Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

The Jewish community in Ciechanowiec has been regarded as one of the oldest Jewish settlements in Poland.

By the 18th century, there was a recognized Jewish settlement in Ciechanowiec.
During the 16-18th centuries, representatives of the community of Ciechanowiec were active in the Vaad Arba Aratzoth the General Assembly of the Jewish 4 Councils of Poland, and were among the main speakers in that Committee.

At the beginning of 1939, Ciechanowiec was occupied by units of the German Army.
After several days the Germans left Ciechanowiec according to the Pact between Germany and Russia, and Ciechanowiec fell under Soviet rule.
Many Jews in Ciechanowiec were declared as “untrustworthy elements,” and their property was nationalized by the Soviets and many were sent to exile in Russia.
Refugees who refused to receive “passports” were banished, but due to this deportation decree, many survived the war.

On June 22, 1941, the Germans occupied Ciechanowiec.
The Germans arrested seven Jews, including Szabtai Kaszmejn and Yeszajah Klopot, and executed them.
Men and women were sent to forced labors, accompanied by brutal treatment.
By the end of 1941, all Jews over 12 years of age were obliged to wear a white ribbon with the yellow Star of David on it
In the autumn of 1941, the synagogues were shut down, and a Ghetto was established, which included 2 quarters, around each one a wire fence was built connected by a bridge.
Authorities banned exit from the Ghetto, except for women and men between the ages of 18-60, who were put into forced labor outside the Ghetto, paving the road, in building, and in German factories, for which they were given only 300 gram of bread

On the morning of November 2, 1942, the German and Polish police encircled the Ciechanowiec Ghetto, and opened fire, murdering many of the Jews.
On November 15, 1942, the Germans liquidated the Ciechanowiec Ghetto completely, and transported the remaining Jews by carts to Czyzewo railway station, and then to the Treblinka and Majdanek Extermination Camps.