From the History of the Jews of Podlasie (1487 -1795)

500 lat osadnictwa żydowskiego na Podlasiu. Materiały z konferencji międzynarodowej, Białystok, 14 - 17 września 1987 r.500 Years of the Jewish Settlement in Podlasie. Popers From the International Conference, Białystok, September 14 - 17, 1987.Historically Podlasie was a region made up of previous Jaćwing lands and border areas of Mazovia, Ruthenia and Lithuania. In 1520, within the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a voivodship was created out of Drohiczyn, Mielnik and Bielsk lands. Since the 1569 Polish-Lithuanian Union the voivodship was incorporated into Poland. Jewish settlement in these areas can be segmented into four periods: I - from 1463-1487 to 1495; II - from 1503 to 1662; III - from 1663 to 1717; IV - from 1718 to 1795. Jewish settlers found here favourable conditions resulting from the location of new towns, peace lasting till mid-17th century and friendly attitude of the owners of lands and towns. Also religious situation was not without significance: Orthodox clegry was less hostile against Jews than Catholic clegry. The oldest Jewish community in Podlasie was in Tykocin (from 1522). Communities existed in 18 private towns and 5 belonging to the King. According to the census of 1764/65 19 000 Jews lived in Podlasie voivodship, constituting about 4,4% of all Jews in Poland (Korona). It was an average index compared to the number of Jews in other voivodships in Korona. Rural Jews dominated in Podlasie, reaching 55% of all Jewish population in the voivodship. It was one of the most important indices for Korona (average percentage of Jews in these voivodship was 26,9%). The main occupation of rural Jews was the lease of inns and retail of liquor. There were 5 rural communities in Podlasie. Lithuanian Jews, called „Litvaks", prevailed in this region. Up to 1629 they maintained contacts with Lithuanian authorities. That year they joined the parliament of the Jews in Korona. The largest communities were Kahals in Węgrów and Tykocin. These towns were also centers of the Kahal districts in which the majority of the communities of Podlaskie Voivodship were assembled. Both also held jurisdiction over more than half Jews in Mazovia Voivodship in which the number of Jewish population exceeded 10 500 persons. Parliament resolutions of 1764 dissolved the Jewish Parliament as well as other organizationals bodies (ziemstwa, okręgi, sejmiki). Only Kahals were left. In 1795, after the third Partition of Poland (northern part of the Voivodship went into Prussia, while Southern into Austria), the invaders' authorities started suppressing traditional Jewish autonomy.7-2