A HISTORICAL CALENDAR 1320 1542 1558 1659 1661 1703 1718 1742 1745 1745 1750 1763 1765 1777 1779 1800 1804 1807 1807 1808 1812 1815 1821 1826 1828 1830 1833 1840 - 44 The village of Bialystok is founded by the Lithuanian Count Gedimin. Bialystok becomes the private fiefdom of Pol- ish King Zygmunt. The first Jews arrive in Bialystok, according to the records of Tyktin. The Bialystok community becomes a part of the Tyktin jurisdiction. The Tyktin Council returns Bialystok to Jakow, son of Mojsze Sigl, and to Izchok, son of Mojsze, for one hundred gulden. Count Bronicki builds his wooden palace in Bialystok. The old bet hamidrash is constructed in the syn- agogue square and the Ner Tamid Society is established to maintain it. Bialystok is elevated to the status of a city by Jan Klemens Bronicki II. Jews in Bialystok are given the same rights as other citizens. The tower with eighty shops is constructed and given to the Jews. Virtually the entire town is destroyed by a great fire. Later buildings of stone and brick are built to replace the fire-consumed edifices. The city tower with the town clock is constructed. 761 Jews live in Bialystok. The Bialystok Jewish community becomes independent of the Tyktin jurisdiction. Bialystok becomes a part of Prussia until 1805. Bialystok becomes a central city surrounded by ten smaller satellite communities. The first Jewish printing press in Bialystok is opened. After a short period during which Bialystok is occupied by Napoleon’s armies, it becomes Russian territory. Bialystok has 6,000 inhabitants, 4,000 of whom are Jews. Bialystok is declared the capital city of its region. Bialystok reverts to French hegemony. Bialystok returns to Russian jurisdiction. The Chevra Kadisha is formed. The Bikur Cholim is established. The Gemillus Chasadim is established, later to become the Linas Hatzedek. The Home for Incurables is founded. Eliezer Halbersztam, founder of the Haskalah movement in Bialystok, settles there. He dies in 1899. The Jewish Hospital in Bialystok is founded by Sender Bloch. 1850 - 1855 1859 1869 1876 1876 1881 1882 1882 1882 1882 1883 3 1885 1890 1890 1893 1895 1897 1897 1897 1898 1898 1899 1905 1905 Nochum Minc and Sender Bloch establish the first silk factories in Bialystok. The first Yiddish-Russian schools are estab- lished by Kasriel Kaplan and Gewirtz. Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof, the creator of Espe- ranto, is born in Bialystok. He dies in Warsaw in 1917. The Tzedakah Gedolah (the Committee for Charity) is founded in Bialystok. Meir Walach is born in Bialystok, later known as Maxim Litwinow, the foreign minister of the Soviet Union. Jewish wagon drivers strike against new police regulations. The cornerstone of the Old Age Home in Bia- lystok 1s laid. The first weavers’ strike occurs in Bialystok. A pogrom is threatened in Bialystok. Jewish butchers, wagon and coach drivers repel the attackers. Chovevei Zion (Lovers founded in Bialystok, Zionist movement. The Old Age Home is ppened. Rav Szmuel Mohilewer becomes Bialystok. The Maachal Kosher is established for Jewish soldiers. The Linas Hatzedek is founded. The first spinning wheel is brought to Bialystok. Jakow Pat, writer and leader of the Bund, is born in Bialystok. The Mishmeret Cholim, \ater known as the Linas Cholim, is founded. A wildcat strike by weavers breaks out in Bialystok. Bialystok contains 41,905 Jews (the general population is 67,000). The financial status of the city is good. The Bund party is established in Bialystok. Dr. Chazanowicz and his colleagues travel to the first Zionist Congress in Basel as the Bia- lystoker delegates. Rabbi Szmuel Mohilewer dies. The funeral is the most impressive Bialystok has ever had. The first strike fund is established by the Bund. The Voluntary Firemen’s League is formed, ninety percent Jewish. A united front of political parties in Bialystok is formed to resist the Czarist regime. The com- mittee declares a general strike. August 12: The tragic Shabbos Nachamu. A military pogrom takes place in which 36 Jews are murdered. of Zion) party is the precursor of the Rabbi in The Bialystoker Memorial Book