In 1358 the territory became part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, soon afterwards in
personal union with
Poland. It was the property of
Court Marshal of Lithuania Michael Glinski until confiscated and passed to the
Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radziwiłł in 1507. In 1569 it was re-incorporated into the
Kingdom of Poland. who became
starost of Knyszyn in 1574. In 1630, Polish prince and soon-to-be King
Władysław IV Vasa stayed in Knyszyn. The town was devastated during the
Polish–Swedish wars. As a result of the
Third Partition of Poland in 1795 it was annexed by
Prussia; in 1807 it was annexed by
Russia. At that time, many
Jews settled in Knyszyn, The Germans established and operated a
forced labour camp in the town. Its prisoners were initially Soviet
prisoners of war, and afterwards Poles from the town and region, often captured in
roundups, some of whom were soon deported to forced labour to Germany. Knyszyn had a Jewish population of nearly 2,000 until Nazi Germany invaded the area, after which most of Knyszyn's Jews were killed. Afterwards, the town was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the
Fall of Communism in the 1980s. The
Polish anti-communist resistance was active in Knyszyn. In 1945–1947, the resistance carried out three raids on the local communist police station. The
Szeregi Młodzieżowe (Youth Ranks) resistance organization was founded in Knyszyn. Until 1998, it was administratively located in the
Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998).
Jewish history The history of Jews in the town may date back as far as October 1605 when a Jew from Moscow sued the town over a beating he had endured. However, during the mid 1600s the town passed a law forbidding Jews to live in the town. Despite this decree a small Jewish community had settled in Knyszyn by 1679 and in 1705 a synagogue was built. In 1719 an agreement was reached between the Jewish community and the Church, requiring the former to pay a tax annually, with additional levees on several holidays. In exchange for this the exclusionary law was formally repealed. By the early 1800s (1807) the Jewish population had reached 308. In 1810 an attempt was made to expel them but was quickly cancelled when the town economy collapsed. The Jews continued to benefit the Knyszyn economy by developing a textile industry during the 1830s. This helped support the burgeoning Jewish population which consisted of 1878 (out of a total town population of 3864) in the 1879 census. Immigration lowered the population so that in the 1921 Polish census it was recorded as 1235. During the 1920s and 30s the community supported four restaurants, two groceries, and seven bakeries. They owned three mills, a leather factory, and a service station. There were also branches of the Betar organization and the Hadema sports club, and many charities. The 1939 population of 1450 had increased to 2000 by 1941. Most of this growth came from refugees who reached Knyszyn- then under
Soviet occupation- from German-occupied regions. The town was first occupied by the Germans for several weeks of September 1939 and then by the Russians until June 1941. Shortly after the Nazi occupation a pogrom occurred as well as the burning alive of 200 Jews in a synagogue. In November 1942 a massacre of the remaining Jewish population was carried out by the
Gestapo. Fifty Jews survived by hiding in the nearby woods. Most immigrated to Israel after the war. The above is from https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Knyszyn/occupation.html ==Demographics==