History of Jews in Szydłowiec
The Jews of Szydłowiec formed a close-knit community within their own religious and ethnic group, carefully isolating themselves from the town's Catholic and Protestant residents until the end of the 18th century.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, they established a thriving civic community that had a significant influence on local government decisions and the political landscape of the Radom Land.
This influence is reflected, among other things, in the pejorative ethnonym for the town's inhabitants: "Cebularze" (regional dialect: Cybulo(a)rze).
[3][4][5] Sparse mentions, despite the survival of municipal archives, suggest that the Jewish community had little significance in the town until the mid-17th century.
However, the mass influx of Jews into Szydłowiec should be linked to the 1696 decree issued by Dominik Mikołaj Radziwiłł, prompted by the depopulation of the town.
The owner of the Szydłowiec estates assured that there were plenty of vacant houses and plots for building in the town,[15][16] encouraging settlement and guaranteeing the safety of newly acquired property.
This decree also confirmed old municipal rights and privileges and encouraged merchants to visit Szydłowiec's fairs and settle in the town.
[19] He further declared, "Only by my old universal decree, I pull them to this duty; thus, even though I annul oats and chickens, I order that the Catholic town should annually pay 100 Polish złoty without any delays".
These incidents usually occurred during the Maundy Thursday procession when participants engaged in acts of violence against Jewish property and the Jews themselves.
[23] This division remained in place until 1862, with its legal origins dating back to 28 July 1788, when Prince Mikołaj Radziwiłł [pl] issued a privilege for Szydłowiec.
[23] The judge of the Peace Court, Filip Piegłowski, appointed by the city owner, referred to the 1788 privilege and ordered the removal of Jews from the Market.
[24] It was at this time that, at the initiative of Catholic townspeople, Szymon Badowski created a city plan, marking public utility buildings (including those belonging to the Jewish community) and also the boundary established by Mikołaj Radziwiłł's privilege.
[25] This situation remained until 1862 when the privilege granted by the Radziwiłłs ceased to apply, as the tsar abolished the restrictions on Jewish mobility.
Until 1861, the Szydłowiec community included the following towns: Bliżyn, Bodzentyn, Broniew, Chlewiska, Chustki, Długosz, Dąbrowa, Kamienna, Psary, Suchedniów, Śniadków, Tarczek, Wąchock, Wola Korzeniowska, Wygoda, Wymysłów, and Wzdół.
[28] According to the investigation files of the Radom Provincial Gendarmerie, there were cells of the Polish Socialist Party and the Bund, the latter consisting exclusively of Jews.
For example, the prohibition against Jews wearing certain types of clothing promoted the development of tailoring, while the ban on eating pork limited the scope of the sausage-making industry.
According to a 1933 study conducted by the Economic and Statistical Bureau of Cekabe, over 80% of retail establishments in small towns in the Kielce Voivodeship were owned by Jews.
One researcher of the Jewish economy in the interwar period stated that "the pauperization of the merchant class had reached absurd proportions".
[34] In this situation, many merchants did not have the funds to purchase an industrial certificate to legally practice their trade and had to rely on social assistance.
Jewish organizations (especially interest-free loan funds) provided aid for this purpose, which affected a large portion of the merchant class.
The Jewish Community Council served as a legislative and supervisory body, while the board acted as the executive branch, functioning similarly to the structures of associations.
[1] In the 1931 elections for the community authorities, the joint list of Zionists and Mizrachi received the most votes, securing five out of twelve seats on the council.
[1] The last elections for the council and board took place in 1936, when the Zionists won 60% of the seats in both governing bodies, defeating the Orthodox by a margin of 20 percentage points.
The party took control of the local branch of the Tarbut Jewish Cultural and Educational Association and the Society for Evening Courses.
[43] Bund engaged in extensive propaganda activities in Szydłowiec, publishing numerous pamphlets, leaflets, appeals, and several workers' newspapers.
[46] The growing persecution led to an increase in religious activity among Jews and a widespread belief that living in strong faith was the only way to survive.
Most of these marriages were symbolic, aimed at protecting young men from forced labor in the Reich, as they would become the sole breadwinners of their families.
Constant roundups contributed to escapes from the city and the settlement of Jews in rural areas, as well as hiding in the surrounding forests (including the creation of a Jewish-socialist partisan movement).
[48] This optimism quickly diminished with the wave of ghetto liquidations, which resulted in many Jews from the former Kielce Voivodeship being brought to Szydłowiec.
A solid cordon of military and SS units gathered the Jews at Freedom Square and then herded them through the streets: Radomska, Rynek, Kielecka, and Kolejowa, to the railway station in Sadek, 6 kilometers away from the concentration point.
