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Translation of “Sanniki” chapter from
Pinkas Hakehillot Polin
Published by Yad Vashem
Published in Jerusalem, 1989
Project Coordinator
Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem for permission
This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot Polin:
Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland, Volume IV, pages 305-306,
published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, 1989
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
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[Pages 305-306]
Gostynin District, Warsaw Province, Poland
Translated by Leon Zamosc
The town is located on the main road between Warsaw and Gombin. Since the second half of the 19th century Sanniki had been an industrial settlement. In 1849, a factory for the production of sugar and a distillery were established on the site. In the following years, as the settlement grew, a brick factory and a sawmill were also built.
There is little information about the Jewish community of Sanniki. The first Jews settled there, probably, in the second half of the 19th century. In 1921, the Jewish settlement numbered 315 people - out of a total population of 1,447 residents. The Jews engaged in petty trade and peddling. Some were also working in handicrafts, mainly tailoring. In the years between the two world wars, the occupational structure of the Sanniki Jews changed. In the 1920s, some of them set up workshops for the production of curtains and many of the local Jews were employed in this craft. Poles from surrounding villages were also employed in this industry, whose products were marketed in Polish cities and also in foreign countries.
Between the two world wars, Sanniki had an organized Jewish community. There was a Beit Midrash in the town. In 1937, Yehoshua Moshe Aaronson was the rabbi of Sanniki and Simcha Yaskolka was the elected head of the community. In the 1930s there was a branch of the Zionist Organization in the town. Twenty-one people with shekels participated in the elections for the 20th Zionist Congress.
After the outbreak of the Second World War II, German planes bombed Sanniki on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and many houses caught fire. Many residents left the town and fled to the east. At the same time, refugees from Poznań, Lodz, and Warsaw arrived in the settlement. After occupying the town, the Germans began persecuting the Jews and imposed various burdens on them. The Jews were kidnapped for forced labor, were victims of abuse and beatings, and their property was confiscated. In the summer of 1941, the Jews of Sanniki were evicted from their homes and concentrate in a separate neighborhood that included several streets. This created a sort of ghetto. At that time, Jews were still allowed to move around and get food from the Polish farmers.
In the fall of 1941, the Germans forced the Jews to dismantle the bombed church that still stood there. They photographed the Jews who were brought there against their will and used the tearing down of the church to incite anti-Semitism. At that time, the Germans took a group of men out of the ghetto, sending them to a forced labor camp in Konin. In 1942, during the liquidation of the ghettos of Gombin and Gostynin, the Germans deported the remainder of the Sanniki community to the extermination camp in Chelmno.
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