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Polska / mazowieckie



Province:mazowieckie / warszawskie (before 1939)
County:sierpecki / sierpecki (before 1939)
Community:Sierpc / Sierpc (before 1939)
Other names: שערפּץ [j.jidysz]; שרפץ [j. hebrajski]; Серпц [j. rosyjski]
52.8566° N / 19.6691° E
52°51'23" N / 19°40'08" E


Tomasz Kawski

Sierpc is a town in Mazowsze Province lying on the Raciąż Plain and close to the Dobrzyńskie Lake District and the Urszulewska Plain on Sierpienica River, near the point where it flows into the Skrwa River. It has 18.742 inhabitants (2007).

Distances:  Łódź 135 km, Płock 37 km, Warsaw 123 km



Tomasz Kawski /

Rynek ( Plac bazarowy) | Nieznany

The earliest mention of a Jewish presence in the town dates back to 1739. However, Jews had certainly settled there earlier. During the Reformation (16th century), Maciej, a Sierpc barber, allegedly did not keep Catholic fasts in an ostentatious manner and made Saturday his day of rest, attending the synagogue together with the Jews. The cannons of the local monastery accused him of leading many people away from Christianity. The 17th century saw the introduction of settlement limitations. Jews were no longer allowed to live in the part of the town belonging to the monastery, and therefore in the 18th century they inhabited the other bank of the Sierpienica River.

In 1739, a formed Jewish community existed in Siepc. It is known from a sentence passed that year by the Crown Tribunal in Piotrków, ruling on the case of the Jew Salomon from Sierpc. Salomon stole silverware and the ciborium from the parish church in Jeżewo. During the investigation he fled to Brandenburg. The court passed a sentence ordering the Sierpc kehilla to erect a column outside the condemned man’s house, surround it with a wall and preserve until 1850. An inscription on the column in Polish and Latin was to describe the incident. 

The Jewish community inhabited the left part of the town called Czaplin. As early as 1775, a synagogue existed there, and at the end of the 18th century or at the beginning of the 19th century a cemetery was established in this area. In 1809, the Jewish district numbered 118 houses, in 1826  - 136 houses and in 1850 also 136 houses.

In 1793, all 13 merchants and all 22 stall-keepers living in the town were Jews. They were also largely represented in certain crafts, such as tailoring (33 out of 35) and bakery (8 out of 9). Apart from that Jews dealt also with tanning, hat-making, cloth making, butchery and furriery. The town’s only doctor was also Jewish. In 1794, 50 Jewish artisans and minor merchants (a comb-maker, a bookbinder, 33 tailors, two furriers, six butchers, two glaziers, four owners of haberdasheries and 1 goldsmith) belonged to guilds. Three local surgeons, who also were Jewish, did not belong to guilds. 

A Jewish district was officially created on 9 June 1830. The Jews living beyond its borders were


Local history

Tomasz Kawski /

Widok ogólny - widokówka z końca XIX wieku | Nieznany

In the early Middle Ages, a town and a market-craft settlement were located there. The first written mention of Sierpc dates to 1065, when the town belonged to the Benedictine monastery in Mogilno. 

From the 12th century until 1322, it was owned by the bishops of Płock and later the Dukes of Mazowsze. In 1322, it was granted town rights under Środa Śląska law. Following 1389, the town was located again, this time under Magdeburg law.

Toward the end of the 14th century, Sierpc became a private town, and in the 16th century it became the county seat. In 1534, it was divided up among the Sierpski brothers, its owners at the time, and the Benedictine nuns. Ownership changed again over the following years. The town fell into decline during the Polish-Swedish wars of the 17th century. In the 19th century, industrial enterprises appeared: a brewery and a distillery in 1819, and linen and carpet factory in 1828. In 1867, Sierpc again became the county seat. 

Until 1793 (II Partition of Poland), Sierpc belonged to the Kingdom of Poland (Płockie Province, Sierpc county). In the years 1793-1807, it was part of Prussia and until 1815 it was within the Duchy of Warsaw. Between 1815 and 1918, the town belonged to the Kingdom of Poland, dependent on Russia. Initially, it was part of Mława county and from 1867, Sierpc county.

During World War I, a narrow-gauge railway line was constructed from the area of Toruń to Nasielsk. In the interwar period it was replaced by a regular railway and expanded, connecting Sierpc with Nasielsk, Toruń, Płock and Brodnica. At that time, the town belonged to the II Republic of Poland, Warszawskie Province, Sierpc county. During World War II, Sierpc became part of the Third Reich, so-called East Prussia Province (Regierungsbezirk Ciechanów, Sierpc County).

After World War II, there was significant investment in the food industry (grain elevators, feed production, breweries, malt, dairy, slaughterhouse), printing, machine and light industries. Today, a number of valuable monuments can be found in the town and there is an open-air ethnographic museum and the Museum of the Mazovian Countryside.

In the years 1945-1975, Sierpc belonged administratively to Warszawskie Province, later until 1998 to Płockie Province and since 1999





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