Dąbrowa Białostocka is a town in

Sokółka County __NOTOC__ Sokółka County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local govern ...

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

, in north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 5,305. Data for territorial unit 2011014.

History

Jewish history

The Jewish community of Dąbrowa Białostocka, also known as Dąbrowa Grodzieńska, flourished between the 18th and early 20th centuries. By 1921, approximately over 1,200 Jews resided in the town, accounting for about 40% of its population. The community maintained religious, cultural, and educational institutions, including a *Tarbut* school and various Zionist political organizations.Wroclawski, Janusz, "Historia Dąbrowy Białostockiej,
Virtual Shtetl
Jewish residents were integral to the town's economic and social fabric, with many involved in trade and artisanal crafts.Davidsohn, Sara, "The History of Dąbrowa Białostocka,

The Holocaust

In September 1939, the German army occupied Dąbrowa Białostocka, but control soon passed to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The situation drastically changed in June 1941, with the launch of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

. The Germans re-occupied the town, burning many buildings, including homes and community infrastructure.Wroclawski, Janusz, "Historia Dąbrowy Białostockiej,
Holocaust in Dąbrowa Białostocka
Most of the Jewish population attempted to escape to nearby towns such as Nowy Dwór and Suchowola, sharing the fate of those communities. Approximately 600 Jews who remained in Dąbrowa Białostocka were confined in a temporary

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

housed in the town's bathhouse and cinema. These individuals were subjected to

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

, and a group of young men was murdered during this period."The History of Jews in Dąbrowa Białostocka,
Yad Vashem
In May 1942, older Jewish residents were deported to the ghetto in Suchowola. On November 2, 1942, the remaining Jews were sent to the Kiełbasin transit camp. From there, on December 14, 1942, they were transported to the

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Mas ...

, where they were murdered.

Post-Holocaust and commemoration

The Jewish community of Dąbrowa Białostocka was completely annihilated during the Holocaust. Post-war, no significant Jewish population returned to the town. However, the legacy of the Jewish community is honored through various commemorative projects. One notable initiative is *Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka*, a series of artworks by Mark Podwal that memorializes the town's Jewish history and pays tribute to its victims.Mark Podwal, "Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka,
Mark Podwal Official Site
Additionally, local efforts include memorial plaques and a mural project to preserve the memory of the once-thriving Jewish community.

Demographics

According to the 1921 census, the population was 58.1% Polish, 40.0%

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, 1.1% Tatar, 0.7% Belarusian.

Notable people

* Peter Sidorkiewicz (born 1963), former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship Sokółka County