By the early 16th century, Poniatowa was under the authority of a Castellan from nearby Wąwolnica.
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The Bull ("Ciołek" in Polish) which appears on the town's coat of arms is borrowed from one of the Poniatowskis heraldic designs.
Before the war, there were 300,000 Jews living in the region, which became the site of the Majdanek and Belzec concentration camps as well as several labour camps (Trawniki, Poniatowa, Budzyn, Puławy, Zamość, Biała Podlaska, and the Lublin work camps Lindenstraße 7 (Lipowa Street), Flugplatz, and Sportplatz) which produced military supplies for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe).