Motol

The earliest reference to the presence of Jews in Motol dates to the early 18th Century. The Jews of Motol made their living mostly from the timber industry and from log transportation. Some of them were merchants specializing in fruit and vegetables. In the late 19th Century, the Czarist authorities appointed Oizer Weizmann (the father of Chaim Weizmann, the future first President of Israel, who was born in Motol in 1874) as head of the local Jewish community. Both Oizer and Chaim were active in the two Zionist groups that operated in Motol, Hovevei Zion and Safa Brura. In 1897, the town was home to 1,354 Jews, who made up about a third of the total population. At that time, the Jewish community had two synagogues. During World War I, many of the Jews of Motol were ordered to leave the village for the Russian interior. In 1920, when Motol became part of independent Poland, the Jews returned there and rebuilt their lives, making their living mostly from small-scale trade and artisanship. In 1921, the Jewish population of Motol stood at 1,140 – or 26 percent of the total population of the town. Following the beginning of Soviet rule in September 1939, the Jews either joined state-run trade organizations or became Soviet state employees, while the Jewish artisans were organized in cooperatives.

Motol was occupied by German troops on June 26, 1941. The local Jewish community was liquidated in two murder operations, which took place in the vicinity of the town in early August 1941. The total number of Jewish victims is estimated at about 3,000 – a figure that seems to include the refugees from the Nazi-occupied western regions of Poland.

Motol was liberated by the Red Army on July 16, 1944.