Chest-makers from Siemiatycze
E. Fryś-Pietraszkowa, „Udział rzemieślników żydowskich w kulturze wsi. Materiały”, Polska Sztuka Ludowa - Konteksty 1989 t. 43 z. 1-2. Translation by Wojciech Szwedowski.
Before World War I Jews made grain-finished chests. Before World War I there were three "chest-maker" Jews: Ićko Jozbonde (?), Shmul, Ićko Szyje. Later there were a lot more Jewish carpenters, as carpentry was taken over by sons of the aforementioned, as well as their relatives (materials gathered by Zuzanna Karasińska in 1952).
Before 1939 there were several Jewish carpenters. Some of them made sloppy furniture for the villages: beds with a "drawer", bars, tables, wardrobes. They made them on commission and also always had ready furniture in stock, for a customer to choose from. Other Jews made grain-finished chests. They brought them to the fairs in Białystok, Janów, Brańsk, Ciechanowiec, Wysokie Litewskie, Kobryn, and sold them on location, on the market in Siemiatycze (materials gathered by Krystyna Marczakowa in 1962).