Most of Tykocin's landmarks was built in this era, including the Holy Trinity Church, monasteries of the Congregation of the Mission and the Bernardines, the former 17th-century military hospital, the synagogue and the statue of hetman Stefan Czarniecki.[4]
French colonel Georges Frédéric Langermann, commander of the Polish 16th Infantry Regiment, in the Battle of Tykocin in 1831
During the November Uprising, on 21 May 1831, Polish insurgents won a battle against the Russians at Tykocin.[6] After the massacres of Polish protesters committed by the Russians in Warsaw in 1861, Polish demonstrations and clashes with Russian soldiers took place in Tykocin.[7] Shortly after the outbreak of the January Uprising, Tykocin was the site of a battle between Polish insurgents and Russian troops on 24–25 January 1863.[7] During the uprising, Tykocin was attacked by a Cossack unit led by Captain Dmitriyev, who forced the populace to sign a request to the tsarist administration to make him the town's military superior.[8] In this way, he obtained office, and then committed macabre murders of the inhabitants.[9] Dmitryev's cruelty even caused the Russians themselves to report him to the tsarist authorities, but he was only fined.[9]
Tykocin was reintegrated with Poland after the country regained independence after World War I in 1918. During the interwar period, the population of Tykocin had reached an estimated 4,000 inhabitants.
During World War II, it was occupied by the Soviets from 1939 to 1941 and the Germans from 1941 to 1944.[3] The Jewish population of Tykocin, estimated at 2,000 people, eradicated by Nazi Germans during the Holocaust. On 25–26 August 1941, the Jewish residents of Tykocin were assembled at the market square for "relocation", and then marched and trucked by the Nazis into the nearby Łopuchowo forest,[10][11] where they were executed in waves into pits by SSEinsatzkommando Zichenau-Schroettersburg under SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Schaper.[12] A memorial now exists outside the town for the Tykocin pogrom.
In 1950, Tykocin lost its town rights due to population loss in World War II, only to regain it in 1993. From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in the former Białystok Voivodeship.
Tykocin contains a preserved historic center listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.[2] Notable heritage sights and points of interest include:
Tykocin Castle built before 1469, extended in 16th century and partially reconstructed in 2005
The BaroqueTykocin SynagogueBejt ha-Kneset ha-Godol, built in 1642, one of the best preserved in Poland from that period and a major tourist attraction.
A baroque Church of the Holy Trinity and former monastery of Congregation of Mission founded in 1742 by Jan Klemens Branicki
Jan Smółko (b. 1907, AK alias Lokalizator), wife Władysława (b. 1908), Polish Righteous among the Nations – produced over a hundred fake IDs for Tykocin Jews during World War II, based on Catholic parish records.
^ abKatalog miejsc pamięci powstania styczniowego w województwie podlaskim (in Polish). Białystok: Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Oddział Białystok. 2013. p. 9. ISBN978-83-88372-50-6.
^Katalog miejsc pamięci powstania styczniowego w województwie podlaskim, p. 14-15
^ abKatalog miejsc pamięci powstania styczniowego w województwie podlaskim, p. 15
^Alexander B. Rossino, "Contextualizing Anti-Jewish Violence in the Białystok District during the Opening Weeks of Operation Barbarossa", Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, Volume 16 (2003)
Poland
