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View of Warsaw from the terrace of the Royal Castle. A painting by Bernardo Bellotto, also known as Canaletto, from 1773. National Museum in Warsaw, public domain

King Stanisław August Poniatowski, like many of his predecessors and contemporaries, employed numerous agents and servitors. These individuals were responsible for conducting commercial activities on the king’s behalf, extending loans, and supplying goods required by the monarch and his court. Among these agents were several Jewish merchants, bankers, and artisans, many of whom specialized in the trade and production of luxury goods. Due to their roles, they were granted privileges that exempted them from taxes and placed them outside the jurisdiction of most government authorities, making them directly accountable to the king. They were also permitted to reside in Warsaw—a city that, at the time, was officially closed to Jewish settlement under the law.

Dutch Jews were particularly known for their expertise in supplying watchmaking products, precious stones, and gold and silver jewellery. Initially, these merchants operated in Warsaw through intermediaries known as commissioners. However, as time passed, they recognized the greater profitability of relocating to Warsaw and conducting their business affairs in person. Under these circumstances, the Simons (Simonis) family from Amsterdam emerged in the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, quickly rising to prominence within the local economic elite and establishing close ties with the court of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. It is possible that their move to Warsaw was linked to the king’s earlier travels to Amsterdam in 1753, where, during his European tour as a young man, he likely made contact with members of the local Jewish community.

In 1765, King Stanisław August appointed two skilled jewelers, Szymon (Simon) Simons the Younger and Lewi Pinkus Schlesinger from Frankfurt an der Oder, as his agents. Both men were renowned specialists in gemstone setting. Simons was also Schlesinger’s brother-in-law, having married his sister, Hendele. This familial relationship was expected to strengthen their collaborative efforts in the realms of credit and trade. For several years, Simons and Schlesinger operated as partners in Warsaw, combining their expertise and resources. However, despite their efforts, their business endeavors met with limited success. Their debtors failed to meet their financial obligations, which in turn forced Simons and Schlesinger into debt. As a result, King Stanisław August granted them multiple six-month extensions on their debt repayments in 1769, 1774, and 1775.

Eventually, Szymon Simons (who is also referred to in various sources as Simens, Simans, or Simon Simonis le Jeune) began operating independently, achieving greater success in his solo ventures. He continued to serve as an intermediary between Jewish bankers and merchants in Amsterdam and Jewish as well as non-Jewish merchants across Central and Eastern Europe. His trade primarily involved watchmaking and jewelry. He imported pocket watches in tombac cases from the Netherlands, as well as silver and gold rings. These goods were shipped via Gdańsk, while at the same time, he exported agricultural and forest products, acquired from the estates of his aristocratic patrons—most notably Crown Chamberlain Wincenty Potocki—through the ports of Gdańsk and Elbląg. Many of the jewellery items were sold on credit, and after the fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a commission representing the partitioning powers—Russia, Austria, and Prussia—calculated that King Stanisław August Poniatowski owed Simons over 435,000 złoty.

Szymon Simons maintained strong business ties with his relatives and in-laws in Holland and Frankfurt an der Oder. In managing his business in Warsaw, he collaborated with his brother, Jakub Simons, who initially remained in Amsterdam. Around 1768, Jakub also relocated to Warsaw, where, like his brother, he became a banker and court jeweller for King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Jakub also traded in agricultural and forest products, purchasing goods in the eastern regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and transporting them down the Dvina River to Riga.

Two uncles of Szymon and Jakub, Beniamin and Samuel (Szmul) Simons, remained in Amsterdam, which enabled the brothers to expand their business ventures across Central Europe. Through these connections, they conducted business with Warsaw-based jewellers, who frequently placed orders for goods from the Netherlands, and they also extended loans. Following the deaths of Beniamin and Samuel, the sons of Beniamin, Abraham and Emanuel Simons, continued the family’s commercial expansion. In 1769, they became business partners with Szymon. Abraham frequently travelled to Gdańsk and Warsaw to manage trade-related affairs.

In addition to his role as a jeweller, Szymon Simons was also a prominent banker. He extended credit not only to King Stanisław August, his most significant debtor, but also to various members of the aristocracy, including the Grand Treasurer of the Crown, Adam Poniński, the aforementioned Wincenty Potocki, the royal architect August Moszyński and the theatre impresario Karol de Tomatis. The total value of his financial transactions amounted to millions of złoty, prompting historian Emanuel Ringelblum to refer to him as the “king of Jewish bankers in Warsaw” in his work on the history of Warsaw’s Jewish community. Simons employed several staff members in his banking enterprise, including an accountant named Abraham and a clerk named Naftali, who are mentioned in records from 1784. By the late 1780s and early 1790s, Szymon Simons' sales representatives in Amsterdam included Szymon Herz, Szymon Lazar, and Izaak Szmul from Rawicz. The income Simons earned from his business ventures afforded him a comfortable lifestyle. He likely rented a large apartment and by 1784, had employed a servant, a cook, and a maid, presumably a chambermaid.

Records indicate that Simons spoke French fluently and issued bills of exchange in the language. However, he dressed in the "German" style and did not wear a beard, and his employees were similarly clean-shaven, reflecting their most probable affiliation with the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah) movement.

As a wealthy, influential, and politically engaged figure, Simons played a significant role in the affairs of the Warsaw Jewish community, as well as in broader issues affecting Jews throughout the Commonwealth. During the Four-Year Sejm, he was one of ten signatories to an appeal issued by Warsaw Jews on September 27, 1791, calling on the largest Jewish communities in the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to send thirty representatives to Warsaw to advocate for the betterment of the "sons of Israel." In February 1792, Simons also signed a petition addressed to King Stanisław August, which requested the revocation of the decree issued by Court Marshal Kazimierz Raczyński, ordering the expulsion of Jews from Warsaw.

The financial crisis that struck the Commonwealth in early 1793 led to the collapse of most Warsaw banks, and Szymon Simons' business was no exception. He declared bankruptcy and passed away shortly thereafter. Following the third partition of Poland, Warsaw lost its status as the capital, and the city ceased to be of interest to Jewish bankers and jewellers, likely including the Simons family.

Archival sources:

Central Archives of Historical Records:

Potocki Public Archives: 96, 316.

Crown Records, Public Affairs Books (Chancellors'): 18, 47, 48, 52, 55.

Publications:

Archiwum Ringelbluma. Konspiracyjne Archiwum Getta Warszawy, t. 35: E. Ringelblum, Żydzi w Warszawie. Część druga: 1527–1795; oprac. P. Fijałkowski, Warszawa 2018.

C.Aust, Between Amsterdam and Warsaw. Commercial Networks of the Ashkeanzic Mercantile Elite in Central Europe, „Jewish History”, t. 27, 2013, nr

C. Aust, Merchants, Army Suppliers, Bankers. Transnational Connections and the Rise of Warsaw’s Jewish Mercantile Elite (1770-1820), in Warsaw. The Jewish Metropolis. Essays in Honor of the 75th Birthday of Professor Antony Polonsky, pub. G. Dynner, F. Guesnet, Leiden 2015.

„Gazeta Warszawska”, 1795: nr 78 (29.09.), Dodatek. Doniesienia; nr 81 (10 października), Dodatek. Doniesienia.

M. Horn, Regesty dokumentów i ekscerpty z Metryki Koronnej do historii Żydów w Polsce 1697-1795, t. 2, cz. 1, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków 1984; t. 2, cz. 2, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków 1988.

Materiały do dziejów Sejmu Czteroletniego, t. 6, oprac. A. Eisenbach, J. Michalski, E. Rostworowski, J. Woliński, Wrocław 1969.

I. Schiper, Dzieje handlu żydowskiego na ziemiach polskich, Warszawa 1937.