Płońsk, Płońsk District, Warsaw Province, Poland
Płońsk shone in four areas: it was the city of the "enlightenment;" of Hovevei Zion and later the Zionists; most of the Jewish residents spoke Hebrew; and it was the cradle of Jewish emigration from Poland and Russia in the First and Second Aliyah… my father's house was the center of these four revelations that unified Płońsk.
David Ben-Gurion, Sefer Płońsk Vehasviva, p. 31
On the eve of WWII, Płońsk, situated on the Plonka River some 60 km northwest of Warsaw, was home to some 5,000 Jews – about half of the city's total population. This was a community of workmen, tradesmen and Torah scholars, Hassidim, Mitnagdim and Zionists.
On 1 September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, and on 5 September they conquered Płońsk. On 16 December 1942, the last of the Jews of Płońsk were sent to Auschwitz.
Out of all the Jews living in Płońsk when the Germans invaded, only a few dozen survived the Shoah.
This is the story of the community of Płońsk.
Featured Stories from the Exhibition
David Ben-Gurion's early years in Płońsk
Jewish Culture in Płońsk during the inter-war period
Health institutions in the Płońsk Ghetto
Behind the Scenes: Płońsk – Identifying a Town
Further reading
Sefer Płońsk ve-Haseviva Neishtat ve-Sochocin – Yad ve-Zekher le-Khilot she-Nechrevu [The Book of Płońsk and its Surroundings, Neishtat (polish, Nowe-Miasto) and Sochocin – a Memorial to Destroyed Communities], Zemach Shlomo, Halamish Mordekhai, Mann Mendel (edi.), Tel-Aviv 1963.
