What is "knyszyn"

Knyszyn is a town in north-eastern Poland, northwest of Białystok. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999), and was formerly in the Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998).

A part of Podlaskie, it belonged for many centuries to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was the property of Court Marshal of Lithuania Michael Glinski until confiscated and passed to the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radziwiłł in 1507. In 1569 it was annexed by the Polish crown. In 1795 it was annexed to Prussia; in 1806 it was annexed to Russia, and in 1919 it returned to Poland.

From 1939-1941 the Soviet Union controlled the area, and afterwards the German Nazis took control after expelling the Soviets from Poland, breaking the pact that the Germans and Soviets had signed.

Knyszyn had a Jewish population of nearly 2000 until the Nazis invaded the area, after which most of Knyszyn's Jews were killed.