Leoncin

The Jewish community of Leoncin during the partitions of Poland was considerably small, totaling about 30 business families, some cultivating orchards, others running taverns and crafts manufacture. Isaac Bashevis Singer was born in Leoncin circa 1904, and lived in the village with his father Pinchas, mother Bathsheba, brothers Israel Joshua Singer and Moishe, and sister Esther Kreitman. Twin sisters were also born her in 1902, but died of scarlet fever in 1906, the same year the family moved to Radzymin. They were expelled by the Russian Empire during World War I. Only seven were allowed to take along their personal possessions thanks to protest by a New York rabbi, others were not.[2] The Jews returned to Leoncin after the rebirth of sovereign Poland. In 1921, there were 149 Polish Jews in the village according to census, some 51.7 percent of the population. In the following years, due in part to economic difficulties as well as Zionist agitation, many left in search of greener pastures.[2] During the Holocaust in occupied Poland, in the winter of 1940–41 the remaining Jewish inhabitants of Leoncin were deported to a transit ghetto in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki and from there, to extermination camps.[2]