Luzki

The first reference to Jewish settlement in Łużki dates to the 18th century. In 1859 the founder of modern Hebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was born in the town. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a talmud torah there and a modern heder (Jewish elementary school),while some of the Jewish pupils studied in a Polish government-sponsored school. On the eve of World War II 458 Jews lived in Łużki, where they worked in petty trade and at simple crafts. On September 17, 1939 the Red Army entered Łużki and established Soviet rule there. On June 22, 1941, the start of the German invasion of the USSR, the Soviet troops withdrew and within a few days Łużki was occupied by the Germans. On June 1, 1942 528 local Jews were killed in a single mass murder. Łużki was liberated by the Red Army in June 1944.