Ciechanowiec | Podlaskie Voivodeship

Kazimierz B., born in 1923: "I remember the Wiener family from Ciechanowiec. My brother, who was a baker, first met them through their mill, and we became close with all five of them." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Kazimierz B., born in 1923: "When the war came, the five Wieners sought refuge. The Szawłowski family took them in and hid them safely for two full years in dugouts on their farm. They came for food to our house too." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Kazimierz B., born in 1923: “One day, a Jewish woman was shot after refusing to denounce them to a Volksdeutsch. After the war, the Weiner family sold their mill to Szawłowski family and left for Israel.” ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Kazimierz B. took the Yahad team to the former property of the Szawłowski family located near the Nurzec River, where the Wiener family from Ciechanowiec hid for almost two years during the war before leaving for Israel. ©Cristian Monterroso/Yahad–In Unum Edward W., born in 1925: "A group of Jews from the Ciechanowiec ghetto were brought to Pobikry. For two months, men, women, and children lived in barracks, harvesting potatoes and cleaning ponds. Then, they were all shot." ©Cristian Monterroso/Yahad In Un Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "Before the war, Ciechanowiec was smaller, with many Jews living downtown as traders and craftsmen. We preferred buying from Jewish shops for better prices, including bread, meats, and pretzels."©Cristian Monterroso/Yahad In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "I remember Jewish neighbors like Chana, Estera, and Brener. Jewish and non-Jewish kids went to the same school, though Jews had religion lessons at one of the two synagogues by the river." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "Before the war, a nationalist group of young men targeted Jews. Wearing no uniforms, they destroyed Jewish shops and directly confronted people, urging them not to buy from Jewish merchants." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad –In Unum Paweł F., born in 1926: “When the Germans arrived in 1941, they started to kill people. I saw them shoot Poles, communists, and Jews from a distance. Jews dug and filled the pit after the shooting”. ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "The ghetto area started here and had 300 houses. Jews faced forced labor like logging and cleaning. Guarded by Polish police, some managed to slip out at night to search for food." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Paweł F., born in 1926: “Jews built the ghetto fence around a few streets in the center. They could only leave once a week for an hour to go to the market square by the gate. A Judenrat was also established. " ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "On November 2, Germans cleared the ghetto, killing those who fled, like a boy on Kuczyńska Street. Requisitioned Poles then took Jews to Treblinka by cart and truck." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Paweł F., born in 1926: “The ghetto was liquidated, with carts taking Jews to Treblinka while town residents took their belongings. Earlier, a large group sent to work in Pobikry was shot there. " ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: "Chana Ankiel was hidden by a Pole named Antoniak 3km away. When her money ran out, he brought her by cart to the police station and denounced her for 1 kg of sugar." ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929, led the Yahad team to the killing site of 36 people, both Jews and Poles, whose killings she witnessed. Located in a field accessible from behind a hotel, a monument stands there today. ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: “From my attic, I saw a group of about 20-30 Poles and Jews detained over a cut power line. The Jews were forced to dig the mass grave by the river. Among the victims were my uncle and aunt. ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum Jadwiga K., born in 1929: “The Germans then lined up the entire group along the riverbank and shot them into the pit. I could only watch as my relatives, Michal and Apolonia, were murdered alongside the rest.” ©Cristian Monterroso /Yahad – In Unum The monument bears the following inscription: "Here lie the bodies of 36 inhabitants of Ciechanowiec and the surrounding area, killed by the German occupiers in 1942." ©Cristian Monterroso/Yahad – In Unum

Destruction of Jews and non-Jews in Ciechanowiec

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Field
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Total number of victims:
Numerous

Witness interview

Paweł F., born in 1926: "Before the war, there were many Jews living in Ciechanowiec. When the Germans arrived here in 1941, they set up a Schupo post. One day, there was a shooting of several people, including Poles, communists, and Jews, all adults. A pit had already been dug by the Jews a few days before the shooting. It was also Jews who filled in the pit after the execution. A Pole brought the victims by truck to the site of the shooting. I saw this shooting from a distance.

The ghetto set up in Ciechanowiec in the end of 1941 was enclosed; the Jews had built the fence. The ghetto consisted of a few streets in the town center and the Jews could leave the ghetto once a week for one hour to go to the market, which was held in the square in front of the ghetto gate. A Judenrat was established, but eventually, the ghetto was liquidated. Carts were requisitioned to take the Jews away, probably to Treblinka. The victims’ belongings were taken by the town’s residents." (Witness N°YIU592P, interviewed in Ciechanowiec, on June 18, 2016)

Polish Archives

Questionnaire on Mass Executions and Mass Graves

1. Date and place of execution: December 1, 1943 – July 1944 in Ciechanowiec;

2. Type of execution / shooting, hanging, or other types: shooting;

3. Data concerning the executed victims:

o Poles, Jews, foreigners: Jews

o Number of executed persons: 700

o Where the victims came from: the Jews were shot in front of the Schutzpolizei building, and the bodies were transported and buried in a mass grave.

o Name, age, occupation, and address: unknown;

4. Is it known what the victims were accused of, or was the execution an act of reprisal or other: revenge for an attempted escape from the ghetto and passive resistance;

5. Who carried out the execution? Gendarmery, Gestapo, SS, police, Wehrmacht? Gendarmery and police.

6. Are the names of the perpetrators of the crimes known? Give names: the German mayor of Ciechanowiec, Hubert Romanus; other names remain unknown;

7. Were the bodies burned? Or destroyed in another way? In what location? After the execution, the bodies were transported to the location of a mass grave.

8. Where were the corpses buried? Exact location: in a mass grave near the cemetery in Ciechanowiec;

9. Description of the grave / graves / dimensions, probable number of victims per grave: one mass grave measuring 100 m x 9 m;

10. Has an exhumation of the bodies been carried out? Was a protocol drawn up at the site of the grave? No.

11. Are there grounds to request a forthcoming exhumation? No.

[source: RG-15.019M Reel#1 (pp. 331–330 in the PDF) Town of Ciechanowiec, Bielsk Podlaski County (currently: Wysokie Mazowieckie County), Białystok Voivodeship. Testimony of Wojciech Woźniacki, aged 57, resident of the village of Ciechanowiec, occupation unknown, dated September 29, 1945. He bases his testimony on his own observations as well as those of the inhabitants of the commune.]

Historical note

Ciechanowiec is situated approximately 133 km (83 mi) northeast of Warsaw. Documented Jewish settlement in Ciechanowiec dates back to at least the early 16th century, though some historians suggest an even earlier presence. Initially under the jurisdiction of the Tykocin community, the rapidly growing Jewish population established an independent kehilla between the late 17th and early 18th centuries—becoming one of the largest and most influential districts in Podlaskie Region. By the 17th century, the left-bank section of the town housed its first wooden synagogue and at least one beit midrash. In August 1712, Bishop Aleksander Wechowski granted the local Jewish population formal rights, authorizing the construction of a synagogue, granting freedom of trade, and extending legal protections.

By the second half of the 18th century, the Ciechanowiec kehilla ranked as the fourth largest in Podlasie, behind only Tykocin, Węgrów, and Siemiatycze, with Jews comprising roughly 60% of the town’s total population, working primarily in trade and craftsmanship. This demographic trend peaked in the late 19th century, when Jews accounted for approximately 72% of Ciechanowiec’s residents, compared to Roman Catholics (~22%), as well as Greek Catholics and Protestants (~3% each).

Dubbed "Little Białystok," Ciechanowiec flourished as a thriving hub for Orthodox religious thought, regional commerce (including major livestock fairs), and small-scale textile manufacturing. A vibrant cultural scene emerged, complete with a youth orchestra, sports clubs, libraries, and theater troupes performing in Yiddish and Hebrew.

By the turn of the 20th century, economic conditions began to decline due to heightened competition from Christian merchants. Tensions culminated in 1937 with a wave of anti-Jewish sentiment and nearby pogroms (such as in Wysokie Mazowieckie), prompting a significant wave of emigration among Jewish youths to Palestine and other destinations abroad.

The Jewish population in September 1939 was probably between 2,500 and 4,000 people.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Ciechanowiec was bombed on September 1, 1939, and briefly occupied by German forces from September 9 to 17, who immediately targeted the Jewish population. Following the Soviet occupation in October 1939 under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the local Jewish population grew as refugees arrived from surrounding areas. Under Soviet administration, a number of Jews were deported to Siberia.

Following the launch of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, Ciechanowiec was reoccupied by German troops, who established a new administration led by Mayor Romanus and supported by local collaborators. Anti-Jewish measures soon followed, including the closure of synagogues, the compulsory wearing of armbands bearing a Star of David, and forced labor on road construction and in German factories. In November 1941, a barbed wire ghetto divided into two sections by the Nurzec River was established. By the winter of 1941 to 1942, it housed approximately 4,000 inmates, including Jews from Zaręby and Czyżewo.

Isolated shootings of both Jews and non-Jews occurred in Ciechanowiec throughout the German occupation. According to archival sources, 18 Jews were arrested as alleged communists in late January 1942 and subsequently killed, followed by the arrest of 6 more Jews two months later. Yahad witness Jadwiga K., born in 1929, witnessed the shooting of several dozen people accused of sabotage, including both Jews and Poles. Prior to the killings, victims were held at the post office before being taken to a field nearby riverbank, where they were shot in a pit dug by the Jews. Today, a memorial at the site honors 36 inhabitants of Ciechanowiec and surrounding areas killed by German forces in 1942. However, other sources indicate that in total approximately 200 victims, including Jews, Poles, and Soviet POWs, were buried at this location between 1941 and 1944.

On October 31, 1942, 245 young, skilled Jews from the Ciechanowiec ghetto were rounded up and taken to Pobikry to perform forced labor at a local manor. According to local witness Edward W., born in 1925, over 100 of these laborers were killed near the road on the outskirts of the village after several weeks of work (on December 2, 1942, according to the monument inscription).

During the liquidation of the Ciechanowiec ghetto between November 2 and November 15, 1942, carried out by German forces and local police, numerous inmates were shot on the spot. Only 31 Jews managed to evade capture, while the remaining detainees were deported to the Treblinka killing center. Following the ghetto liquidation, Jews captured in hiding, specifically between December 1943 and July 1944, were shot in front of the local Schutzpolizei building. The victims’ bodies were buried next to the cemetery in the Pólki suburb of Ciechanowiec. However, the exact location of this burial pit, containing approximately 700 bodies, still needs to be identified.

For more information about the shooting of Jews from Ciechanowiec in Pobikry, please follow the corresponding profile.

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