1 Killing site(s)
Marian J., born in 1935: "The German mayor ordered the hanging of Manez, a Jewish man they called ’the hunchback.’ He had previously maintained good relations with the mayor. People said he had brought gold from the ghetto to him, but when that stopped, they ordered him to be hanged. Everyone was ordered to gather and watch. There was a janitor who went around the city, ringing a bell at crosswalks to announce such things. They didn’t explain why we were being summoned, but later we were forced to watch as they hung Manez and two other Jews.” (Testimony N°YIU640P, interviewed in Maków Mazowiecki, on October 19, 2016)
"I know there was a ghetto in Maków [...] As I recall, it was liquidated in early 1943. The Jews living in the ghetto were able to move around relatively freely. They worked in local industries and businesses. There was a Jewish cleaning lady in our office. When the ghetto was liquidated, the Jews were transported to Mielau [Mława] in horse-drawn wagons. The transport was organized by Gestapo men from Ciechanów. SA men in uniform were also present, I believe. [...] Our service was ordered to surround the ghetto [...] It was said at the time that the Jews and their families were going to a camp where they would work on road construction. After the departure of the Jews, the ghetto was searched by, among others, Ciechanów officials." [Deposition of Matthias P***, member of Schutzpolizei, born in 1903 in Aix-la-Chapelle, given in Dortmund on July 8, 1970; BA-L, B162/7875, p.66]
"A punitive labor camp for Poles and Jews. 1940-1944. Average density: 195 pers; total: 20,000 pers; no executions." [Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos RG-15.019M Reel #18 FILE 61]
Maków Mazowiecki, located approximately 69 km (43 miles) north of Warsaw, is one of the oldest settlements in Mazovia. Its existence is first mentioned in a medieval document, antedated to 1065, which describes it as a trading hub along routes leading to Ruthenia, Lithuania, and Yotvingia. By 1421, Maków had grown into a town and was granted municipal rights by Duke Janusz I of Mazovia. These rights included revenues from market fees, a bathhouse, and cloth-shearing services. Jewish settlement in Maków Mazowiecki began in the 16th century. During the first half of that century, the town flourished as a center of trade and local governance, benefiting from its role in the transit of goods such as furs, grain, and wax to the west, and textiles, wine, and jewelry to the east.
Maków faced a significant decline in the 17th century, beginning with a major fire in 1620 and worsened by the devastation of the Swedish wars between 1655 and 1660. The population dwindled to around 150 residents, and much of the cultivated land was left fallow. Despite efforts to rebuild, another large fire in 1787 caused further damage.
Under successive regimes, including Prussian, Napoleonic, and Russian control, Maków gradually recovered. By the late 19th century, the town’s economy had diversified with the establishment of industries such as tanneries, a brewery, and a mead production facility. Small-scale trade and crafts remained central to the local economy, which was further supported by the construction of a narrow-gauge railway linking Maków to Mława during the First World War.
By the interwar period, Maków Mazowiecki had developed into a vibrant community with an economy centered on trade and crafts. In 1931, the town’s population totaled 6,645, with Jews comprising approximately 55% of the residents. Jewish entrepreneurs operated three of the town’s mills and played a prominent role in its economic and cultural life. Electricity, supplied by a hydroelectric power plant on the Orzyc River, served the wealthier inhabitants. Despite ongoing challenges, the town remained an important center for the surrounding agricultural region.
On the eve of the war, up to 5,000 Jewish residents were recorded as living in Maków Mazowiecki. Some managed to flee to Warsaw or the Soviet-occupied zone before the German invasion.
Maków Mazowiecki was occupied by German forces in early September 1939. Units of Einsatzkommando 2/V quickly followed, initiating a campaign of repression and terror against the local population. By October 1939, the town was incorporated into the Reich as part of Regierungsbezirk Zichenau. By the end of the year, the German authorities had implemented a series of anti-Jewish measures, including the closure of Jewish businesses and schools, compulsory wearing of Star of David symbols, forced payments of "contributions," and the establishment of a Judenrat (Jewish Council) to enforce German orders.
On February 12, 1940, approximately 500 Jews and Poles, including elderly, sick, and disabled individuals from the Maków Mazowiecki hospital for the mentally ill, were transported to the Wąski Las forest near Sewerynowo village. There, they were executed and buried in mass graves. Their remains were exhumed in 1944.
The ghetto in Maków Mazowiecki was established in stages, beginning in the spring of 1940. By the end of the year, it was enclosed by a 4-meter-high wooden palisade. By December 1940, the ghetto housed approximately 3,800 people, including 2,000 Jews from surrounding areas such as Krasnosielc, Chorzele, Rypin, and other localities. Over its existence, nearly 12,000 Jews passed through the ghetto, enduring severe overcrowding, hunger, and disease. Families were crammed into small rooms, with some living in the synagogue or barns. Chronic water shortages plagued the population, with only three wells serving the entire ghetto. Access to the river, strictly monitored by guards, occasionally resulted in violence, including the shooting of a woman attempting to collect water.
The Jewish Council, led by Abraham Garfinkel and assisted by a 20-member Jewish police force, oversaw the ghetto. Despite their efforts to provide social aid, including a soup kitchen and a Talmud school, conditions remained dire. Epidemics and starvation claimed many lives. Jews were also regularly selected from the ghetto for forced labor in camps set up in the area and within the town itself.
Killings of Jews and Poles occurred regularly throughout the German occupation. In December 1940, 20 inmates from the Działdowo labor camp were murdered in front of the synagogue. Additional executions followed in 1942, with 15 Jews killed on June 4 and 20 publicly hanged on July 7 after an escape attempt. The gallows were erected near the ghetto fence, ensuring the hangings were visible to both ghetto residents and townspeople. The first to be executed was Manez, a Jewish servant of the mayor. Smaller killings targeted individuals accused of infractions, including a Jewish doctor who treated an escapee.
On November 14, 1942, the Germans announced the ghetto’s liquidation. On November 18, approximately 5,500 Jews were deported to the Mława ghetto, during which at least 50 individuals, including elderly people and children, were murdered. In Mława, the victims were held briefly before being transported—most likely to Auschwitz—through December 1942. In one of the largest transports, 2,094 people were gassed immediately upon arrival, while 406 men were selected for forced labor.
The Jewish cemeteries in Maków Mazowiecki were destroyed by the Germans, with gravestones repurposed for road construction.
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