History

Justyna Laskowska /

 The beginning of the Jewish settlement is not exactly known. The first Jews lived in Mińsk in the 17th century and were engaged in alcohol production. In the 18th century, Jews were no longer in Mińsk, although it is probable that some people of Jewish nationality (barbers or some lessees of the inns) were still in the city and belonged to the kahal in Węgrów . The Jewish settlement on a larger scale in Mińsk took place after 1768, after lifting the restrictions concerning the permanent residence of the Jews in Masovia.

The Jews living in the town belonged to the communion in Kałuszyn until 1822. An independent Mińsk community was established after the kahal bill was abolished and the synagogue supervisions were arranged. In 1867, the community had its own synagogue (2 Karczewska Street), a mikvah and a Jewish cemetery, situated several hundred meters away. Everything covered the area of 1 morgen (1 morgen ≈ 0,56 ha) and 169 rods (1 rod ≈ 5,03 m). Around 1870, Jews founded the second cemetery, outside the town, in the direction of Cegłów. The Mińsk synagogue supervision included the town and some of the towns of Mińsk county (from 1867 the New Mińsk County): Cegłów, Siennica, Latowicz, Iwowe and Jeruzal.

The following issues fell under the jurisdiction of the Jewish community: paying rabbi’s living expenses; maintenance of the synagogue, cemetery, mikvah and ritual slaughterhouses; taking care of religious upbringing of youth; providing the faithful with kosher foods; managing the property of the community and organizing charity activities.

The first rabbi in Mińsk was Israel Jankiel (last name unknown), followed by Menasze, Mosiek Nejman and Majer Selson. At that time, Josek Grynberg deputized for the Mińsk rabbi. In 1835, Szymsio Kligman became a rabbi and held this authority for 40 years. He contributed to the development of the community by, among many other things, building a wooden synagogue and apartments for the rabbi and a scholar – Josek Arson. In 1874, Jechiel Michl Rabinowicz became a rabbi.

The Jews from Mińsk began to be interested in Hasidism quite quickly. In 1873, a tzadik named Jankiel built his manor in Mińsk. His grave, situated in the old Jewish cemetery, was visited twice a year.

Jakub Perłow, called “a new Mińsk tzadik” was the most famous tzadik. He s

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Miriam Carmi (born Furmański in 1923) about her live in Mińsk Mazowiecki, family's fates during WW2 and live in Palestine after war

An English resume of an interview in Hebrew that took place in Israel as a aprt of the polish roots in Israel Project. Interviewee name: Miriam Carmi ...

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Local history

Justyna Laskowska

The origins of the market settlement, called Mieńsko, can be traced back to the 14th century.  Mińsk Mazowiecki was granted town privileges in 1421. Another town, Sendomierz, was founded nearby in 1549 and was situated on the other side of the river. Some time after its foundation, Sendomierz merged with Mińsk. A rapid development of the town took place in the 15th and 16th centuries. Periods which seem to be the worst for the history of the town are the 17th century (the Swedish Deluge – the Swedish invasion and occupation of Poland and Lithuania, from 1655 to 1660) and the 18th century. In 1795 Mińsk Mazowiecki found itself in the Austrian partition, and in 1809 became a part of the Duchy of Warsaw.  Since 1815 Mińsk was within the boundaries of the Russian partition.

The town began to develop again in the 19th century (at the beginning of the century Mińsk Mazowiecki was a small, agricultural town). In 1810 the town had only 529 inhabitants. In 1816 Mińsk became the capital of Stanisławów County. In 1868 the Russian authorities changed the name of the town into Nowomińsk, and in 1916 the town was called Mińsk Mazowiecki.

After some time, Mińsk became a partly industrial town. A few tanneries, a cloth factory and distillery were established until 1827. The number of people living in the town also increased, there were 770 inhabitants, 260 of which were Jews who constituted therefore 32.5% of the total  population. What contributed mainly to the importance of the town was the road-building between Warsaw and Brześć, as well as the building of a Warsaw – Terespol railroad in 1866. Until the end of the 19th century a few bigger industrial plants were built. Among them, there were soap, candle, vinegar and bullet factories. The largest company was the metallurgical plant K.Rudzki and Co. (K. Rudzki and Spółka), which decided to move the production line to the town, whereas the company headquarters remained in Warsaw. The factory produced bridge constructions, railway junctions, gantries, water turbines as well as shells and waggons.

During the interwar period, there were two huge factories (Rudzki and Co. and Fogelnesta), over a dozen industrial plants, many craft workshops and shops. Among the most important events, there were workers strikes and a pogrom (1936).

A ghetto was created i

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Summary

Location

Justyna Laskowska

Mińsk Mazowiecki is the capital of Mińsk County, situated in the Masovian Province. According to data from 2006 the town had over 37,500 inhabitants.

The town lies on the periphery of Wysoczyzna Kałuszyńska [Kałuszyn High Plain] and Równina Wołomińska and Garwolińska (Wołmin and Garwolin Plain). Mińsk Mazowiecki is located on the Srebrna River (River basin of Świder), around 40 kilometers from Warsaw.

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