Goniądz ([ˈɡɔɲɔnt͡s]; Yiddish: גאניאנדז, romanized: Goniondzh) is a town in northeastern Poland, located at the Biebrza river, (pop.

On December 2, 1382, the dukes of Mazovia (Siemowit IV and his brother and co-regent Janusz I) awarded the Wizna castle and surrounding land to the Teutonic Order.

Eventually the Polish–Lithuanian union resulted in the town being somewhat of a borderland: owned by noble houses from both sides of the border, with the laws of both states applied.

Four years later, King Sigismund Augustus decided that only Polish law would apply in the land surrounding Goniądz, and in 1569 the town was transferred back to Poland and remained within its borders thereafter.

Due to Russian discriminatory policies, the town became part of the so-called Pale of Settlement and experienced an influx of Jews.

[3] On 4 July, an SS unit arrived in the town, assembled the Jews and humiliated them, and prior to leaving gave the Blue Police a free hand in regards to alleged communists.

On 20–21 July 1941, a Polish officer of the Blue Police, probably overseen by a small SS unit, instigated a pogrom in which 20 Jews were killed.

[2] There were a number of attempts by the Blue Police and subsequently German authorities to set up a closed ghetto, however after being bribed this was not carried out.