Wizna

Wizna
Village
Saint John the Baptist church of Wizna
Wizna
Coordinates: 53°12′N 22°23′E / 53.200°N 22.383°E / 53.200; 22.383
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Podlaskie
County	Łomża County
Gmina	Wizna
Population	1,300
Website	http://www.wizna.pl/

Wizna [ˈvizna] is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. The Biebrza River flows through town. Wizna is also known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. At present, farming and food production are the primary sources of income for the residents. The food production by private farms provides favorable conditions for the development of processing industry.

Wizna has a remarkably rich history. Already in the 11th century there was a castle there watching over the eastern border of Masovia and the important river crossing over Narew. From the mid 12th century the town was a registered office of the castellany, and from 1379 the capital of the Ziemia wiska (Wizna Land) bordering both Prussia and Lithuania. The Catholic Parish in Wizna was established in 1390.

Wizna was built on an important trade route from Lithuania to Kraków. Co-ruler of Poland Anna the Jagiellonian used to travel through town and so did Queen Bona Sforza. In the years 1435 - 1870, for over four centuries, Wizna was one of the most important cities of northern Masovia. Its significance began to drop only with the development of the town of Łomża. In 1860 Wizna had 2,573 residents. In the interwar period the population numbers rose to over 3,300 partly due to influx of new Jewish immigrants from the neighboring states.

It is not clear when Jews started to settle in Wizna. Most of the Jewish population lived around the Rynek (Town Square) and the nearby streets. In 1765, 16 Jewish families (about 75 individuals) lived in Wizna. In 1857, there were 492 Jews out of a total population of 1861; in 1921, they numbered 714 out of 2670. Jews were mostly small merchants, craftsman and service providers. In the small village of Witkowo, on the Narew River adjacent to the north side of Wizna, a few Jewish families were farmers and fishermen. These included the Gostkowski family, which operated a ferry on the Narew River for over 100 years prior to the construction of the bridge on the road between Łomża and Bialystok. The gangster-turned-author Urke Nachalnik was born in Wizna to the wealthy and respected Farberowicz family, who were grain merchants and operated a flour mill. Urke Nachalnik’s books and stories were published in several languages by the Yiddish press in Poland and in the United States during the 1930s, with some of them being turned into stage plays.