Zabludow- the Town and its Synagogue
( legend and reality)

by, Yerucham Bacharach

Translated by Daphna Brafman
Coordinated by Tilford Bartman

Photo of Zabludow Synagogue from YIVO archive. Click on photo to enlarge

Sources to the History of the Most Ancient Communities in the Vicinity of Bialystock During the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries.

Zabludow is situated 19 kilometers southeast of Bialystock. Polish sources point that the town was established in 1525. The Polish Monarch Zigmond the old gave the community to the regional Governor Noworski Aexander Kadkvitch as a present and the latter established its merits as a city. In 1563 he built a Russian Church and a school there, and in 1568 he established a Russian printing house in the city. The town was passed to the hands of the Radziwill Princes at the end of the 16th century, and it remained their dominion until the beginning of the 20th century. Soon after the town became theirs, the Radziwills built a Calvinist church there and made Zabludow the regional center of the Calvinist movement.

Jews first came to Zabludow at the end of the 16th century, while the town was owned by the Radziwill Princes making it one of the oldest communities in Lita (Old greater Lithuania), and especially in the Bialystock area.

In the Jewish chronology Zabludow community is known for the "big conflict", a conflict in which two northern Lita communities, Grodno and Tiktin, claimed rights over Zabludow. We learn from verdicts by the "council of four lands" that the conflict was very strong. The council, in its meeting in Lublin in 1621, decided that Zabludow was a part of Tiktin. A comment was added to this decision: since it had its own synagogue, cantor and cemetery, Zabludow did not have to pay taxes to tTiktin, except funds necessary for the coverage of the Grodno Rabinical expenses and the great beit din of the community.

Grodno was not satisfied by this verdict and it did not abide by it. The following year we find a letter of warning from the "Four Lands Committee" and in it there's a strong condemnation of the Grodno's community leaders because they grabbed "ownership" over Zabludow. The committee warns the Grodno community that it will confiscate goods brought by the Grodno merchants to the Lublin market. From various documents in Pinsk we can learn that Zabludow itself was leaning toward acceptance of Grodno's authority. The four lands committee warns Zabludow in 1622 that it will declare boycott and excommunication of their community.

The four lands committee reached a compromise in its Yaroslav meeting in 1654. In this compromise it was decided that Zabludow will be under Grodno's authority in matters such as managing the aristocrat estates and subordination over it (oranda). Legal jurisdiction will be bestowed upon Tiktin. Income of the Zabludow court will belong to Tiktin. The Zabludow court was authorized to deal with suits up to thirty goldens. The prosecutor is permitted to turn to the Tiktin court for that sum.

But this compromise did not help. The abnormal situation of dependence on two "authorities" could not have continues too long. Five years have passed and the conflict restarted all over again. In 1668 the four lands committee again wanted to debate the Zabludow matter, but the probled was delayed until the Lublin fair.

Grodno was not satisfied by this verdict and it did not abide by it. The following year we find a letter of warning from the "four lands committee" and in it there's a strong condemnation of the Grodno's community leaders because they grabbed "ownership" over Zabludow. The committee warns the Grodno community that it will confiscate goods brought by the Grodno merchants to the Lublin market. From various documents in Pinsk we can learn that Zabludow itself was leaning toward acceptance of Grodno's authority. The four lands committee warns Zabludow in 1622 that it will declare boycott and excommunication of their community.

The four lands committee reached a compromise in its Yaroslav meeting in 1654. In this compromise it was decided that Zabludow will be under Grodno's authority in matters such as managing the aristocrat estates and subordination over it (oranda). Legal jurisdiction will be bestowed upon Tiktin. Income of the Zabludow court will belong to Tiktin. The Zabludow court was authorized to deal with suits up to thirty goldens. The prosecutor is permitted to turn to the Tiktin court for that sum.

But this compromise did not help. The abnormal situation of dependence on two "authorities" could not have continues too long. Five years have passed and the conflict restarted all over again. In 1668 the four lands committee again wanted to debate the Zabludow matter, but the probled was delayed until the Lublin fair.

In 1696 there was an attempt to spread a blood libel, the incident is known as the Gavrilla libel. According to this libel a Jewish butcher kidnapped a six years old Christian boy named Gavrilla. The Jews took him to Zabludow and their slaughtered him and took his blood out. The cause of the libel ("confusion" in the language used back then) lies in the competition between the city's Christians and Jews. According to documents the competition was fierce. A competition developed even between the Jewish merchants. The community leaders tried to block the struggle.

 

Worth mentioning are these documents:

A) A declaration from 1700 against Jews who teach gentiles Jewish occupations. They are threatened with boycott.

B) An amendment from 1752 concerning a conflict between the trade union of the tailors and fur traders on the right to pray at the attic of the synagogue. In the beginning both groups prayed together and according to the amendment the fur traders had a sole right to the attic. They had the permission to take the torah from the synagogue for reading, but they had to make a parokhet* for the aron hakodesh** and a coat for the torah scroll; they also had to ensure that the reader is a decent man.

C) A declaration of boycott (1754) against the merchants who attract Christian clients and turn them unjustly against their friends.

D) manifest against new settlers; forbidding them to work in commerce and threatening them with boycott, and forbidding them to rent a shop from the city hall because by so doing they cause damage to the community.

All these amendments prove that the leaders of the community made sure the Jews income was taken care of and that the market was fair to all of them. It is fair to assume that fur traders and tailors enjoyed privileges. During the 19th century Zabludow became an industrial town and the Jews were the pioneers of the industry. There were new small factories of textile and of leather processing; weaving plants were also built, and all those provided income for Jews and gentiles alike. Between 1905-1925 a big wave of Jewish immigration turned from Zabludow to North America. Immigrants from Zabludow have formed the largest immigrant community. In 1939 the Jewish population was 2000 out of a total population of 3500 residents.

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