The old Bet Hamidrash was constructed in 1718 within what was to be known as the synagogue court. In 1742, Bronicki elevated the village of Bialystok to the status of a city. Jews were granted equal rights in 1745. In that same year, Bronicki erected a tower that served as a detention center for criminals. At the base of this tower eighty shops were constructed, which Bronicki allocated for Jewish businessmen. Bialystok, located near the Bialy River (Bialystok means ‘‘White River” in Polish), became a haven for Jews. Bronicki invited them to settle there and build up the town; he provided them with land, lumber and other materials. In 1749 a small number of Jews settled in Bialystok, totaling 765 by 1765. In the next fifty years the Jewish community grew in both numbers and influence. In 1800 the ‘‘new Bet Hamidrash” was estab- lished in the synagogue court. Bialystok replaced Tyk- tin as the dominant city, surrounded by smaller satellite communities such as Choroscz, Horodok, Janowa, Jaszynowka, Knyszin, Odelsk, Sokola, Zabludowa, and Waszlykowa. Rabbi Aron Halewi Horowic opened the first print shop in Bialystok in 1804. In 1807, about 6,000 inhabi- tants lived in the city, 4,000 of them Jews. Bialystok was declared the capital of the region in 1808. By 1897, 42,000 inhabited Bialystok, the Jews constituting 64% of the population. Thus, from the Jewish community’s inception until its brutal liquidation by the Nazis, the Jews played a major role in the life of Bialystok. But there were fre- quent ups and downs. At times they enjoyed prosperity, as well as periods of relative well-being and security. At other times, repeated political and economic crises plagued them, forcing some Jews to flee Bialystok for other countries. This trend reached its peak in the 1880’s and 1890’s, when Bialystoker Jews arrived in the United States, Argentina, Israel and other lands. Wher- ever they settled, however, they brought with them the pride of their origin. They transplanted their civic spirit, their zest for living, their creativity and their ingenuity to their new homes. Shortly before 1914, 80% of Bialystok’s inhabitants were Jews. Virtually its entire economic and social infrastructure was in Jewish hands. By 1939, just before the Nazi invasion of Poland, 100,000 people lived in Bialystok, 60,000 of them Jews. The ethnic mixture of the city included Poles, Jews, Russians, White Russians, Germans and Lithuanians. THE JEWISH COMMUNITY Jewish Bialystok was well known throughout Russia, Lithuania, Poland and other places as a center of Jew- ish culture, variegated social activities and_philan- thropy. It always joined other major Jewish communities in Eastern Europe in assisting needy Jews with generosity and enthusiasm. The town was the 4 cradle of the Chovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement. This focus on Israel as the Jewish homeland was shar- pened when, in 1882, several prominent Bialystoker pioneers helped establish Petach Tikvah in Israel. They founded businesses, built houses, and organized cul- tural and social institutions in the Holy Land. Israel was, however, not the only part of the world in which Bialystoker Jews invested their energy and resources. Mosesville, a Jewish colony in Argentina, was formed through the efforts of Jewish Bialystok. Villa Lynch, an industrial center in Argentina, came into being as a result of the initiative, efforts and money of Jews in Bialystok. In the United States, Mexico, South America, Western Europe and Israel, there are today significant communities of Bialystoker /andsleit to whom perpet- uating the heritage of their beloved hometown 15 essen- tial. We shall see later on in greater detail the contributions of Bialystokers to various lands. Needless to say, the Jewish citizens of Bialystok did not neglect their hometown itself. They organized Yiddish- and Hebrew-speaking schools, gymnasiums (advanced high schools), libraries, theaters, music groups, sports clubs, and a multiplicity of other cultural organizations. Habimah, the famous Hebrew theater company that has delighted audiences throughout the world, was started by Nochum Cemach, a Bialystoker Jew. The city had an intelligentsia that included writers, scientists, actors, musicians, artists, educators and polit- ical leaders. In the religious sphere, Bialystok produced great rabbis, Talmudists and yeshiva educators who spiritually uplifted the Jewish community. They func- tioned within more than one hundred synagogues and yeshivot in the city and its environs and encouraged the masses to maintain contact with their Jewish tradition — to study and pray. Generations of Jewish children were educated in these institutions. Young students from nearby towns came to Bialystok to study Torah in its highly regarded yeshivot. Their hosts, among the most gracious, generous and hospitable Jewish families to be found in Eastern Europe, provided them with food and lodging.