  To elucidate the dust properties in the SMC we have for the first time
measured linear polarization in five colors in the optical region of the
spectrum for a sample of reddened stars. For two of these stars, for which
there were no existing UV spectrophotometric measurements, but for which we
measured a relatively large polarization, we have also obtained data from the
International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) in order to study the extinction. The
main results are: (1) the wavelength of maximum polarization, $\lambda_{max}$,
in the SMC is typically smaller than that in the Galaxy; (2) however, AZV 456,
which shows the UV extinction bump, has a $\lambda_{max}$ typical of that in
the Galaxy, its polarization curve is narrower, its bump is shifted to shorter
wavelengths as compared to the Galaxy and its UV extinction does not conform to
the Galactic analytical interpolation curve based on the ratio of total to
selective extinction; (3) the 'typical', monotonic SMC extinction curve can be
best fit with amorphous carbon and silicate grains; (4) the extinction towards
AZV456 may only be explained by assuming a larger gas-to-dust ratio than the
observed N(HI)/A(V) value, with a small amount of the available carbon in
graphite form; (5) from an analysis of both the extinction and polarization
data and our model fits it appears that the SMC has typically smaller grains
than those in the Galaxy.
