Jzefw Bigoraj County

Józefów is a town in Biłgoraj County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,436 inhabitants (2006) It lies on the Niepryszka River, in historic Lesser Poland, among the hills of Roztocze, and Solska Forest. The town was founded in the 1720s in a location of the village of Majdan Nepryski. It was an important center of Polish resistance, with numerous battles and skirmishes taking place in the area (see Zamość Uprising). On May 13, 1942, Germans killed 100 local Jews, and on July 13 approximately another 1,500 in the Józafów Massacre. In the late 18th century, it became part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and after the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the town became part. of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland, near the border with Austrian province of Galicia. In 1864, following January Uprising, Russian authorities stripped the town of its town charter, as a punishment for helping Polish rebels.