Grajewo (; ) is a town in north-eastern Poland with 21,499 inhabitants (2016). It is the capital of Grajewo County within the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located within the historic region of Masovia, near the border with Podlachia and Masuria.
History
At one time, the area was inhabited by the Yotvingians.
Kingdom of Poland
The first settlements in the region of modern Grajewo already existed in the early 15th century. The first documented mention is from the year 1426. In the late 15th century the village was a small center of trade and crafts. During the January Uprising, on March 12, 1864, a clash between Polish insurgents and Russian troops took place near the town, won by Poles. Due to the participation of the population in the January Uprising, the town lost its municipal rights in 1870. With the establishment of a rail link between the then-German-controlled city of Ełk and the then-Russian-controlled city of Białystok, the town's development was accelerated.
A Jewish community existed in Grajewo from the late 18th century. As a result of the discriminatory Russian regulations (Pale of Settlement), at times Jews formed a majority of the town population. In 1808, 197 Jews lived in the town, 39% of the total population. In 1827 they made up a majority, with 57% of the population. In 1857 the percentage rose to 76% and in 1897 over 4,000 Jews lived in the town. During World War I the town was occupied by Germany.
The highest Polish dignitaries visited Grajewo in the interwar period: Marshal Józef Piłsudski in 1921, President Stanisław Wojciechowski in 1925 and President Ignacy Mościcki in 1929.
World War II
The pre-war population of 9,500 included 3,000 Jews. The Germans occupied the town for three weeks from 6–7 September 1939. During the German occupation the synagogue and Bet Midrash were burned down by Germans and 300 Jewish men were deported to a forced labor camp in East Prussia. The town was then handed over to the Soviet Union. The Soviets deported many Polish inhabitants, especially the intelligentsia, military, policemen, foresters, officials, wealthier merchants, farmers and craftsmen and their families, to the Far North (Arctic Circle), Siberia and Kazakhstan.
thumb|right|upright|A monument commemorating Poles of Grajewo deported to [[Siberia during the Soviet occupation]]
On June 22, 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, German border guards shelled the town and then occupied it, setting up a military command post in the town. Adult Jews were employed in forced labor by the Germans. On 29 June 1941, following Sunday mass, local Polish anti-Semites carried out a pogrom killing 10 Jews and injuring dozens of others. However the next day on 30 June the Jews of the town were assembled at the market square by the German Gestapo and the Polish perpetrators of the pogrom were asked to identify communists who were then brutally beaten. 300 Jews, alleged communists, were arrested and placed in the old Synagogue. The Germans executed the survivors in August.
According to survivor testimony only some 1,600 of the 3,000 Jews of the town survived in August, and they were placed in a ghetto. Around 3,500 people passed through it.
The Red Army marched into Grajewo on January 23, 1945. According to data from 1945, 5,366 inhabitants of the Grajewo county lost their life during the war, only 163 in military operations, 5,009 as a result of the crimes of the occupiers. About 30% of the town was destroyed. It was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s.
Post-war period
thumb|Independence Monument from 1990 in the town center
On May 8, 1945, the anti-communist Home Army seized the buildings of the communist Public Security in Grajewo and freed over 100 prisoners.
Points of interest
- Wooden houses from the 19th century
- Classicist chapel of Wilczewski family from 1839 at the cemetery
- Neo-Gothic church of the Holy Trinity from 1882
- Church belfry from 1837
- Tavern from mid 19th century
- Railway station from 1873
- Roadside chapels from mid 19th century
- Building of a local Secondary School from 1931
- The market square from the 18th century
- Former officer's mess
- Milk Museum (Muzeum Mleka)
Transport
Grajewo lies on national road 65 connecting it to the town of Ełk and Białystok.
Grajewo has a station on the railway line between Ełk and Białystok.
Sports
- Warmia Grajewo – football club
- Płyty Grajewo – defunct basketball club, which played in the top division in 1997-98