To the memory of the child Szaja Wizenberg and his parents Itzhak and Perl ne'e Bursztejn from Wysokie Mazowiecki who perished in Auschwitz.

Wysokie Mazowieckie is first documented as a rural settlement in the year 1239. It is mentioned as an urban settlement in 1494 and acquired town status in 1502 from King Aleksander of Poland. Its privileges were confirmed anew by King Zygmunt III and by Poland's last king, Stanislaw August Poniatowski. It was from King Stanislaw August that Wysokie Mazowieckie received the right to host annual fairs and weekly market gatherings. Wysokie Mazowieckie was initially the private holding of the Princes Radziwill of Nieswierz. From 1582 to 1670, the town belonged to the Counts Potocki. In 1580, there were 33 houses on the marketplace and 110 houses along city streets. Wysokie Mazowieckie was destroyed in the war with the Swedes in the mid-17th century and only 580 residents remained. It was reconstructed in the 18th century. In 1799, there were already 134 homes and 860 residents. During the third Polish partition in 1795, Wysokie Mazowieckie was annexed to Prussia. In 1807, it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 part of the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland. In 1866, Wysokie Mazowieckie is referred to as a provincial capital. Among those who sustained the local economy were many artisans and Wysokie Mazowieckie was noted particularly as a center for the fur trade; furriers' and shoemakers' guilds existed as early as the 16th century. At the end of the 18^th century, there were 22 furriers, 24 shoemakers and 12 bakers in Wysokie Mazowieckie In the 19^th century, several factories were opened in Wysokie Mazowieckie (beer breweries, liquor distilleries and others).

We have documentation of the Jews of Wysokie Mazowieckie beginning with the 17^th century. At a session of the Council of the Four Lands [the so-called "Jewish Parliament"] in 1725, there is record of a dispute between the communities of Wegrow and Ciechanowiec as to under whose authority the Wysokie Mazowieckie community fell. The two communities presented their arguments, but they lacked written documentation and the discussion hinged on oral arguments alone.

The Council decided to put off a decision until its next session which was to take place in the winter of 1725-1726 and "until that time, neither community shall have any authority over Wysokie Mazowieckie and taxes collected for the royal treasury shall be credited evenly to the two communities." About forty years later, in 1765, the Wysokie Mazowieckie community is mentioned as an independent community supporting its own rabbi and beadle. In the census of that year, a parnas [community chairman], a deputy parnas and a government supervisor are also mentioned.

In the 19^th century, the numberof Jews Wysokie Mazowieckie increased. At the start of the century, a wooden synagogue was built. The building burned to the ground in one of the conflagrations that pesthrough the town. In 1879, a new brick synagogue was constructed.

As in all Polish towns, most of the Jews made their livings from petty trade and day labor. In Wysokie Mazowieckie , there were a few lumber traders, grain traders and horse traders. Some dealt in the export of products to East Prussia. Amongst the craftsmen were tailors, shoemakers, hatmakers, carpenters and builders. The main trading days were the market days which took place on Mondays and Thursdays. Only a few of Wysokie Mazowieckie 's Jews were well-off. The exception was the Frumkin family which was among the wealthiest and best-connected families in Lithuania and Byelorussia and which had extensive land holdings in the area. One branch of the family lived in Wysokie Mazowieckie Members of the family were philanthropists, giving aid to the local poor. In the early 20th century, the family left Wysokie Mazowieckie and moved its homestead to Grodno.

At the start of the 20^th century, the boycott declared by the extreme Polish nationalists (the Endecja) against Jewish merchants took hold in Wysokie Mazowieckie. This campaign was led in Wysokie Mazowieckie by the local priest.

In Wysokie Mazowieckie the religious lifestyle was maintained with rigor and zeal. Most of the local Jews were Mitnagdim [anti-Hasidic], but, as time went on, many Hasidim came on the scene, gathering about the courts of various Hasidic rebbes. From 1833, Rabbi Meir Horowitz was rabbi in Wysokie Mazowieckie. After him, in 1853, the rabbi was Elazar Shlomo Weler, who held the post until 1892. His place was taken by his son, Ajzyk Jakub Weler, in 1893, who write "Bris Ojlem," a volume of rabbinical response. After his death in 1902, Rabbi Aron Jakub Perlman was elected rabbi and he officiated until the Holocaust in which he perished.

In Wysokie Mazowieckie there were traditional cheders in which the youngest children studied. The older ones would travel to yeshivas, usually to Lomza. During WW I, a "reformed cheder" was established and the foundations were laid for a Yiddish-language school. A public library was also opened and a Maccabi sports club formed.

At the time of WWI, under German occupation, social and cultural life developed amongst the Jews of Wysokie Mazowieckie. At this time, a branch of Tzeirei Zion [Zionist Youth] was formed and an adjacent clubhouse was set up.

In 1916, a Zionist Federation was created in Wysokie Mazowieckie In 1917, branches of Poalei Zion [Labor Zionists] and Mizrachi [Religious Zionists] were established. With the Second Aliyah, some Wysokie Mazowieckie Jews left for Palestine and a few served in the Jewish Brigade that was formed during WWI. After the war, these veterans were among the first settlers of Ein Harod. Jews from Wysokie Mazowieckie were also among the settlers of Hadera.

Wysokie Mazowieckie was damaged in the battles that surrounded it during WWI and, as a result of the war's paralysis of trade and handicrafts, there developed shortages of food and basic manufactured products. In this situation, the number of unemployed Jews grew. The community tried to help its poorest members and set up a public kitchen, which distributed about 200 meals a day free of charge.

In 1919, Jews were attacked by soldiers of General Haller's army. These soldiers searched Jewish homes and seized merchandise and valuables. The situation worsened in 1920-1921 during the Polish-Bolshevik War. Then a local division formed including several Jews. This formation fought the Bolsheviks and even succeeded in chasing them out of town. Thirteen Jews died in these battles. As they withdrew, the Bolsheviks took 230 Jews hostage. The Polish Army succeeded in freeing them, but the freed Jews fell victim to the attacks of bandits who beat and robbed them. The newspaper Kurier Warszawski reported at the time that the events in Wysokie Mazowieckie clearly indicate that the Jews were being "victimized not only where they were accused of supposed treason against the Poles, but even where they stood shoulder-to-shoulder and fought alongside them against the enemy." The paper called for the perpetrators to be brought to trial and punished.

The Jewish Parliamentary Caucus in the Sejm submitted a request to the Interior Minister calling for an investigation. The police intervened and life returned to its normal patterns.

During this period, the Jews of Wysokie Mazowieckie continued to make their livings from petty trade and handicrafts. They purchased agricultural produce from local farmers and sold them manufactured goods and handicrafts. Most Jews were poor; only a few prospered -- they rented stands of timber from the estate owners for cutting. Non-Jewish factories -- sugar mills, beer breweries and brick factories -- did not hire Jews. But even in the flour mill, which was owned by Jews, very few Jews were employed. Since the nearest railway station was about seven kilometers away, some Jews earned their keep transporting people and cargo to and from the station.

In 1925, a Jewish Cooperative Bank was established in W.M, which gave out loans to the needy under favorable conditions. The bank was established by merchants' associations and the craftsmens' guilds. Their cooperation lasted three years. The bank remained in the hands of the craftsmen and the merchants created a "Merchants' Bank" which served them. The two banks co-existed until WWII. In addition to the banks, there was a Gemilus Chasodim [Free Loan Society] which granted interest-free loans.

In Wysokie Mazowieckie there was an array of traditional Jewish charitable organizations, e.g. Hachnosas Kallah [Aid to Needy Brides], Hachnosas Orchim [Aid to Visitors], and Bikur Cholim [Aid to the Sick]. In the thirties, a small hospital was established.

During the inter war period, Jewish education continued to center around the Talmud Torah which opened ceremoniously with rabbis and community leaders from Warsaw and neighboring cities in attendance. For fifteen years, there was a yeshiva directed by Rabbi Jakub Stawisker. In 1922, the government opened a public elementary school for Jewish children ("Szabasowka" -- closed on Saturdays), but only girls studied there. This school functioned until 1933. In that year, classes began to take place on Saturdays as well and it became a regular public school in which both Jews and non-Jews studied. For a short time, there was a public high school in Wysokie Mazowieckie and a small number of Jewish students continued their studies there after completing elementary school. The high school soon turned into a trade school. In 1933, when the Szabasowka became a regular school, an effort was undertaken by Zionist leaders to open a Tarbut (Hebrew-language) school. The campaign succeeded and the school opened in 1934. Each year, a new class was added. This school had its own building.

At this time, most of the community was overwhelmingly Zionist. Branches of nearly all the Zionist parties then active in Poland existed. In the early twenties, a chapter of HeHalutz ["The Pioneer"] was formed and it created an agricultural training center on a nearby farm. It soon became a regional center for such training. In 1927, a chapter of HaShomer HaLeumi ["The National Guard"] was formed and later HaNoar HaZioni ["Zionist Youth"]. In the early thirties, a Revisionist Zionist [Betar] group formed. The Zionist parties and their youth movements conducted a broad array of cultural activities and provided evening classes in Hebrew and lectures on a variety of subjects. The balance of power amongst the competing Zionists movements and their influence in the Zionist camp were reflected in the elections of delegates to the Zionist Congresses in which about 300 voters participated. In th1935elections, the votes broke down as follows: Al HaMishmar -- 92, Et Livnot -- 10, Mizrachi -- 97, Poalei Zion -- 133. In the elections for the final pre-Holocaust con(1939), therwere 500 voters. Mizrachi had 45 votes, HaNoar HaZioni 207, and the Labor Israel Bloc 125.

Only a few belonged to the Bund. Agudat Israel was influential among the Hasidim. A small number of Jews belonged to the illegal Communist Party. The Zionists controlled the community council. In the 1931 community elections, the Zionists took 4 of eight seats, Mizrachi had two, Aguda one and the Independent List one. In the 1939 Town Council elections, Jews took three out of twelve seats.

Anti-Semitic propaganda increased during the 1930s and there were riots in 1936. On a regular market day, groups of violent youths, joined by local farmers from the vicinity, attacked Jewish stores and stalls, stole merchandise and beat storekeepers and their family members. There were also attempts to break into Jewish homes. Three Jews were injured and taken to hospitals in Warsaw and Lomza. The police arrested twenty rioters and they were tried for disturbing the peace. Thirteen were sentenced to short prison terms; the others were released. The Warsaw appeals court confirmed the rulings, but waived punishment for six of the sentenced youth due to their young age.

German units entered Wysokie Mazowieckie on 10 September 1939. As they did in many places, the Germans immediately launched attacks on the Jews and set fires, burning most of the homes in the town. On 12 September 1939, the Germans rounded up all the men, about 1000 all told, Jews and Poles alike, from age 17 and up, in the Catholic Church which had survived the fires. After two days, the arrested were taken from the church to forced labor in Zambrow; about 800 men were sent to the Schtalbach camp in East Prussia. On 19 September 1939, the Germans ordered the Jewish residents of Wysokie Mazowieckie to leave town; within 24 hours, they were forced into the Soviet zone.

On 26 September 1939, the Germans left Wysokie Mazowieckie, as Wysokie Mazowieckie had been ceded to the Soviets under the Soviet-German accords. Jewish prisoners in German hands were released and returned to their families. For a year and a half, Wysokie Mazowieckie was under Soviet rule. The Jews tried to adjust to the new situation. They rebuilt their homes, created cooperatives of craftsmen, the children attended the Soviet Jewish school. Some of the old Jewish communists assisted the Soviet rulers for ideological reasons. Some served in the city administration and in the militia. In early 1941, there were about 1100 Jews in Wysokie Mazowieckie. In 1940-1941, many of the youth were drafted into the Red Army.

On 23 June 1941, the Germans recaptured Wysokie Mazowieckie. Murders, persecutions, forced labor and attacks were the order of the day. Anti-Semitic Poles among the local population joined with the occupiers and looted whatever came to hand. In the first days of the occupation, Szymon Tenenbaum and Szmul Grynberg were executed, allegedly as Communists. In July 1941, a Judenrat was formed with 13 members. At the same time, the yellow badge was decreed for Jews: All Jews, men and women, from age 15 and up, were required to wear a yellow patch on their clothing (front and rear) and, initially at least, a yellow ribbon on their sleeve. In late August 1941, a few days before Rosh Hashanah 5702, the ghetto was created. Christians living in the ghetto area were forced out and were given formerly Jewish homes instead. The ghetto, which included the Market Square, was surrounded with barbed wire. The entrance was guarded by Polish police and order inside the ghetto was maintained by a Jewish police force, created by order of the Germans. Into the three streets that comprised the ghetto were herded hundreds of displaced Jews, brought to Wysokie Mazowieckie from nearby communities: Czyzew, Tykocin, Rutka, Zambrow, Jablonka, Dabrowa and others. In autumn 1941, there were about 2000 people in the Wysokie Mazowieckie ghetto. The Judenrat was compelled to provide 250 workers a day for road building and wood harvesting in the forests. Craftsmen -- shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and tinsmiths -- worked in the countryside and received food in return for their labors. Ghetto residents bartered with residents of the "Aryan side." In return for food, Jews sold off their remaining possessions and personal effects. They didn't always get a fair trade.

The situation worsened further in autumn 1941. Smuggling food from the "Aryan side" became more dangerous. Poverty grew in the ghetto; hunger and illness claimed many lives. Each day, hundreds were taken off to forced labor. For 12 hours of hard labor, workers received 200 grams of bread and thin soup. The job of the Judenrat was to do the Germans' bidding, yet Judenrat members tried to maintain a semblance of normal life and to assist the hungry. Noted for his aid to the poorest of the poor was Judenrat Chairman Alter Zajk and his daughter, Dr. Golda Zajk, who looked after the sick in the ghetto. Hundreds of people received hot meals in the public kitchen established there. Craftsmen working in adjacent villages and were paid with food paid the Judenrat to be exempted from labor details. The poor and needy received assistance from Jewish community coffers.

Liquidation of the ghetto began in early November 1942. In the wee hours of 2 November 1942, Germans and Polish police surrounded the ghetto. They rounded up all the sick in the ghetto and took them out to execution in the fields outside the town. On that day, there arrived in Wysokie Mazowieckie 300 wagons impounded by the Polish police from local farmers. Hundreds of Poles gathered around the ghetto fence awaiting the spoils. The Germans drove the Jews from their homes and didn't even allow them to take personal effects. The Jews of Wysokie Mazowieckie were loaded onto the wagons and sent to the Zambrow camp. The Zambrow camp was liquidated in January 1943 and the Jews there sent to Auschwitz.

Even those who had succeeded in fleeing the ghetto liquidation eventually fell into German hands as a result of reports from Polish informers.

Written by Shmuel Levin and Abraham Kalvan.

Last Updated 10.6.2003