Bzury, Podlaskie Voivodeship Explained

See also: Bzury, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Bzury
Settlement Type:Village
Total Type: 
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Voivodeship
Subdivision Name1:Podlaskie
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Grajewo
Subdivision Type3:Gmina
Subdivision Name3:Szczuczyn
Pushpin Map:Poland
Coordinates:53.5833°N 43°W
Population Total:200

Bzury is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Szczuczyn, within Grajewo County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland.[1] It lies approximately 5km (03miles) north-east of Szczuczyn, 100NaN0 south-west of Grajewo, and 760NaN0 north-west of the regional capital Białystok.

World War II

In 2012 the Polish Institute of National Remembrance launched an investigation into the 1941 murder of some twenty Jewish women from the Szczuczyn ghetto, committed locally, by six criminals who arrived in Bzury also from the village of Szczuczyn. The crime was investigated in 1950 by the authorities in Stalinist Poland, resulting in one death sentence, later commuted to life. The only convicted perpetrator, Stanisław Zalewski, died in 1957. Historian Barbara Engelking from IPN, who specializes in the history of Nazi era ghettos across Poland, studied the court documents and about a dozen witness testimonies dating back to 1948. The IPN investigation confirmed that the crime was premeditated. All victims were young, and came to Bzury on German orders to work on a farm. They were supposed to be brought back to the ghetto, but were allegedly killed for sexual gratification along the road the same evening.[2] [3] [4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Central Statistical Office (GUS) - TERYT (National Register of Territorial Land Apportionment Journal). 2008-06-01. Polish.
  2. Web site: Śledztwo po 71 latach . . "Mord w Bzurach." IPN po 71 latach wszczyna śledztwo . March 6, 2012 . June 15, 2012 . Agnieszka Domanowska.
  3. Web site: Bzury koło Szczuczyna - miejsce mordu grupy żydowskich kobiet . . IPN wszczyna śledztwo, Gazeta Wyborcza (ibidem) . March 6, 2012 . June 15, 2012 . Agnieszka Domanowska.
  4. Web site: Nie powiem, bo zrobicie z nas Jedwabne . Gazeta.pl. Bialystok. . IPN po 71 latach wszczyna śledztwo . March 15, 2012 . June 15, 2012 . Agnieszka Domanowska.