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The Origin and Development of Nowy Dwor The name Nowy Dwor means "New Manor". Apparently, a Polish noblemen established a new manor on the bank of the Narev and the lean soil of the Mazovshe province. In time a village grew around the manor and developed into the town as it was known up to 1939. A document dated 1355 describes Nowy Dwor as one of the best fortified castles in Mazovshe. It seems that already at that time the town assumed the importance of a strategic point where three rivers, the Vistula, Narev and Boug come together. Nowy Dwor has always been connected to the rest of the world through the Vistula which was used for shipping to the port on the Baltic Sea. In modern time the town was also connected to the railroad system. Nowy Dwor was officially designated a town in 1782. the number of its inhabitants rose steadily until World War II. The Jewish population began to decrease at the turn of the 20th century. This decrease may be related to certain general developments and economic changes.
The close-by Warsaw was luring many, particularly those who acquired some wealth. With the advent of modern industrialization in the capital city many have gone there looking for job. The development process was faster when the big city product found larger market following the abolition of the border between Russia and Poland. An important cause for the decline in Jewish population was anti-Semitic policy of the municipality following the practice by the government of pre-war Poland. Other factors which contributed to the Jewish population decline were: Russo-Japanese war, the events related to the 1905 revolution, the great conflagration in which the greater part of Nowy Dwor was burned down (7,000 people were left without housing). Many of the Jewish people of the town joined the emigration stream to "America" and some even went to Palestine. At the outbreak of the war in 1939 the total population of the town was about 10,000 of which 4,000 were Jews many of which were exterminated and killed by the Nazi German death machinery. Following World War II Nowy Dwor, like other Jewish cities and communities in Poland, was "Judenfrei", free of Jews.
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