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The history of the Jews in Łuków, Poland, begins in the 14th century. The first synagogue in the town, which was later burnt down in a fire, was built in the 16th century. In 1648, as a result of Cossacks’ attacks and numerous marches and stopovers by armies – both from Poland and Lithuanian, the new synagogue was also set fire to and a lot of Jewish households were destroyed. The war between Poland and Sweden, especially the invasion by the King Carl Gustav and his Transylvanian ally, the Rakocy prince, brought fatal effects. In April 1657 the town was totally devastated and about 1000 Jews lost their lives.
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18th–19th century
In the latter half of the 18th century Łuków experienced an economic boom. Two new synagogues were built and the Jewish community started to flourish. In 1765, 543 Jews (137 families) lived in Łuków, and in 1827 the number grew to 2,023 (which accounted for 60% of the town population). In 1857 there were 2,114 people (68% of the town population), and in 1897 there were 4,799 people (55%).
1920s
In 1921, 6145 Jews lived in Łuków, which accounted for around 50% of the town inhabitants. They ran 85% of 530 local industrial and commercial companies, created 30 associations, and issued a weekly publication, "Dos Łukower Wort". However, the time between the two World Wars meant for the Jews of Łuków not only prosperity but also growing anti-Semitic actions and commercial boycott. In 1920 a pogrom took place. In August, when the Polish army was waging a counteroffensive in the war against Bolsheviks, 12 Jews were executed without any trial by the soldiers in the neighborhood of Łuków. The pogrom went on for two days in the town itself. Officers did not try to stop it, allowing soldiers to plunder shops, and hit Jewish inhabitants.
World War II
World War II led to the total extermination of the Jewish community in Łuków. Before this happened the town was a stopover on the way to the gas chambers for thousands of Jews from the neighboring villages, many Polish towns, and even from other countries. In December 1939 more than 2,500 Jews from Serock, Nasielsk and Suwałki were displaced to Łuków, a year later almost 1000 Jews from Mława, and in May 1942 more than 2,000 Jews from Slovakia.
The first mass executions of Łuków Jews started in March 1942. At that time Germans shot 47 people. In the summer the Jews were forbidden to leave the town. A regular action of liquidation of the Jewish community started on 5 October 1942. On that day, about 4,000 people were transported to the Treblinka extermination camp and about 500 were executed in the town (the last rabbi of the community, Aaron Note Freiberg, was among them). Another 2,000 people were transported to Treblinka on 8 October. After this action the area of ghetto was decreased and the Jews from the neighboring towns and villages, such as Kock, Wojcieszków, Adamów, Stanin, Tuchowicz, Trzebieszów and Ulan, were forced to come to Łuków. After that, between 26 and 27 October and between 7 and 11 November, another 4,000 people were taken to Treblinka and a few hundred more Jews were executed at the court of the Łuków magistrate and in the Jewish cemetery. The Jews who survived were closed in the ghetto at the beginning of December and there were regular executions. The ghetto was finally liquidated on 2 May 1943, when SS troops with help from Ukrainians deported about 4,000 people to Treblinka.
In summary, from 1942 and 1943 around 14,000 Jews from the Łuków ghetto and the neighboring towns and villages were sent to the gas chambers in Treblinka, and approximately 2,000 Jews were executed in the town. In this way the Jewish community in Łuków ended.