Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in
Lublin Voivodeship
Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin.
The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...
, in
Zamość County
__NOTOC__
Zamość County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It was established on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its ...
, about west of
Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
. From 1975–1999, it was part of the
Zamość Voivodeship
Zamość Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government (Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship) in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded by Lublin Voivodeship.
Its capital and largest city was Zamość (population 65 ...
administrative district. The town serves as the seat to the Gmina Szczebrzeszyn district. A 2004 census counted 5,357 inhabitants. It lends its name to the Szczebrzeszyn Landscape Park. Szczebrzeszyn is often called the "Capital City of
Polish Language
Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...
".
History
Early history
Szczebrzeszyn's history can be traced back to 1352, during the reign of Casimir III, although archaeological evidence suggests the area had been settled for several centuries prior to this. Neighboring villages named in Nestor's 11th century chronicle of Rus further support that Szczebrzeszyn is much older, once lying beside a major commercial route running from south to north.Zygmunt Klukowski Shebreshin of Long Ago /ref>
By 1492, trade had developed enough to warrant a
special act
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
* Special police forces
M ...
imposed by Jan Olbracht. The Act specified which roads Szczebrzeszyn merchants could use when traveling through
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...
with their wares. As merchants traveled through Szczebrzeszyn, they paid set taxes which proved to be an excellent source of
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...
.
After
Jan Amor Tarnowski
Jan Amor Tarnowski (Latin: Joannes Tarnovius; 1488 – 16 May 1561) was a Polish people, Polish szlachta, nobleman, knight, military commander, military theoretician, and statesman of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. He was Grand Crown He ...
of
Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...
's death in 1500, Szczebrzeszyn stayed in the hands of the
Tarnowski family
The House of Tarnowski (plural: Tarnowscy) is the name of a Poland, Polish Nobility, noble and aristocratic family (''szlachta''). Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Tarnowska is the form for a female family member. ...
for the next 20 years. Later it was included in a
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
to the Kmita family. At that time long-running feuds among family members re-ignited over the Szczebrzeszyn inheritance, while other
magnate
The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
s laid claims. King Zygmunt August issued a binding decree to end this dispute in 1555, which allocated rights over the city to the Gorka family of
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
. The Gorkas took a strong interest in religious matters and granted freedom to all religious groups. They built a
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
church, transformed the
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
parish church into a
Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
one, and opened a
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
nearby.
The Holocaust
Between 3,000 and 4,000 Jews lived in Szczebrzeszyn when the German Army occupied the city in 1939.
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...
's grandmother, Tema Blima Szejner was from the city. Singer mentions his grandmother Tema in his autobiographical novel 'In My Father's Court'. On October 14, 1939—in spite of the fact it was the Jewish
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
—the Germans ordered the Jews to clean the streets for the entire day. They treated them brutally by cutting or tearing off their beards, cursing them, and beating them. In mid-October a police force was formed in Szczebrzeszyn—composed of 60 men—and was instructed to persecute the Jewish population of the city.
Several hundred Jews from Kalisz and Wloclawek were re-settled in Szczebrzeszyn. The Judenrat was forced to provide several dozen men for work in Zamość each day. According to a Polish doctor in the town, Zygmunt Klukowski: "The Jewish laborers are sent to Bortatycze and Bialobrzeg outside of Zamosc. The work consists of digging ditches in order to drain the swamps there. They must work standing in the water. They sleep in barracks that are incredibly dirty. They must make this trip (to the labor camp) every day, and if they make the slightest mistake they are beaten with clubs. The Jewish slave laborers are covered with lice. They are mostly boys, 17–20 years old."
On November 10, 1942, Klukowski wrote: "In principle, all the Jews in the settlements of the Bilgoraj district, to which Szczebreszyn belongs, have been killed. The only ones remaining are those in the forests, valleys, etc." In total, there were six separate transports from Szczebrzeszyn to Bełżec extermination camp between May and November 1942—totaling more than 5,500 Jewish men, women and children to their immediate deaths. Hundreds of other Jews were murdered in Szczebrzeszyn, hunted down by German SS troops and then murdered. One Polish couple did shelter a Jewish family and were named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem after the war. The once vibrant Jewish community of Szczebrzeszyn ceased to exist.
After the Zamość Uprising
In July the Polish resistance carried out the country-wide
Operation Tempest
file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right
Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...
, and in the
Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
region the town of Szczebrzeszyn and Zamość itself were freed by the partisans.
In literature
The name Szczebrzeszyn is infamous for being very difficult to pronounce for non-native speakers. Polish poet,
Jan Brzechwa
Jan Brzechwa (; 15 August 1898 – 2 July 1966) was a Polish poet, author and lawyer, known mostly for his contribution to children's literature. He was born Jan Wiktor Lesman to a Polish Jew, Polish family of Jewish descent.Chrząszcz''. The first line is:
''W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie'' (
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
)
This roughly translates to: "In he town ofSzczebrzeszyn a beetle sounds in the reed". The phrase has been incorporated in everyday language as an epitome of Polish
tongue twister
A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
s, and is often presented by natives to foreign learners of Polish. Two monuments depicting a cricket playing the violin were erected in Szczebrzeszyn in reference to the poem.
In 2004 Philip Bibel (1909–2006), brother of painter Leon Bibel, published his ''Tales of the Shtetl,'' a memoir of early 20th century life in the shtetl of Szczebrzeszyn. Sample chapters can be read here: Our Shabbos in ShebreshinNoise, Music, and KlezmerThe Last Jew
File:PL Szczebrzeszyn church 5.jpg, St. Nicolas church
File:PL Szczebrzeszyn synagogue 2.jpg, Former synagogue, nowadays community centre
File:PL Szczebrzeszyn Jewish cemetery 4.jpg, Jewish cemetery
File:PL Szczebrzeszyn church 3.jpg, Orthodox church