Treblinka and Tykocin and Jedwabne Tour

Tykocin. Great Synagogue.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Tykocin synagogue was the second largest and most magnificent synagogue in the Polish Kingdom, after the synagogue of Kraków.

As early as the sixteenth century cemetery was established, which now is the oldest preserved Jewish cemetery in Poland.

The town became popular as an important center of Talmudic culture and studies.

In Tykocin lived many famous rabbis and Torah experts (including Mordechaj Titkiner, Szmuel Eliezer Eidels „Maharszal”, Aron Charif).

From here also derived Rywka Tiktiner (Rebeka Tykocińska), daughter of Rabbi - Jewish scholar and writer creating in Hebrew and Yiddish, the author of a novel work entitled Meneket Riwka, which tells about the role of Jewish women and her place in contemporary social system.

This book was published after the author's death in 1609 in Prague.

Rywka Titkiner was a unique person, because in the culture of the Ashkenazi Jews of that time women did not study Torah and were not involved in science.

Tykocin. Great Synagogue.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Tykocin became a center of taliths production.

In the city settled Lewi Lejb, called Talitmacher who opened weaving, and then gave the secret known in the worldwide production to one of the local weavers.

Icchak Cwi Świeczkowski, who in turn had emigrated to the United States to move there production of famous "taliths from Tykocin"

Before the outbreak of World War II in Tykocin lived approx. 2,000 Jews, that was approx. 44% of the population of the city.

Most of them still lived within so-called Jewish market.

Jews Tykocin were engaged in trade and craft.

Particularly strong position in Tykocin had tailor brotherhood, having their own synagogue and court.

In July 1941, Germans with Poles made mass murder of the Jewish community.

From more than 2,000 people were saved only 17 people.

Treblinka - extermination camp. Symbolic place of cremation.

Burning the corpses outside the furnaces began to be carried out in February 1943, as a more effective, since the crematorium didn't cope with the removal of the gassed bodies.

Under the railway placed brushwood, which poured petrol.

In this way, burned not only the latest corpses, but also those taken from the tombs with an excavator.

At the same time they could burn up to 12,000 corpses.

The resulting clouds of smoke were visible from many miles away.

Till the end of July 1943 burned at grates about 700 thousand corpses.