 |
From right to left: Leah, Velvel, Fradel and Herschel Peltz
Photographed in February 1941
|
|
[Page 610]
By Itkeh Herring
Surviving the Period of the German Occupation[1]
Eye-witness account of Itkeh Herring born in Zamość in the year 1924.
Education: Three grades of gymnasium
Father's occupation: Forest broker
She lost her parents and sister.
|
|
From right to left: Leah, Velvel, Fradel and Herschel Peltz Photographed in February 1941 |
I was born in the Lublin District in Zamość in the year 1924. My parents were middle class. I received a good and attentive upbringing at home. The concern of my parents was to raise their children to be decent and reliable people. My father was a Zionist, and did a great deal for this movement, and absorbed the costs involved. I was bound up to my nearest with my entire heart, and I let them feel it at every opportunity. This is the way the years went by, in the warm domestic nest, in the company of loving parents and family – until September 1939.
Indeed, at that time, when the dark cloud descended on the world, our tranquil, quiet family life was also disrupted. It was very painful to say goodbye to our eldest brother, who was the beloved of the family. He – feeling young and strong, could not reconcile himself with the thought of remaining under the Germans, and paying no heed to the fact that he had to part from his parents, he went off to Russia.
Together with the entry of the Germans, a storm and hurricane began to wildly blow over the Jews. Seizures, beatings, torture, and retribution for every incident. Despite the fact that the days were frightful, they went quickly – accelerated by the beating of the heart. With eyes fixed on the distance, we yearned to see a better tomorrow. Provocations began immediately in the city, and as a result, many tens of innocent Jews were slain.
A Judenrat was established in the city, which was elected by the Germans. From the outset, it was thought that these people were needed, in order to assist the poor, and those who had suffered ‘evacuation.’ Every (Jewish) resident of the city, exerted themselves to come with assistance for the ‘evacuated’ – whether with a place to live, or with produce.
The stern character of the Judenrat was recognized at that time, when the seizures of people began, who were designated as ‘schmelz[2].’ At that time, they took money from the wealthy, and sent the indigent off to the contingent.
During these seizures, my parents had the opportunity to hide themselves in the forest, because we had connections with the Poles who notified us about everything in a timely fashion.
As previously said – my father was a very energetic person, and he also foresaw the tragedy that was forcing itself ever nearer over our heads. He therefore negotiated with a forest watchman, with whom he shared trust, that in such an instance, he was to prepare a hiding place in the forest. [In payment for this] we transferred all of our household effects to him.
[Page 611]
In the fall of 1942, 5 in the morning, the Gestapo staff surrounded the city, and prohibited anyone from leaving the city. The frightened people hid themselves in the hiding places in their homes, and which had been made in every Jewish house.
I, together with my entire family, did not lose a minute, and leapt into the hiding place, which had been prepared to accommodate fifteen people. About 40 people were actually crammed in there. We sat in this overcrowded condition for 5 days, comforting ourselves with the hope that this wave will pass through, and that perhaps we will not be found.
When we learned about what was happening in the city, and also that the entire Judenrat had been taken away, and that old people and children were being shot indiscriminately without any mercy; men and women; that the streets look like a bloody sea; that people are walking over dead bodies, and that hiding places are being discovered continuously, from which the people are dragged out to be slaughtered – then we understood that we were lost.
Streets, bearing the legend ‘Judenrein’ were hung out in the streets.
Being in the hiding place, we wracked our brains unceasingly as to how we could get out of this situation – I could find no counsel. It could be that if I were egotistical, I could have saved myself, throwing myself in the direction of life-rescue by myself. However, I adopted the thought – to live or go under with my dearest. Therefore, I waited to see what fate would bring.
On the sixth day, of this seizure, Gestapo staff and local Poles burst into our house with laughter and outcry. The hearts of those in the hideout were dead, and everyone held their breath. And like wild animals, they threw themselves into the search for hidden people. Suddenly, something over our heads gave a bang – this was the scraping of the canopy that they had pushed aside, under which there was the secret entrance to the hideout. We saw light through the cracks (of the floor), and our hearts started to pound like hammers. In thought, each person was saying goodbye to his life.
I will never forget how on my pained and tortured breast, I felt the tears of my mother, and heard her loving voice: ‘my child, let us say goodbye to life, die like a true Jewish daughter. Cry out ‘Shema Yisrael.’’
In that moment, we heard a stern call from above us, which rang in our ears like a solution: ‘there is no one here, come, let us go somewhere else.’
Everyone's hearts eased, we felt like someone who had risen from the dead at resurrection. After this incident, my father decided to get out of this Hell at any price.
That night, we mustered our last energies, and we entered into the dwelling. Paying no mind to the difficult conditions and the risks of the journey, we decided to flee.
The night was a beautiful one, moonlit, light as day. With bated breath we went traversed the streets, treading on dead bodies and puddles of blood. When we were already at the outskirts of the city, bullets began to whistle over our heads. With bated breath we began to run, and run, like a tornado driven by some sort of wind. We ran for over two kilometers at that sort of a gallop, and our strength could not take us any further. We quietly sat ourselves by the river, catching our breath, taking some cold water. We quietly thanked God for this great gift – being able to live through this terrifying night.
Our continuing path was, indeed, to go into that forest, where father had arranged the hideout. We made contact with the forest watchman, who provided us with food, and we took up residence in the forest.
From the outset, we suffered only from the cold, because we were able to bring food from the village. In any event, we were lucky that our ears no longer hear the Hitlerist shouting.
[Page 612]
There were, however, people to be found who envied us. On one night, bandits fell upon us, who took everything away from us without mercy – the clothing, underwear and money. We were forced to change the place where we lived, going to a second forest. These followers, however, followed our spoor, and revealed our second hiding place, and again robbed us of our last things. They left us naked and barefoot – without the energy to live.
It was in the winter. I walked on the snow barefoot, in the most severe cold, to a peasant in the village, in order to plead for some help. We were frightfully exhausted from hunger, literally close to death.
Regardless of everything, we sought to exert ourselves to survive; we comforted ourselves with the hope that the end of our troubles was drawing near.
A fatal incident occurred once. When I was not present, the AK troops surrounded the forest, and not giving anyone time to flee, they murdered everyone. I didn't know about anything, going home with great joy, because I was carrying a bit of nourishment for my nearest. My heart was filled with sorrow, when nobody responded to my summons. A deathly silence reigned in the forest. I began running around like a crazy person, looking for my dear ones, with dead bodies in front of me – and I found them after a long period of blundering around. I fell beside them in tears, they were still warm. My soul is devastated, and I lose the will to try and struggle and overcome the difficulties ahead. But, precisely at this moment, when I lost all my near ones, when it would have been possible to think that I had nothing further to live for, a strong impulse and conviction was elicited from inside of me – to live and take vengeance for the innocent blood that had been spilled.
There were partisan groups located in this forest, which consisted of Russian prisoners (who had escaped), a small number of Poles, and rather few Jews. I enter a Russian camp, because I had begun to feel an antipathy to the Poles, because of this last blow that I had received from them.
Our first mission was to cross the Bug [River] into White Russia, in order to join up with the brigade from Pinsk. I, however, asked for some help at the time, in order to be able to bury the dead bodies of my loved ones. I help to dig these graves with my own hands, and I cover their eternal resting place with my own hands.
The group who forded the Bug consisted of 30 people. I received weaponry – a rifle with ammunition. The way was a very difficult one, and very dangerous. On this side of the Bug, the AK forces still lay in ambush for us, and they managed to kill one of our people.
We crossed the Bug at night. The water was very deep, but because we had a good guide, and we had scouted the area of crossing very well, we got across to the other side successfully.
We had barely been able to change into dry clothing, when we heard shouts in German, and bullets began to fly. Again, a victim fell. The others fled to whatever point they could. Since the forest was nearby, we fought our way to it, and that's where our following movement was initiated.
We would make 30-40 kilometers a day on foot. The local residents in the villages did not receive us particularly well, because they were largely inhabited by Ukrainian nationalists.
Not far from Brisk, we again fell into an ambush, and we lost three men.
After a month of wandering, we first reached a place about 40 kilometers from Pinsk. The oldest, and everyone, received us well, and gave us the best at their disposal, that one could wish for.
We formed a division called Tchapayev. The commandant of the brigade was a Georgian, a very fine man. He made no distinction based on race. The brigade consisted of five groups. Each group had its commander and its own seniors. Order and discipline reigned throughout. A part of the young women concerned themselves with support activity, others were soldiers: they stood guard, went on battle missions together with the men.
[Page 613]
I was with the second battalion, and carried out an array of missions with it that had been allocated to us. I made an effort to be energetic, and took part in planning for the various situations – and because of this, everyone liked me.
Not far from us, there was a Jewish partisan group. Not only once, because of my insistence, they were given assistance. We had things in surplus, because we would the villages and cities [occupied by] the Germans.
The Germans sent spies among us in the spring of 1944, who represented themselves as being a Red Army detachment, and they exploited out hospitality to research our positions. A couple of days later, a frightening bombardment of the forest began, and we were forced to abandon the ‘palaces’ that we had built with our own hands.
This was insufficient for them. The Germans concentrated great forces and we were forced to retreat under their pressure. We retreated 20 kilometers and the Germans pursued us. The local population appeared to be loose-lipped [about our whereabouts].
At this precise critical moment, help arrived. We held our positions for two weeks – but our strength was not equivalent. We lay for an entire day in the foxholes, and the bullets and grenades would explode over our heads.
Finally, the long-awaited hour arrived. The first divisions of the Soviet Army. The German army pulled back under pressure from them.
On May 5, the partisan groups were dissolved. For the young women, whoever wanted to, could return to civilian life.
A beautiful discharge ceremony took place. Everyone exchanged salutes as a sign of unity. We were given full recognition, which established that we were in the partisan movement. I obtained good work in Kiev. I received assistance there, because everyone there took account of such people who brought honor to the fatherland.
Now, I am back in Poland, in order to again mourn at the grave of my family.
This correspondence, is accompanied by the copy and translation of the following document of recognition:
White Russian Branch of the Partisan Movement
Given to Comrade Itkeh Herring the daughter of Yekhiel, that she was active in the partisan division named Tchepayev, Pinsk Brigade, from January 1942 to May 5, 1945, in the character of usual soldiers.
All local officials are requested to render assistance to Comrade Herring in arranging for work and a place to live.
The White Russian Branch of the Partisan Movement
General-Major (Strizhko) – A circular stamp.
Translator's footnotes:
By David Meckler
(The Story of a Survivor from Zamość)[1]
In the Zamość Ghetto
The entire Jewish population of Zamość, a beautiful city that is found about 80 kilometers from Lublin, was led to a condition of great need by a whole array of German demands,
In the Lublin District, which was densely populated with Jews, the deportations and slaughtering began earlier than otherwise in Poland. We [now] know, that these frightful dealings should have served as a model to carry out collective murders.
If I need to relate everything of what took place in the ghetto of our city, then my story will be very long. Therefore, I will speak only about my family and myself. Our fate was not a tragic exception. Thousands of Jewish families suffered along the same martyrs' journey. I am 20 years old. I was 14 years old when the war broke out. I was barely 17 years old in 1942, when the slaughter took place. My father was a shoemaker, and my mother, a seamstress. We did not have any rich people in my family. Even at quite an early age, they began to teach me a trade. I am a mechanical locksmith.
From the occupation onwards, ignoring my tender age, I was, together with my father engaged in extremely tiring labor.
The Germans undertook a project to change the course of a river.[2] The Jews were compelled to labor at this from morning until evening. [In the] summer under a burning sun, and in the winter in mud and snow. We ate, but we were always hungry.
The chief of our watch, a Pole with the name Leon Szymanowski (who had the rank of ‘foreman’) and his subordinates, beat us mercilessly. Many men died from this hard labor, whether because they starved, or whether because of the beatings that they would receive.
The Slaughter of April 11, 1942
On Saturday, April 11, 1942, The SS and the S. D. (men of the Gestapo) and the ‘Red Police Division’ fell upon the Jewish quarter of Zamość like a wild horde. This caused a great reaction.
A panic separately cause the ‘Red Police’ to be called out. They fanned out into the streets, and with wild cries, beat [people] right and left.
The terrorized populace thought that this was a predation like the previous ones, with the objective of plunder. But no, The animals were sent this time after human blood.
The Jewish community numbered ten thousand souls. In a wink of an eye, without the possibility of being able to give an accounting, as to why this was happening, a mass of three thousand persons was assembled, men, women and children,
[Page 615]
who were grabbed opportunistically off the streets, and driven out of the houses, and already, they were being driven to the train station, from where they were taken off in an unfamiliar direction.
During the summer of 1942, until the month of November, four such assaults took place on the ghetto, and one was more terrifying than the other. The picture that the ghetto presented after each one of these assaults, gradually drove the remaining people, a letter at a time, to insanity. There were killed people everywhere: in the streets, in the yards, in the houses. Tiny children, who had been thrown down from second and third stories, lay on the sidewalks smashed. The Jews themselves had to gather up the dead and bury them and then afterwards wait for their turn to be brought down.
Long convoys and merchandise trucks went off to Belzec, to the extermination camp, where ten thousand men, women and children were killed every day.
After the seventh, and last, deportation, Zamość was declared ‘Judenrein’ – free of Jews. The remainder of the Jews were taken, a part at a time to Izbica, not far from Zamość, to the concentration camp for Jews, who lived in the smaller towns in significant numbers not far from this town. Also, from here, they were later taken to Belzec into the gas chambers.
Seventy Jews yet remained in Zamość. The SS came to liquidate the ghetto. The best furniture and clothing were taken out of Zamość, apparently sent in the direction of Germany. All old stuff was gathered together in a warehouse in an ‘asset storage facility’ on the Jewish cemetery. Poles and Volksdeutsche came to purchase these things for very low prices. The SS cashiered the money. Money has no odor…
During this frightful slaughter, I lost my father, my mother, my two younger sisters, Sonya and Hella, and my small brother Hirsch. Beaten and alone, like a stone by the side of the road, I survived the fifth massacre by virtue of the fact that at the last moment, I entered an old, abandoned house. Dying of hunger, I joined a group of 70 who remained alive in Zamość. They hid me.
Yaakov Meisel with the nickname ‘Zapolka’ (the matchstick), because he was very scrawny, and others, helped me.
Many emerged from their hiding places. Certain people came back from the forests. Winter was approaching, and in order to find a place for shelter one needed to be a millionaire.
The group of 70 rapidly became a group of 500 people. The SS took the position that there were already too many of us. They therefore took 300 people to Lavunya, about 12 kilometers from Zamość to an old sawmill.
Czech Jews worked for a period to erect barracks. The newcomers, however, did not remain for long in this place.
Our executioners were the SS Officers: Landkaempfer, Kolb, and Eisleben. These animals went with a group of 300 people to Lavunya. They said to them: ‘Give us your diamonds, and everything that you have with you, and you will have an easy death, and if not….’
Nobody stirred, nobody said a word. So the officers gave an order to the soldiers, that they should begin to search. The soldiers fell upon the Jews. They tore the earrings off the women, and they pulled out the bread [hidden] in the clothing, in the hope that they would find pieces of gold, or paper money. A Pole was found with a pair of pliers, and tore out the gold teeth from those who had them. He did this under orders from the SS
After this, the murderers led the group to the sawmill, near a pit, which was wide, but not deep enough, which was to serve as a grave. A Polish witness related that everyone died in a worth manner. No one among them shouted, and no one cried. Men and their wives took each others hands, kissed each other, and remained standing quietly before guns. The victims were laid out singly in rows, one next to another, and later, one row of victims on top of another. The
[Page 616]
murderers covered the graves with several shovelfuls of earth, and then went off to a distance, taking with them several diamonds, and gold teeth that they found.
The Last Jews in Zamość
The last two hundred Jews in Zamość were brought for forced labor in an ammunition factory. In this Hell, only Jews and Soviet prisoners of war worked. In the course of just several weeks, 40 percent of us were killed. The SS man, Resfert was the chief of the camp. Every day, he personally, accompanied by SS troops, murdered thirty, forty ‘liabilities,’ slaughtering them for being ‘unsuitable’ to do the work.
The SS man, Landkaempfer found a young Jewish boy, age 12, that had hidden in the camp. He led him into his office, and shouted at him:
– ‘Lay down, you are going to be killed.’
– No – the young child answered, – I will not lie down, kill me as I stand here, in the forehead, in the heart.
Aroused, he kicked him in the head with his boot. After that he emptied his revolver…
Will this murderer be found and punished? How is it possible to set aside his punishment? How can all the murderers in the camps be found, in ghettoes? There are so many of them….
A Partisan
I was not the only young Jewish man who wanted to become a partisan, in order to take vengeance on the murderers of my family. If the Poles would have helped us, we could have formed brilliant divisions throughout Poland, which is so well endowed with forests and swamps, which are inaccessible, but the way the Poles helped us, I will yet tell about an incident that occurred to me alone.
Ten young people among us, all orphans, decided to escape from the concentration camp, in order to get into the forest, and there build a small division which would operate under its own initiative, or might join up with the partisans. At the cost of a great risk, and colossal danger, we were able to get in contact with a Polish peasant. For a sum of 30 thousand zlotys, he promised to give us several guns, and show us the way to the nearest forest, where we would be able to hide ourselves.
We jointly stole and gathered this sum, and gave it to the Pole, and on one night the guard had been bought off, and we came out of the camp. The peasant gave us the guns, but later, when we reached the forest, it became apparent that the guns had little value. Even worse, the bullets were of a different caliber than the guns. On that same night, we were attacked by a band of peasants, which seemingly were set upon us by our peasant, because he knew very well where our hiding place was. The band beat us, took away all of our money, and even all our clothing. Only with great trouble, were we able to save ourselves. Understandably, they also took away our guns, in order to sell them to other Jews.
Hungry and dazed, we remained in the forest for the entire day, knowing that at every step or turn, death lay in waiting.
The Germans distributed ammunition to certain designated Poles. These Poles went through the villages and the forests, in order to search for Jews who had fled. We were left with practically no alternative, but to turn back to our imprisonment. Embittered, we had one outside chance in order to get over the barbed wire. Thanks to the help of our comrades-in-woe, we were able to buy off a German in the office, who again took us into the camp as slaves.
Because of this, we didn't lack any ardor in our will to fight the Germans, but the circumstances for us, sadly, were not advantageous.
[Page 617]
On June 1, 1943, along with another 400 Jews, I was taken to Majdanek.
What can be said about this place?
There are tragedies in which we refuse to believe, because we cannot conceive of them.
At the time that I lived beside the massacres in the streets of Zamość and saw the suffering in the forced labor camp, I thought to myself, that I had seen everything already. However, I still needed to live through the most terrifying of all in Majdanek.
Arriving in Majdanek, and after a very cursory interrogation, we went into barrack number 19. At the time we entered there, the SS happened to be in the midst of hanging many of the inmates of the camp, sick people – skeletons, and already dying.
On the following day, I was a witness to another spectacle.
An elegant SS officer, with the name Reichmann, occupied himself with a selection of people, with a very subdued disposition (with gritted teeth), he would indicate with his index finger: ‘Right, Left,’ what this meant… to go to death immediately, or for the time being not to go to death. This time I was sent to the right, but I did not make myself any illusions, as to what awaited me later on. The clouds of black smoke which came out of the tall chimneys of the crematoria, ceaselessly reminded me of it.
It was certain that I would be killed, but in what way, that I did not know. Will I be hung by the Kapo Widerko? – or will I be choked to death by the suffocator, or drowned in the basin of the camp; or maybe I will be killed during exercises, or torn apart by wild dogs? The possibilities were quite numerous to be enumerated.
To escape at any price…there are so many ways to die at any time, but there are no possibilities to flee. How can one get one's self out of this circle of guards, from the murderous SS And through the barbed wire, which are electrified?
In July 1943, the SS arrived, in order to take out one thousand workers for the camp in Skarzysko,[3] craftsmen, qualified workers, who will become free, and well treated and paid.
Understand, that nobody believed a word of this, but everyone wanted to get out of Majdanek. I have the good fortune to be among those thousand. I had yet to savor the ‘Garden of Eden’ in Skarzysko and Buchenwald.
Those that remained alive from those camps, will tell all from their side, because it is my opinion that this is the mission of all these, who lived through the Nazi camps.
I have done the minimum, telling about the transgressions that the Germans committed in our city of Zamość.
Out of the ten thousand Jews of Zamość, I have not yet encountered a single survivor.
Now, the Germans have been defeated. The torture, the slaughtering are ended. But not for us Jews. Ten years ago, before Hitler declared war on the world, he declared war on the Jews.
[Page 618]
He tortured them, exterminated and murdered them, and the world that saw it all, remained silent. The world continues to remain silent. At a time when all the nations are getting their independence back, when all the thousands of French, Dutch and Russians who, precisely like us, found themselves in the extermination camps, are now returning home, we, those who survived in Poland, have no place to go.
Pre-war reactionary Poland was a stepmother to us, and the current regime – a truly democratic one – is favorable towards Jews, but this [is a] fable, and until such time that a little understanding and love will be shown to us, a lot of water will have to flow under the bridges. And we have no time. We cannot wait any longer. We want to have our share of a human life also.
Or haven't we earned this yet after so much suffering?
David Meckler, from Zamość (20 years old)
Translator's footnotes:
By Henoch Nobel
Declaration
By Henoch Nobel, born November 1, 1896 in Izbica, lived in Izbica before the war, and now in Lublin, Kowalska 4/2; a tanner by trade, completely alone. Now the owner of a leather store in Lublin at Kowalska 4.
Taken down by: Irana Szajowicz
|
|
In 1939, when the Germans entered, there were 6000 Jews in Izbica; mostly these were manual craftsmen, workers and merchants. There also were several doctors, teachers, and manufacturers. Before the war, our town was a place that had means.
The first Germans who came riding into Izbica as patrols on motorcycles, organized a sort of welcoming pogrom. Already on the first day of the occupation, there were several killed among the Jews. In two days time later, a levy was imposed on us. The Jews paid it. A few days later, the Germans issued an order, that Jews have to turn in any gold that they possessed. After that, they ordered that Jews have to surrender merchandise that they had, as well as any paper of value. After completing this aktion, they increased the term of the aktion for an additional three days to turn in all of these items and added: if they will find any gold or merchandise, or paper of value, those who possess it will be killed on the spot. A few days later, they, indeed, began to carry out investigations in the houses. If they found even the smallest item of merchandise anywhere, they shot, and no excuses helped, that these were rags, etc. These searches lasted for several months, day and night.
They also issued an order that the Jews may not have any store, and may not leave the city. If you went past the town boundary line at least 20 centimeters (? – Editors), you were threatened with death An order was also issued under the threat of a death sentence, to the Polish populace, that it may not provide Jews with any form of produce for sustenance of life. At night, I would steal out to the village, and buy something there to eat, otherwise, my children (I had four) and my wife would be sentenced to death by starvation. Other Jews did the same thing. Almost every night, victims fell – if someone would go out to bring some refreshments, and one never saw him again alive. Later on, this going out (even at night) of the city became totally impossible – so my little son who was then 9 years old, and who used to accompany me on these night expeditions, began going out to the village and he became the food provider for all of us. Almost all of the Jewish families at that time survived in this way, through their children, especially by their little girls.
At the beginning of 1940, Jews from the following three towns were transferred after ‘evacuation:’ Kolo, Glowno, and Kalisz. Many families were living in each Jewish household, several tens of people. In the room where I had previously lived with my family, we were given 15 additional people, among them small children. We could not obtain any hay, and also nothing with which to cover ourselves – we literally slept on the bare ground. There was nothing with which to heat the place, we starved, and it was unsanitary. A typhus epidemic broke out, and there were no medicaments, because pharmaceuticals were not sold to the Jews. There were up to 100 fatalities a day.
[Page 620]
In the time of the most severe cold, in February, and order was issued to surrender all jackets and fur coats. Once again, searches began, and if even the smallest bit of fur was found, they shot [people for this].
The commandant of the police, was the former Polish policeman…. (the name is missing from the original – Ed.). The Burgomaster was the Volksdeutsche, Schultz, a tall, heavy blond. He would communicate with us brutally. An order then came out that we had to wear white armbands with a blue Star of David on the right arm. Schultz had an aggressive dog that would immediately attack people, at a command from his master, who were wearing the armband, and tear them apart. Nobody was permitted to offer the victim any help. One time, I personally saw how at an order from Schultz, a woman was torn apart, who was returning from the well with water.
The Gestapo came to Izbica in the spring of that year, and immediately instituted a Judenrat. At the head was Schneidermesser and the following: Millstein, Zulberger, Braun, Kleiner and others whose names I cannot remember. A Jewish militia was created, that consisted of 40 young people. All Jews from age 14 to 50 was registered.
In May, 500 Jews received call-up cards, indicating that they had to present themselves to the Judenrat, with a certain amount of clothing and that they are to be sent out to work. Germans were already waiting at the Judenrat who took them away and led them off with automobiles to Ruda, near Chelm, where they were straightening the river. We sent messengers to them (Poles), who brought us frightening news. People died like flies; they were beaten and starved. In the fall they were bought back from the Germans (sic: with bribes). About 30 remained alive.
In July, I also, along with another 1500 (500? In the original it is not clear – Ed.) Jews received a call-up card. We were supposed to be taken to Belzec. At the last minute, I fled to the forest. Every second night, I would come home at night, and during the day, I would hide in the forest. This lasted for 3 months. On a certain day, when I was getting ready to go home (from the forest), the city was surrounded by the German gendarmerie, and I, not sensing anything, fell right into their hands. I was beaten, and taken to the arrest house. There were already many Jews there, and during the night, they continuously brought new people. It was so crowded, that we nearly suffocated. The SS man, Engels, who at that time was the commandant of Izbica, directed this ‘aktion,’ he was of middling height, blond, about 30 years old, and a vicious executioner. His right hand man was a Volksdeutsche from Biala-Podolsk, Ludwig, a brown-haired tall person.
We were loaded into autos in the morning. Before that, each of us received ten blows with rubber truncheons – and we were taken away to Belzec.
The autos stopped in front of the camp. Rows of SS troops stood, and we were told to move quickly. Every one of us received a beating from the SS troops from both sides of the row. We were chased into a barrack. There was barbed wire all around. We dug… (in the original, the end of this paragraph is missing. – Ed.). There were dead bodies every morning. There were special brigades, whose mission was to look for the dead bodies under the bunk beds. On a certain day, it was some sort of a holiday, we worked for only a half day. Among us, there were 4 singers (Cantors? – Ed.), so they began to sing. An SS man overheard this, and he gave an order that they should sing those songs out loud that he asked for. When they finished (singing) three additional SS men came and ordered the singers to be pointed out to them. They were put up against the wall and shot ! ! !
Fall began, and it was cold and it rained. On a certain day, we were visited at work by Barcheko. He ordered us to strip bare, and work that way. The rain stuck us as if with pins. For us, it was all the same, and when Barcheko left, each of us threw something over ourselves (a garment) which he had at hand. But, he had hidden himself and observed us, and when he noticed that we had covered ourselves with the rags, he began to shoot at us. He killed 12 men.
On a certain evening, I escaped. I went during the night, and slept by day. I got lost in the darkness, but in the end, after two days, I reached Izbica, and came home. Here I became aware that the conditions had gotten even worse. Every morning, Engels and Ludwig would shoot at the Jews. If they didn't have a couple of tens of victims, they couldn't enjoy their breakfast. During the day, Engels would torture, and at night, Schultz with a band of Volksdeutsche would rob, and rape women.
[Page 621]
The Jews constructed hiding places, and they would spend the nights there, and not infrequently, during the day. Schultz would come with his dog, and sniff out people, and if he found anyone, he would kill them. Day in and day out, we would be seized to go to work. This is how the winter and the spring passed.
After the outbreak of the war with Russia, they began to bring Jews from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Holland and from all over Poland. Every transport was numbered, and those would came with those transport wore the number of their transport on their left breast. They were told that when an order will be given, the entire transport will have to get up. In the meantime, everyone worked in straightening the rivers. Women, children and the men.
Transports arrived without any stop. There were days, when there was insufficient water from the well. The number of Jewish policemen was increased to 400, among them were Czech and German Jews. Every day, 2 hours of exercises were conducted.
In the fall of 1941 came the first ‘evacuation,’ in which those policemen took part. Only the local Jews were gathered together. The only ones who save themselves were those who fled, and those who temporarily affixed a yellow star, in a manner that the foreign Jews wore (instead of the armband that the local Jews wore). Those who were gathered (and deported) vanished without a trace. Later, we became aware that they had been taken to Belzec, where the death camp was already in existence.
After this ‘aktion,’ transports began to arrive en masse with German, Czech, and Dutch Jews – men and women, very few children. At the same time, transports with Jews were being sent out – whether with natives from Izbica, or foreigners – to a variety of camps, such as: Sorov, Terezin (near Chelm), Bialobrzegi (near Zamość ). I was taken away from the house at night and sent to Terezin. Our work consisted of waiting at the train station (our barracks were located close to the station) until a train arrived with carloads of sand. The train would not stop, but would slow down its speed. We would have to jump onto the cars, and as they were moving, we had to throw off the sand. If someone did not jump around in a flexible enough fashion (on the moving train), or if someone's work was not satisfactory to the Ukrainians, who guarded us, they threw that individual down under the train. In the time that I was in this camp, I personally saw 64 Jews that were killed in this fashion. These were, in particular, educated Jews from Germany and Holland, who were not used to the physical work. The train would take us to a station, which was about 4-5 kilometers away, and it would stop there. We would then go back on foot, and on the way, at the same time, spread the sand that we had thrown down from the moving train. There were on average 6 such trains a day. Not only once, were we awakened in the middle of the night, if a train happened to be coming in. After returning from this labor, almost every evening there were exercises for punishment (Podni! Povstan! – Fall! Get Up!); We would have to slap each other in the face, etc.
The commandant of the camp was a Volksdeutsche Frankovsky, from Chelm. He would torture people inhumanly. Apart from him, there was ab SS man who was a chief, as was the case in all camps, but he would seldom look in on us. We suffered frightfully at the hands of the Ukrainian Volksdeutsche. They were especially fond of having an ‘election:’ they would search for elderly, and especially hapless Jews, and during the time that the train would run through, they would order them to jump from one car to the next. Out of six, one would succeed in making it – the rest would be killed under the wheels of the train, and the Ukrainians would take great pleasure in this.
When most of the Jews in my transport had been killed off (during the course of nine weeks), new Jews were brought. I saw that I must be killed, if I was to remain any longer. So I decided to save myself by escaping. On a certain day, an opportunity arose for me to sneak into a wheat field. I was sought, but not found. I sat in the wheat until night and then went off to Izbica. In the house, I no longer found my wife: she had been taken away with the little daughter. I found the three children who remained, in a terrifying state. At the request of my 14 year-old daughter, I obtained work from the Judenrat as a canal worker, and I received the status of a laborer, which was supposed to offer me protection.
After two weeks, when we were working, an auto came by with SS staff, and all of us were loaded up – one person, who had hidden in the canal they shot on the spot – and took us away to Zamość on the airstrip. There, I worked for 4 months. We were not beaten extraordinarily, but we were very hungry, and worked hard. It was autumn, it rained,
[Page 622]
and no one of us had any warm clothing. We would go to our work 7 kilometers and then 7 back. The Germans would ride on cycles, and we had to keep up the same pace on foot (as they rode). Masses of people died. Every morning we were asked if anyone is sick. If someone presented themselves, he was taken away, and we never saw him again. The camp was guarded exclusively by military forces. I felt very weak, but I did not put myself forward as being sick, because I knew what awaited me. I tried to devise a way to escape, and not be killed.
On a certain evening, volunteers were called, to carry straw over. I presented myself, with the hope that I will find an opportunity to escape, and indeed, in the field, I had the chance, in the dark, to vanish. Again, I came to Izbica. In the house, I hid myself in the attic, and only the children knew that I was present. My older little daughter would go to work, hiring herself out to the better-situated German Jews. She would bring wood from the forest – and it was in this fashion that she sustained herself, her sisters, and me.
The militia found me. I was away at work to the train station in Izbica. This was already the year 1942. A long time went by in this fashion. Every day there were victims. Day-in and day-out, transports of Jews would pass through. Approximately 70,000 Jews transited through the town of Izbica.
On October 15, 1942, they (the Germans) organized an ‘aktion.’ We had anticipated this, and whoever was prescient had already run off to the surrounding forests. Approximately five thousand Jews were seized at that time. Initially, they were detained on the place, and afterwards they were driven to the train station, through the fields and not by way of the road, so it would be harder. Engels came up from the rear, and the leader of the Judenrat had to walk close to him. Engels propped his automatic weapon against his arm, and shot into the mass of people in this way. There were 50 cars waiting at the train station already. The hapless martyrs were packed into them. Several hundred people were not able to get in, seeing as they were fully stuffed. Engels told those who remained that they should run home. Then the SS people began to shoot into them. Most were killed. On that day, 700 Jews were killed, and dead bodies were taken 9to burial0 for two days straight.
I, and the children, hid ourselves in the forest. When the gunfire died down, I returned to the town. After this, there was an hiatus of about 10 days for complete lack of activity. This took place in October (the 15th) 1942.
During this tranquil interlude, the Jews from the surrounding villages were driven together into the town, in flat wagons, where they worked. This process of driving the Jews together continued until the 1st of November.
On the First of November, at night, the Germans and the Ukrainians surrounded the city. The Jewish militia came, and informed us that the city was surrounded, and apparently, something was new was going to happen. At 4:00AM, the ‘aktion’ commenced, with gunfire. The Jews were driven together onto the square, and everyone was told to take along baggage. On the square, we sat for two days and two nights with our effects, and during that time, more and more Jews were driven together. After all this, they were driven to the train station, and the baggage remained lying on the square. The elderly were shot on the spot, and the young were chased into the train cars. The ‘aktion,’ continued further. One train left, and they continued to drive a new group of Jews. A veritable mountain of baggage was created on the square. A second transport was loaded up. The better things were taken away by the Germans, and the rest were set on fire.
A number of Jews had good hiding places, and they hid themselves. An order came, that all the furniture was to be carried out of the houses, onto the square, and afterwards, the houses were to be gone through (to be searched). The floors were ripped up. In this manner, hiding places were discovered, and hidden Jews were dragged out of them.
In the city there was an inactive cinema house, a big building, All the Jews were driven into that building that had been dragged out of hiding places. The cinema house was stuffed to such a degree that people were standing on top of one another, and they continued to cram new people in. When it was severely cramped a huge alarm and outcry ensued, so one of the Gestapo people made a sign and hung it at the entrance: Hier liegen verrikten Juden (here are crazy Jews).
Polish firemen kept order. They took up to one hundred zlotys for a glass of water.
[Page 623]
After this, they began to dig graves in the cemetery– 10 meters long, 5 wide, and 3 meters deep. A part at a time, up to 100 people, the Jews were taken out to the cemetery, told to take their clothes off to their underwear. A board lay over these pits, on which they led ten people at a time. A report of automatic gunfire was heard. Into the pit also fell those who were only lightly wounded, and they were later covered up by other bodies.
This was the beginning of the ‘aktion.’ It lasted for the entire length of the month of November. Approximately 6-7 thousand people were killed, in particular Czech and Dutch Jews.
When wagons were in short supply during this aktion, in the evenings, 1000 small (peasant) wagons were driven together, and (the Jews) were taken to Trawniki, where they were loaded on wagons, and taken to Sobibor. The remainder of the Jews were all killed out on the cemetery.
The remaining 400 militia men and from (something is missing here from the original print – Ed.) Were driven off to the cemetery, where they dug a pit, and they were shot there. Also Rabbi Simcha was captured in a hiding place.
Engels took part in the shooting at the cemetery, the Volksdeutsche Zates (?) Landan and Josef Gut from Izbica was shot together with his family on the cemetery (the end of this section is not comprehensible – Ed.).
On November 30, placards were hung out in Izbica, indicating that the town was ‘Judenfrei.’ I his in the forest. We got lost in the forest in December, we were approximately 50 men, and together with us were women and children.
The Germans hung out placards saying that Izbica was to become a ‘Judenstadt,’ and that Jews will work for the government and have the right to live there, and that it will be forbidden to shoot at the Jews.
Winter set in, frost, snow, and there were no places to hide, and because of this we had nothing to lose, because in any event, every day people were dying. It was decided to return (to Izbica).
From the outset, 4 men were sent out who were selected by lottery, to observe, and I was among them. The rest remained in the forest, and paid attention to what would be done to us. When we came to the city, we saw that all the houses had been hacked apart. The Burgomaster Schultz came to us and said, that there is an order, which prohibits shooting at Jews. He will assist in putting the houses in order. We informed the people in the forest, and in the city, the Jews began to come together in a terrible state, with frozen hands, ears, etc.
When the Jews in the surrounding forests found out about this, they all gathered together in Izbica. Many came who were ill, and (a word is missing here in the original – Ed.). A hospital was put together, and immediately, 50 sick people were accepted, especially those who were frostbitten. A feldscher was found, who began to heal the sick.
Schultz came and said that we should create a Judenrat, register the Jews, and he will issue us bread cards. Everyone received a registration card with a serial number. My number was 200. These were distributed in March 1943.
After this, Schultz came and advised that we should immediately go to work in…(the original is lost – Ed.), in order to receive authorization to work, without which, there is the threat of punishment for anyone caught [without one]. In the ‘klinkernia’ we were all given typed ‘visas’ where it was indicated that the holder of the ‘visa’ is employed at a critical work Zur dringende Arbeiten; in Klonkenwerk eingestelt worden, and we worked from 6 to 6 without a break or food.
We carried up to 12 bricks up to the third story. On one occasion, three taxis with SS people showed up unexpectedly, they surrounded our houses, shooting into the houses with automatic weapons and threw grenades, to the extent that many houses collapsed. The entire hospital (and the sick) was murdered, some managed to flee. Half of the Jews were killed at that time. Again, we fled to the forest.
[Page 624]
We were in the forest for three days during the most severe cold and great snow. There were no incidents, only hunger and the cold gnawed at us. Having nothing to lose, we returned to the city, in order that they put an end to us more quickly, because those who were already dead, were better off than we were.
We came at night. Quietly, we went into the houses. Everything had been plundered, and we found nothing. In the morning, we were afraid to go outside, and we remained in the house. They shot at us, and again killed half of the Jews. We fled to the forest. It was very difficult in the forest. Terrible cold and snow. We were not properly dressed, we had nothing to eat. We lacked strength. We went off to the city, in order that these sufferings come to an end. We worked yet again.
This is the way it was until April 17, 1943. On that day, in the morning, the Germans and Ukrainians surrounded us, they had to (finally) put an end to us. It was not possible to flee, and anyone who attempted to run was shot. I had the fortune of falling into a sort of hiding place, in which there previously was a woman and a child. I was there for 3 days. On the third day, the child began to cry from hunger, and we were discovered there. I, along with the entire group of Jews, that was found there, were taken out, and told to undress down to our u8nderwear. I indicated that I was only going to take off my jacket, when I was shot at. They (the shooters) were drunk, and it appears that they were in a big hurry. I fell. On top of me, other dead bodies fell. After a set time, I came to – it was quiet already. I understood, that the murderers had departed. I felt a pain in my side. I was able to stand up, and around me were dead bodies. I walked a couple of steps, and I heard moaning – from another person who was wounded. I picked him up. A while later, there was another one. There were seriously wounded. Somehow or another, we bandaged our wounds. When we had gone a distance of about 100 steps, one fell down and died. The remaining two of us went on further. We went into the forest. We sat for two days in the shrubs. My companion died – I remained alone. I wandered aimlessly for 2 days. Feeling that I was coming to my end, I went off to a Pole that I knew – Jan Maxilla in Polka Orlowskia, and pleaded for him to take me in, and if he does not want to, then he should bury me, because I feel like I am dying, that I am near death. He made an arrangement for me in one of his structures. He changed the dressing on my wound, and gave me food. I remained there for several weeks. His wife, however, was very angry because he was hiding me, and thereby placing the entire family in danger. Therefore, he led me off into the forest, and dug a pit for me there. He brought me food. I sat continuously in a pit, not coming out during the day, only at night. It was very difficult for me, especially in the wintertime, but thanks to this help from the previously mentioned Maxilla, I survived.
This was the way I managed to suffer through, until the Red Army came in.
H. Nobel
Irana Szajowicz (Stenographer)
Editor's footnote:
By Abba Friedling
My recollections encompass the time when the ‘Reds’ left Zamość and the city was taken over by the Nazis – that means October 1939, until the final liquidation of the Zamość Jewish community and later, my wanderings through a variety of Nazi places of torture.
The Judenrat that was created in accordance with the direction of the Gestapo consisted of: Memek Garfinkel – President; Azriel Sheps and Sholom Tischberg – Vice Presidents; Todres Nickelsburg – Trerasurer; Moshe Levin – Secretary; Gallis – Operations Direction; The remaining members were: Sholom Tzibeleh, Eliyahu Epstein, Sholom Topf, Baicheh Pfeffer, Fishel Langbaum, Boruch Fishelsohn, Boruch Wilder, Dudek Garfinkel, Shmuel Rosen, Leib Rosen, Yaakov Levin, Mali Cohn, Ben-Zion Lubliner, Leib Eisen, Itcheh-David Schliam, Shmuel Totengraber, and Dr. Rosenman.
The following worked as employees of the Judenrat: Moshe Levin's son, Fishel Grossman, Aharon Shlafrok, Isser Rosenman, Meir Tischberg, Miss Sarah Tischberg, Yasheh Mendelsohn, Yaakov Schwartz, Mottel Sznycer, Antshel Maller, Frimcheh Peckler, a daughter of Mottel Willner's, Moshe Zimmerung's daughter.
This was a time of a variety of contributions and chicaneries, robberies. For a period of time, the ‘liaison with the SS was a certain Goldhammer from Warsaw, and a son-in-law of Nachman Melamed from the Neustadt, he was someone who had free access to them.
In 1940 (month of March), in Zamość, in the Lukaszinski barracks, diagonally opposite the ‘Hayfl,’ a forced-labor camp was established, where about 400 Jews worked. The Gestapo, that had the oversight over the camp, tortured people severely, and was very rough with them. At that time, a couple of thousand Jews from a variety of Polish cities were brought to Zamość, and they were quartered among the Zamość Jews. We took them in like our own brethren, and shared food and drink with them.
Then, at the order of the Gestapo, the Judenrat established a ‘Friedhof-Bedingung’ which was a sort of Hevra-Kadisha. This ‘Bedingung’ consisted of the following people: Shmuel-Yaakov Fleschler, Itamar Fleschler, Abba Friedling, Meir Weintraub, Itcheh Schartz, Mordechai Richter, Zalman Ackerman. The mission of this Hevra-Kadisha, or as it was officially known, ‘Friedhof-Bedingung’ was to immediately remove those who were killed, when the beasts shot people on the spot, from time to time.
In the month of April 1940 an array of work camps were created around Zamość. At the start, the Zamość Judenrat sent 500 men to these camps, and after that, an additional 800 Jews were sent. They were sent to the camps at Belzec, Narol and Ciechanow.
The Jews of Zamość would provide food for the workers in the camps on every Sabbath.
During the month of September, Itcheh-David Schliam and Shia Fuchs exerted themselves with the SS to get permission for the Zamość residents to be permitted to come back into the city. Their request was satisfied in stages. In general, these camps were liquidated in October 1940, and all the Zamość residents returned to the city.
[Page 626]
In Belzec, at that time, there sat a commission of the Lublin Judenrat, who carried out a certification of Jews that were sent to those camps.
In January 1941, the Gestapo ordered that an ‘Ordnungsdienst’ be created in Zamość, that was called ‘the Jewish Police’ by the Jews.
The following people entered into the Jewish Police that was created by the Judenrat: David Garfinkel (Commandant), Shlomo Rosen, Elyeh Epstein's son, Stakh Fleischman, Berel Schwartzbier, David Weissman, Moshe Hoffman, Shlomo Rosenman (Browar), and a number of the foreign Jews, who had been brought to Zamość. The mission initially was to bring those to work who did not want to go willingly by themselves; they assisted in the collection of the monies from all of the contributions levied; providing oversight regarding sanitation among the Jews.
In the month of March 1941 a sorrowful order was issued to create a ghetto. The ghetto was created in the Neustadt. All the Jews of the city and the ‘Browar’ were compelled to take up residence there. Because of the great overcrowding, a couple of hundred Jews left Zamość and took up residence in Komarow. In that time, approximately 5 thousand Jews were brought from various cities in Poland and from Czechoslovakia, and they were crammed into the ghettoes of Zamość and the nearby province.
On the 24th day of Nissan, two days after Passover (end of April), was the Black Sabbath of the Zamość Jews. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Gestapo surrounded the entire ghetto. Gestapo, SS and also police, chased the Jews out of the houses. They were told that those possessing work cards will be sent home immediately, and the rest will be sent to do labor. By 5:30PM, a mass of 4000 people stood on the ghetto square. The Gestapo surrounded them, and began to lead them to the train station, which was located near the ‘Szkola.’ Along the way, the murderers shot those who could not move so quickly. Until reaching the train station, 120 lay dead already along the way.
These dead were gathered up by the Hevra-Kadisha, and taken to the Bet HaMedrash. In the evening, the Gestapo ordered the martyrs to be transported to the train station, where they were packed into a train wagon.
The murderers declared that they are required to send 28 full train cars from Zamość. 27 cars were filled with the living Jews, so they must fill the 28th car also, German punctiliousness and order….
The entire aktion lasted until 3:00AM.
After this, the chief of the Gestapo summoned the entire ‘Friedhof-Bedingung’ and ordered them to assemble all the dead who were killed, that are located in the houses. This was to last until 8 in the morning. He would then come to check and see if the work was carried out precisely in accordance with the order.
The Hevra-Kadisha went through all the houses in the ghetto, and gathered up an additional 96 people who had been killed – men, women and children. At Berel Deckel's they found 12 people dead in one room. All the martyrs were taken to the cemetery until 8 in the morning, and placed in the Tahara[3] chamber.
The martyrs lay there until Tuesday. On Tuesday, the Hevra-Kadisha arrived, and also Itcheh-David Schliam and Shmuel Totengraber. Totengraber counted the documents, wrote down the names. Separate mass graves were created – for natives of Zamość and foreigners; separate graves for men, and separate graves for women.
It was quiet until June.
In June, the second aktion took place. The Gestapo and the SS tore into the ghetto before dawn. With the assistance of the police, inspections were made of all the houses of the ghetto, and all the people that were found, were taken out
[Page 627]
– men, women and children, also they seized whatever people they encountered in the streets. In total, about 2000 Jews were gathered together that time.
The inspections and seizures lasted from 4:00AM to 12 noon. The captured Jews were driven to the Gestapo pens near the train station. All the elderly, sick, women who could not go along as quickly, chasing after those being driven, the murderers shot along the way. The dead were tossed into pits by the bandits, and covered them up with earth. It was not possible to exactly establish the number who were killed.
Those who had been seized in this way, were sent by transport to Belzec.
Several days later, an order came to rationalize the ghetto down to half its size. All the Jews who remained alive were driven out of the right side of the Neustadt, to a small area on the left side, near Sholom Tischberg's house.
In August, an order came out that everyone is required to work, even children 12 years of age. Everyone who worked was given a so-called ‘Yot’ card, which meant Jude.
At the end of August 1942, the third aktion took place. Once again, the Jews were dragged out of the houses; again, people were killed – up to 100 went away on a transport.
Two weeks later, the Judenrat received an order, that all the elderly Jews have to present themselves, and they will be sent to Izbica, which is to become a Jewish city. Jews will be permitted to live there. A couple of hundred elderly folk were indeed transported to Izbica.
It was quiet for a couple of weeks, until Sukkot. Then the fourth aktion took place, which made Zamość Judenrein.
It was then that the frightening expulsion of the Jews to Izbica took place. They were dragged from the houses; beaten to death, shot, driven on foot to Izbica. Countless people were killed along the way. People were shot whether they could not keep up with those being driven along, or those who stopped because they were tired or sick, as well as those who made an attempt to escape – among them were Itcheh'leh Wechter[4], Leah'keh Sheps, and others.
In Zamość, the only Jews that remained were those who worked in the camps.
One of the Luftwaffe camps was located between the Neustadt and the Altstadt near the military stables. There were up to 500 Jews there.
Another camp was on the Janowica, on the Szczebrzeszyn road – there, about 500 Jews word, among them a small number of Zamość residents.
One hundred men worked in Ziftzer's factory.
About 2 weeks later, about 20 Zamość Jews came running from Izbica, and told that the Jews who had been driven together there from the surrounding villages (about ten thousand), were sent off in transports to Sobibor. That Izbica too, had become rein from Juden – the Jewish population had been liquidated.
Later, 30 Jews were taken from the camps and led into the ghetto, where they went from house to house gathering all the belongings, which had been left behind in a state of disarray, by the Jews who had been driven out. The cleaning out of the houses in the ghetto lasted for three months. During that time, the ghetto was surrounded by Germans, and no one was permitted to enter, apart from the camp workers, until the houses were completely emptied, down to the last
[Page 628]
thread. These plundered items were confiscated by the Germans for themselves. The less desirable items, were sold by the Germans in the market on market days.
This is the way things remained until March 1943. In that month, and epidemic broke out in the Luftwaffe camp. The Germans then removed about 100 Jews, both sick and healthy, among them several women, and they were taken to the ‘Rotunde’ (‘Rotunda’) and shot them on the spot.
Among those who were killed were the following residents of Zamość: Shimon Mahler, Richter's hairdresser, Shmuel Edelsberg, Israel Langbaum, Berel Langbaum, Moshe Brumer – Feivel's son, Hona Meil, a son of Benjamin Elbaum, Abraham, son of Shlomo Pikarchik, the rest were not known. Women: Mrs. Shpizeisen, Shia Shaffer's wife with a child, Shprinza Feigenbaum, Mrs. Elbaum, Miss Rosenman, Mrs. Zilberman with a boy, Mrs. Friedrich.
It was quiet for a bit of time. Again, we worked in the camps until May 1, 1943. On May 1, before dawn, at 3:00AM, the Gestapo surrounded all the three camps of Zamość. All the Jews from those camps, approximately 1000, were brought together in the ‘Luftwaffe’ camp. These people who were brought together were loaded up on auto transports, and taken to Majdanek.
In the ‘Luftwaffe’ camp, two Zamość Jews hid themselves – Shlomo Elbaum, a baker from the ‘Browar,’ and Chaim Babat, from the Neustadt – they were both shot on the spot.
SS staff and Lithuanians accompanied the transport to Majdanek. Entering Majdanek, everyone was ordered to strip naked, and everyone was taken to a bath. After the bath, we were given different clothing to put on, torn rags, and wooden sandals.
All those from Zamość were driven into Barrack Number 19 – the so called ‘Toten-Barrack’ on Punishment Field Number 3.
The German kapo came into the barracks at 12 midnight and asked which of the people were ‘Mussulmen,’ meaning that they were sick. About 20 men came forward presenting themselves as sick (it was thought that the implication was to be taken to the hospital). These 20 people were separated from everyone else, and in plain sight of everyone, they were garotted with a leather strap. This garotting lasted until the morning.
On the morning, the remainder were distributed to various barracks.
Yasheh Mendelsohn died on the third day.
We worked about 3 months until August 1943.
In August 1943, a commission from the camp at Skarzysko came to select a transport of workers. A contingent of 1000 men was selected and about 500 women. Only the healthy were taken. If during the transfer, someone was discovered with any sort of defect, they were immediately sent to the crematorium.
The following people from Zamość went to the crematorium at that time: Shimshon Feigenbaum, Heniek Wechter, and others.
Those who were taken away, went to an ammunition factory in Skarzysko. This was the first transport from Majdanek to Skarzysko.
The Majdanek Camp had the following configuration:
There were five ‘fields’ – 4 for men and one for women. On each ‘field’ there were 30 barracks. The crematorium was on the third ‘field.’ That was also the location of Barrack Number 19, the ‘Toten-Barrack.’ If anyone fell sick, then he was taken to the 19th Barrack and from there to the crematorium.
[Page 629]
We worked each day for 12 hours at the hardest labor. Also the women worked up to 12 hours.
The children, up to 10 years of age, were in a separate barrack.
Later, another transport went off to Skarzysko, also of 1000 men.
In Skarzysko there were three camps: ‘Werk A, Werk B and Werk C.’ The ‘Werk C’ camp was the camp for punishment. After working for several days in this camp, one became yellow. People were beaten unceasingly. If one became sick, that individual was taken away to be shot. Every eight days, they would make ‘selections’ – health inspections. Anyone found to be sick was taken away to be shot.
Among the overseers at Skarzysko were also many Jewish police. There were many thousands of people in the camp.
The following people from Zamość died of torture and hard labor at Skarzysko: Heschel Lemberger, Yitzhak Meckler, Pinia Ehrlich, Isser Gershtengroipen, Moshe Rophel, Fishl Feldman, Zingerman (a harness maker), Itamar Feschler, Beryl Werner (Aryeh's son), Yaakov'l Feigenbaum, Yekkl Zimmerung, and many more.
In September 1943, yet another transport arrived in Skarzysko from Majdanek. The people from this transport related that at that time, about 500 men were taken from Majdanek to Zamość , among them many natives of Zamość . A marmalade factory was created there, and they worked there. They continued to work there until the Red Army drew near to Zamość . On the eve of the taking of Zamość by the Red Army, all of them were shot at the ‘Rotunda.’
One of them managed to save himself – this was a son of Leibusz Kapusha.
In Skarzysko, we worked for 14 months, and afterwards we were sent to Buchenwald. From Buchenwald we were sent to Schlieben, 60 kilometers from Buchenwald, in an ammunition factory.
In Schlieben, we worked for 8 months, until the Red Army drew near. Several people from Zamość died there: Shlomo Pflug, Yisrael'keh Scheks, and others.
From Schlieben, 5000 men were sent to Theresienstadt in wagons (150 men in a wagon), 50 kilometers from Prague.
The trip took 15 days. On the way, we were given a little bit of dried out bread with a little bit of water. Approximately 2000 people died on this trip. We traveled together with the dead.
We arrived at Theresienstadt tired and sick. Many Jews were waiting for us at the train station, and gave us immediate assistance. The sick were taken to a hospital.
Those local Jews took the ones who were well to bathe, and took care of us very well. This was in March 1945.
That is where we were when the Germans capitulated. There were about 37 thousand people there – Jews, Poles, Czechs and Russians.
We were told, that a death factory was being prepared here with a crematorium. There was a red cross on every building, in order to guard against air attack. Three days later, were the liberation of that vicinity not to have come, a mass execution would have taken place. Military officials from the Red Army showed us the prepared execution place. Indeed, we would have been brought there in order to be exterminated.
Dr. Y. Szyfer was located with me in Majdanek in the 4th Block. He worked in the block. He sat for whole days and wrote. He was killed there.
[Page 630]
Of Zamość residents who saved themselves from the Ghettoes and camps, I know the following:
Elyeh Epstein and his son, Memek Garfinkel, Dudek Garfinkel, Shmuel Rosen, Baruch Wilder, David Levin, Itcheh Kaufman (Neustadt), Yankel Schatzkammer (Newustadt), Abraham Feldman (Neustadt), Jekuthiel Zwillich, Abraham Weintraub (Neustadt), Avromcheh Baum, Mottel Marman (Neustadt), Yekhierl Friedrich, Simcha Lemberger (Neustadt), Stakh Fleischman, Ephraim Zitzer with his family (Neustadt), A son of Itzeleh Radoshitzer, Malya Lichtenberg, Yitzhak Zinger (Neustadt), Chaim Shtibl (Neustadt), Shmuel Litvak (Neustadt), Nettl Greenspan (Neustadt), Khosn David Plug, Yisrael Spodek (Neustadt), Malka Zitzer, Salia Zimmerung (Neustadt), Avromcheh Plug and his wife (Kapusz), Mordechai Shtrigler (Neustadt), Issachar Sobol, Leibusz Sobol, a son, tow little boys from Moshe Schatzkammer, Tzitzman – a grandson of R' Moshe Koval, Tepikh, Moshe-Yekkl Osovsky, Abraham Winiaver (A son of Yekkly Winiaver), Wagner, Nathan Avruch (Neustadt), Abba Friedling. There were otheres, but I cannot recall them.
|
|
Translator's footnotes:
|
|
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Zamość, Poland
Yizkor Book Project
JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 14 Mar 2024 by JH
