History of the Jews in Białystok

History of the Jewish community of Bialystok (Hebrew: קהילת יהודי ביאליסטוק), the capital of Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, dates back to the mid-17th century. The local Jewish community grew rapidly, and from the beginning of the 19th century made up more than half of the entire population of Bialystok: until the First World War, Jews made up 66%-75% of the city's population, but between the two world wars the proportion of Jews dropped to 50%-60% of the residents.

The great development of the city and the Jewish community in it, is related to the development of the textile industry in Bialystok in the 19th century. In 1850, the first Jewish factory was established, and as early as 1867, about half of the 89 weaving factories in Bialystok were Jewish-owned.

The city developed a system of Hebrew, elementary and high schools, many youth movements, diverse from Jewish society, and also published a press in Yiddish.

With the German occupation in World War II, a Nazi ghetto was established for the Jews of Bialystok. During the last stages of the ghetto's existence, between 16 and 20 August 1943, a major revolt took place in the Białystok ghetto, led by members of the youth movements. Few fled to the forests and continued to fight as partisans, and the rest of the Jews of Bialystok, about 50,000, were mostly sent to Auschwitz extermination camp.