Radzyń Podlaski

In the years of World War I, in Radzyń, the first modern Zionist-Orthodox political party Mizrachi was called into being. At this time also a youth organization, which operated under the party’s auspices, was formed in the town as well. A branch of the Ceire Zion (Young Zionists) was established here in 1916. At the beginning of the 1920s there were about 3,000 (60%) Jews in Radzyń. Most of them were small traders and craftsmen, but there were also a few wealthier Jewish entrepreneurs who owned small industrial businesses. The kehilla had a synagogue, a communal house of prayer, two cemeteries, as well as, which seems very likely, a mikveh and a ritual slaughterhouse. The Jewish community had also under its auspices such charity organizations as Linas Ha-Cedek, which offered medical assistance for those in need, or Gemilut Chesed (Interest-Free Loans), which was established during World War I and gave interest-free loans. Apart from the community Talmud-Tory and numerous private cheders, in the early 1920s a secular, four-class Jewish elementary school, the Hebrew school of the Tarbut network and the religious school for girls Bet Jaakow, which had been operating since 1929 under the patronage of Aguda]. In 1928, the Union of Jewish Traders and the Jewish Cooperative Bank, which offered low-interest credits, were set up here. In the interwar period, Jewish political, social and sports life flourished in Radzyń.  The following parties were active here: the Orthodox Aguda, Mizrachi, Zionist parties, e.g. the General Zionist Party and Hitachdut and Poale Zion Left, Zionists-Revisionists and youth organizations: Gordonia, Betar, Ha-Szomer ha-Cair and He-Chaluc. The Zionist organizations supervised the activity of a library in Radzyń, which served as a meeting place for a theater group. There was also a Bund branch and a youth wing party of the Cukunft (Future) organization and the Socialist Children’s Union (SKIF). From 1923, the sports organization Hakoach had its branch in Radzyń. Jews from Radzyń were represented in the town council almost proportionally to their number. In the 1924 and 1930 elections, they won 9 out of 18 seats in the town council. In 1939 they formed a union called “Civic Bloc” (“Blok Obywatelski”), but they only received six seats. In the early 1930s, the situation of Jews in Radzyń got worse substantially, and it was caused by such things like a fire of 1929 which destroyed some of the Jewish buildings in the downtown area. 

Towards the end of 1935 and at the beginning of 1936, under the influence of the deepening economic crisis and rising anti-Semitic moods, incidents directed against the Jewish residents were taking place in Radzyń, as well as in many other centers. The National Democracy (Narodowa Demokracja) held anti-Semitic annual meetings, after which, few of the meeting attendants would paint ant-Semitic slogans somewhere in the town. In 1937, young people from Polish nationalist circles organized an action of breaking windows in Jewish houses and shops. The town officially condemned the offense, and the initiators were arrested. Before the outbreak of World War II, the Jews of Radzyń were actively taking part in raising money for the National Defense Fund (FON / Fundusz Obrony Narodowej). 

In 1939 there were about 4 thousand Jews living in Radzyń. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. On September 9, 1939, during a German air raid, a part of the city inhabited by the Jewish population was bombed. Many people died, and many buildings were destroyed. First, however, another occupant entered the town – the Red Army, which was welcomed with friendliness by Jewish communist sympathizers. Militia, with Polish and Jewish communists as its members, was called into existence in the town. Abraham Pinkus, a Jew of Radzyń, stood at the head of the newly established administration. At the end of September, when the Red Army started to leave Radzyń, around mid October 1939, a few hundred Jews, mostly young men and women, fled the town and headed to the east. Eventually, Radzyń was again in the zone occupied by Germany.

When the Wehrmacht entered, the Jews were displaced from their houses, which were used as quarters for German soldiers. During the occupation the reporters of the Nazi “Stuermer” took photos of Radzyń Jews, which were later published in the magazine. At the very beginning of the occupation, about one thousand Jews of Radzyń were sent to Wisznice. On December 9, a large group of Jews from Radzyń was displaced to the nearby village of Sławatycze and the town of Międzyrzec. However, in April 1940, most of them returned to their homes. Soon afterwards, a nine-member Judenrat and the Jewish Ghetto Police (Żydowska Służba Porządkowa) were established in the town. Nine Jews composed the Judenrat. Most of the Jews that were staying in Radzyń were forced to work in local farms and to do the cleaning work in the town. In the summer of 1940 all of the Jews from Radzyń were displaced to the old Jewish district where, in the quarter between Kozia, Dąbrowskiego and Ostrowiecka Streets, an open ghetto was formed.[1.1.21] As indicated by the data of May 1942, 2,071 people were kept in the ghetto. Fritz Adolf Fischer was the head of the German security police in Radzyń County and he was particularly cruel towards Poles and Jews. Fischer was in charge of dissolving the Radzyń ghetto. The liquidation of the ghetto started in the early fall of 1942. On September 20, or, according to other sources, October 22, Gestapo, shot to death, outside the limits of the town, about 200 Jews from the Radzyń ghetto, and a group of 800 Jews from Radzyń was deported to the Treblinka death camp. Between October 14 and 16, about 1,000 Jews hiding in the town were rounded up, sent to the ghetto in Międzyrzec and then, on October 27, 1942, deported to the Treblinka death camp. About 50 Jews from Radzyń survived the Holocaust, some of them – thanks to the help of Poles hiding them, some – in the surrounding forests, where they formed partisan units. A group of one hundred Jews who escaped from the ghetto was hiding in two bunkers in the forests between Radzyń and Kock, but they were killed by Germans. Only fifteen people survived, and they, being supervised by Icchok Kleinman, initiated military actions directed against the occupiers and Polish collaborators. Another group of Jewish partisans, led by Leib and Leizer Pańczak, was active in the forest between Radzyń and Wisznice, yet shortly before the liberation, in early summer of 1944, they were murdered by Polish partisans. Poles in Radzyń provided shelter to about ten Jews. Franciszek Matysiewicz hid Majer Tunkielbaum, his wife and niece. Feliks Antosiewicz and Tryczyński hid two people of Jewish origin. After the end of the war, about twenty Holocaust survivors returned to Radzyń, but soon most of them left the town. In the years 1944-1946 Jews wer falling victims to attacks. Such incidents also took place in Radzyń Podlaski, e.g. Winderbaum from Radzyń was murdered on the train from Łuków to Siedlce on 17 September 1946.

Discovering such a rich history of the town was a must for the students of High School No 1. The students started of their research at the State Archive (31.10.2017), where they found names, professions and addresses of the Jews who lived in Radzyń Podlaski. They were able to scan a map, which they later used during their walking tour. On November 7 the students met in Kofi&Ti cafe with Jakub Jakubowski, the owner, who collected a large collection of photographs of the old Radzyń and who is the author of a Facebook profile Radzyń in black-and-white. Mr. Jakub Jakubowski gave them access to his collection of old photographs and told them about his experience in collecting information about the old Radzyń. The students also watched a series of short clips of “Dziadki dziatkom” available on YouTube, with testimonies from residents of Radzyń about the pre-war history of their town. In addition, they found a lot of information on the internet, for example about the Leiner family, or information included in school yearbooks. They received a lot of support from the employees of the State Archive, which made its collections available to them and offered them help in finding the information they were interested in.

The walking tour, which took place on November 29, 2017 was an hour and a half walk in Radzyń Podlaski. There were 50 participants of the tour. Around 25 students from IE class, and Mrs. Beata Szczeszek – director of the District Library in Radzyń Podlaski, former director of the High School No 1, Mr. Tadeusz Pietras, historian, current director of the First High School, Mrs. Ewa Grodzka, and students from class II F together with the educator, Mrs. Małgorzata Nadolna. Some residents of Radzyń would join the walking tour on different stops.

Each participant of the walking tour received a map of old Radzyń from 1931-1939, where oints related to the history of the Jewish population and Radzyń itself were marked. In addition, the students found old photographs presenting these places before or during the war. The tour participants received QR codes of the photographs and could see the photograph at the given spot. The Potocki Palace and the Orangery were the first stops of the tour. Here, the students presented a brief history of the palace and told the participants that the Potocki family allowed Jews to settle in Radzyń Podlaski. 

Then, the participants scanned the QR codes and saw how the palace and orangery looked like during World War II. The second point of the trip was the old Market Square located by the wall surrounding the palace. From this spot they had a view on Osrtowiecka street where once Jews had their stalls and shops to sell their goods. Here, the students read names and professions of Jews who once traded on this market and whose shops were located nearby. They also talked about the population in Radzyń before the war and the Polish-Jewish relations. The third stop of the tour was a town house in which, during the war, the SS torture house and later the Security Office was located. Many citizens of both Poles and Jews were tortured in that building. After scanning the codes, the participants were able to see the inscriptions engraved on the walls by the prisoners. The fourth stop was the place where a brick synagogue once stood, and where now there is a parking lot. The participants learned about the synagogue and the famous Rabbi Gershom Leiner conducted his research work. After scanning the codes, the participants of the tour saw the synagogues that no longer exist today. The fifth stop was the place where once the Jewish cemetery was located. It was completely destroyed by the Nazis during the war. After scanning the codes, the students saw the photographs of the Jewish cemetery and learned when and why it was set up there. The sixth stop was an old wooden house on Warszawska Street, probably the last house in Radzyń Podlaski, with traces of architecture related to Jewish culture, the so-called Sukka. The QR code, students allowed the participant to see the no longer existing Jewish buildings and the building mentioned above. The seventh stop was a Jewish town house owned by the Klejman family. This building once served as a cinema, and there was a mill and a power plant behind the house, which also belonging to the Klejman family. Old photos of the cinema were accessible by the QR codes. The eighth stop was the old post office at the corner of Dąbrowskiego and Pocztowa streets. Before the war these streets were known as Kozia and Szkolna streets. The ghetto was created in this area. At the beginning of the tour the participants learned that the Jewish population of Radzyń made up 60% of the total population. According to yearbooks, at the beginning of the 1920s the town had about 3.5 thousand people. Here, the participants learned about the group of only 50 Jews who survived the war. After scanning the QR codes, the participants saw Kozia Street and Szkolna Street in the pre-war years. The building of the former vocational school at Armii Krajowej Street was the ninth and tenth spot. A plaque commemorating the Jewish community was put on the building on October 30, 2012. Here, the students talked about a wooden synagogue, which was desecrated by the Germans, and turned into a stable. The participants could see the photograph of it after scanning the codes in point 4 of the tour.  They also learned about the history of the school building. At the end of the walking tour the participants were presented famous peple who were from Radzymin or connected with the towm. For example Gershom Leiner, son of the founder of the Hasidic dynasty known to this day as Izhbitz-Radzin. Józef and Szymon Buchbinder – outstanding painters, Karol Lipiński – violinist and composer, Zenon Przesmycki – poet and translator and Ignacy Potocki.

After the trip, a meeting with the participants was organized. Everyone had the opportunity to share his/her impressions. The organizers talked about all their efforts put into the walking tour, the participants gave their feedback. This was an evaluation of the project. Opinions of the participants show the impact the tour had on them: “I think that I will stop thinking with stereotypes in many situations and I will try to get to know people before I even try to judge them” – one participant said. I am very pleased with the workshops and especially with the impact they had on my present life. Thanks to them I stopped perceiving Jews as inferior and I became interested in their history. I now see the value of places which I pass by everyday on my way to school; I understand how important these places were in the past for Jews. During the workshops I not only got to know the culture and history of the Jews, but I also got to know myself and changed my attitude towards others. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a project and I would like them to be carried out in as many schools as possible in order to remember the history of Jews and to change the way young people perceive others. – a workshop participant.

Everyone enthusiastically supported the idea of making the walking tour permanently available for students, residents and visitors of Radzyń Podlaski. Despite the unfavorable weather, the students-organizers received a positive response from the participants of the walking tour. The participants were very pleased with the opportunity to see old photographs of Radzyń. The project certainly left lasting traces in the town history. The PowerPoint presentation will be made available on the school website, whereas 12 sets of maps and brochures with QR codes will be given to the school library and accessible for teachers to use in classrooms. Moreover, Director Ewa Grodzka declared to help placing the QR codes on different buildings in Radzyń Podlaski. The students want to take Israeli students on a walking tour around Radzyn and show them the town and the materials prepared for the event.

In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this educational program. Through recovering the assets of the victims of the Holocaust, the Claims Conference enables organizations around the world to provide education about the Shoah and to preserve the memory of those who perished.

In appreciation to Friends of the Forum for supporting the School of Dialogue educational program.