The town is located in the north-eastern outskirts of
Mazovia, which has been part of Poland since the establishment of the state in the
Middle Ages. In 1437, the Szczuka noble family of the
Grabie coat of arms purchased the land, on which they founded the village, which was initially named
Szczuki-Litwa. Thanks to the efforts of
Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, Szczuczyn was granted
town rights around 1690 by Polish King
John III Sobieski. Szczuka brought the
Piarists to the town and a
Baroque Piarist church and monastery complex was built, which remains the greatest landmark of the town. Afterwards it saw a significant influx of
Jews from
Russia as a result of Russian discriminatory regulations and persecution (see
Pale of Settlement). Szczuczyn was one of the sites of Russian executions of Polish insurgents during the
January Uprising. On May 15, 1864, one of the last battles of the
January Uprising was fought there. During
World War I, the town was occupied by
Germany, and after the war it became part of Poland when the country regained independence in 1918, remaining the administrative center of the same subdivision, but with Polish name,
Powiat szczuczyński, or Szczuczyn County (which had become Grajewo County after its capital was moved to Grajewo).
World War II Some 56% of the town's 4,502 inhabitants were Jews prior to
World War II. During the
invasion of Poland, which started World War II, it was captured and briefly
occupied by German forces. On September 12–13, 1939,
Einsatzgruppe V entered the town to commit various crimes against the population. Germans sent 350 men, mostly Jewish, to
forced labor, of whom only 30 returned after five months. The town was then turned over to the
Soviets, who arrested the wealthy residents of the town, including many Jews. Some twenty Jewish families were
expelled to
Siberia on 21 June 1941 and approximately 2,000 Jews remained in the town. In 1941 the local
Polish underground resistance movement was weakened when the Soviets arrested its commander. In June 1941, some 300 Jews were killed in a massacre carried out by the Polish inhabitants of Szczuczyn after the town was bypassed by the invading German soldiers in the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa. The June massacre was stopped by German soldiers. A subsequent massacre by Poles in July killed some 100 Jews, and following the German
Gestapo takeover in August 1941 some 600 Jews were killed by the Germans, the remaining Jews placed in a
ghetto, and subsequently sent to
Treblinka extermination camp.
Post-war period In the following years, the
Polish anti-communist resistance was active in the town and area. In 1945, the resistance carried out four raids on the local communist police station, and, on 24 November 1945, captured the town, seizing control over the police station and local government offices. Two local youth resistance organizations were founded in Szczuczyn, i.e.
Tajny Związek Młodzieży Polskiej (Secret Association of Polish Youth) and
Zgrupowanie Młodych Partyzantów (Young Partisans' Group). ==Transport==