know any of these people?