The Sosnowiec Ghetto (german: Ghetto von Sosnowitz) was a
World War II ghetto set up by
Nazi German
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
authorities for
Polish Jews
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lo ...
in the Środula district of
Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...
in the
Province of Upper Silesia
The Province of Upper Silesia (german: Provinz Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ''Provinz Oberschläsing''; szl, Prowincyjŏ Gōrny Ślōnsk; pl, Prowincja Górny Śląsk) was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. It comprise ...
. During
the Holocaust in occupied Poland
The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
...
, most inmates, estimated at over 35,000 Jewish men, women and children were deported to
Auschwitz death camp aboard
Holocaust trains
Holocaust trains were railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and its allies, for the purpose of forcible deportation of the Jews, as well as other victims of the Holocaus ...
following
roundups lasting from June until August 1943.
The Ghetto was liquidated during an uprising, a final act of defiance of its Underground
Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) made up of youth. Most of the Jewish fighters perished.
The Sosnowiec Ghetto formed a single administrative unit with the
Będzin Ghetto
The Będzin Ghetto (a.k.a. the Bendzin Ghetto, yi, בענדינער געטאָ, Bendiner geto; german: Ghetto von Bendsburg) was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi Germany for the Polish Jews in the town of Będzin in occupied south-western ...
, because both cities are a part of
the same metropolitan area in the
Dąbrowa Basin
The Dąbrowa Basin (also, Dąbrowa Coal Basin) or Zagłębie Dąbrowskie () is a geographical and historical region in southern Poland. It forms western part of Lesser Poland, though it shares some cultural and historical features with the neighbo ...
. Prior to deportations, the Jews from the two ghettos shared the "Farma" vegetable garden allocated to Zionist youth by the Judenrat.
History
Before the war, there were about 30,000 Jews in
Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...
, making up about 20% of the town's population.
[Charmatz 2003]
Google Print, p.28.
/ref> Over the next two years the Germans resettled thousands of Jews from smaller towns to Sosnowiec, temporarily increasing the size of the local Jewish community to 45,000.[ By late 1942, Będzin and nearby ]Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...
(which bordered Będzin), became the only two cities in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie region that were still inhabited by Jews.[Aleksandra Namysło, Stanisław Bubin (28 July 2006), ]
Rozmowa z dr Aleksandrą Namysło, historykiem z Oddziału Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w Katowicach
', Dziennik Zachodni via Internet Archive .
The city, located on the pre-war Polish-German border, was taken over by the Germans on the first day of the invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
.[Charmatz 2003]
Google Print, p.14.
/ref> Arrests and beatings among more prominent Jews began the next morning. On 9 September 1939 the Great Synagogue in Sosnowiec was burned.[Charmatz 2003]
Google Print, p.15.
/ref> Local Jews were being evicted from better homes and terrorized on the streets. Jewish businesses were plundered by individual soldiers and closed by the Nazis pending confiscation proceedings. Shootings and first mass executions followed soon afterwards. Forced relocations into crowded tenements slowly created a ghetto.[Charmatz 2003]
Google Print, p.16.
/ref>
Judenrat
A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every c ...
and the Jewish police were soon established on German orders; the head of the Sosnowiec Judenrat was Moshe Merin
Moshe (Mosheh) Merin (also Moniek Merin and Moszek or Mojżesz Israel Merin in Polish; 1905 – June 1943) was the head of the Jewish Community Council, or Judenrat, in the Sosnowiec Ghetto during the Nazi German occupation of Poland in World W ...
(Mojżesz Merin in Polish).[Charmatz 2003]
Google Print, p.20.
/ref> Food rationing was introduced. The Jews were prohibited from buying anything outside their own community. In the first months of 1940 the ''Zentrale der Jüdischen Ältestenräte in Oberschlesien'' (Central Office of the Jewish Councils of Elders in Upper Silesia), headed by Merin, was created in Sosnowiec, representing about 45 communities. For a time, Merin became infamous as the dictator of the Jews of the Zaglebie region, with the power of life and death over local Jews. A labour camp was established for the Jews deported to Sosnowiec from Czechoslovakia to work at the factory of the Shine brothers. Numerous forced labour facilities were established for the locals; making uniforms, underwear, corsets, bags, leather handbags, and military boots.[ In 1940 some 2,592 German war profiteers arrived in the city. By 1942, their number rose to 10,749 settlers, constituting 10% of the general population.]
Ever since the ghetto was established, numerous deportation actions were organized by the Germans with the help of the Judenrat and Merin, selecting healthy men for slave labor at the camps. Large transfers of Jews took part in May (1,500) and June 1942 (2,000). Around October 1942 - January 1943 the ghetto was moved to the Środula district.[ Środula also bordered the site of the ]Będzin Ghetto
The Będzin Ghetto (a.k.a. the Bendzin Ghetto, yi, בענדינער געטאָ, Bendiner geto; german: Ghetto von Bendsburg) was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi Germany for the Polish Jews in the town of Będzin in occupied south-western ...
. At this point about 13,000 Jews still lived in Sosnowiec. The creation of the Sosnowiec ghetto ended on 10 March 1943, when it was finally closed off from the outside world.
Thousands of Jews were deported from Sosnowiec to Auschwitz in June 1943 during the major deportation action extending to nearby Będzin. The Ghetto was liquidated two months later in August, whereas almost all remaining Jews were also deported to Auschwitz.[Charmatz]
Google Print, p.53.
/ref> A few hundred Jews remained in the Środula ghetto, which was liquidated in January 1944.[
]
The uprising
There had been considerable underground activity among the Jews in Sosnowiec and Będzin Ghetto
The Będzin Ghetto (a.k.a. the Bendzin Ghetto, yi, בענדינער געטאָ, Bendiner geto; german: Ghetto von Bendsburg) was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi Germany for the Polish Jews in the town of Będzin in occupied south-western ...
nearby, organized by the youth organizations Ha-No'ar ha-Ziyyoni, Gordonia, and Ha-Shomer ha-Za'ir. During the final major deportation push in August 1943, the Jewish Combat Organization ( pl, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB) in Będzin and Sosnowiec staged an uprising against the Germans.[ The uprising, which began on 3 August 1943, was led by Cwi (Tzvi) Brandes, ]Frumka Płotnicka
Frumka Płotnicka (1914 – 3 August 1943) was a Polish resistance fighter during World War II; activist of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB) and member of the Labour Zionist organization Dror. She was one of the organizers of self-defenc ...
, and the Kożuch brothers. It was the final act of defiance of the local population with no chance of success. Most of the young Jewish fighters perished (400 killed in action), fighting the overwhelming German forces. The last Holocaust transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau with Jews forced to bury the dead, left Sosnowiec on 15 January 1944.
Resistance of the ghetto inhabitants is commemorated by one of the streets in Sosnowiec, bearing the name "Street of the Ghetto Heroes" (Ul. Bohaterów Getta). There is also Kożuch Brothers square (Plac Braci Kożuchów) with a ghetto memorial.
Holocaust rescue
The Catholic convent of Carmelite
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Car ...
Nuns
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
led by Mother Teresa Kierocińska aided the Jews in the Ghetto and hiding. Kierocińska was awarded a medal of the Righteous 46 years after her death. She was declared "heroic in virtue" by Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
in 2013. The Carmelite Sisters run an orphanage at the monastery. They delivered free bread to Jews in hiding, send food parcels to Auschwitz, and rescued Jewish children by hiding them under false names among the Christian orphans. The convent was frequently inspected by the Gestapo on suspicion of illegal activities.
During the Ghetto liquidation, Danuta Szwarcbaum-Bachmajer escaped with her new baby and was rescued by the Chawiński couple. Szloma Szpringer (Springer) with his 5-year-old son Wolf was rescued by Pelagia Huczak, another recipient of the Righteous Among the Nations award. Adela Zawadzka with her 3-year-old child and her sister Rozia Zawadzka escaped from the 1943 deportation and were rescued by Józefa Hankus and her sister Rozalia Porębska who got them false papers from the Polish underground
The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...
; Rozia used her false Kennkarte The ''Kennkarte'' was the basic identity document in use inside Germany (including occupied incorporated territories) during the Third Reich era. They were first introduced in July 1938. They were normally obtained through a police precinct and bore ...
to get her fiancé Elek Jakubowicz out of the camp, helped by Johan Brys, a railway man. Rozalia Porębska sheltered them both, and helped many other Jews from Sosnowiec as well. Porębska family and friend, a total of seven individuals, received the Righteous award in 1982. Mosze Kokotek whose wife Brandla was killed by the Germans, escaped from the ghetto with his 9-year-old daughter Felicja and stayed with the Poles on the Aryan side until 1944. They left the city together after Sosnowiec became ''Judenfrei
''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been "cleansed" of Jews during The Holocaust.
While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of its ...
''. Little Felicja was taken in by Leokadia Statnik (Pessel) in Ochojec near Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
. Mosze left them there and perished, but his daughter grew up in the care of Leokadia, and in 1957 immigrated to Israel. Another child, Zofia Goldman, rescued by Maria Suszczewicz, was claimed back by her father Henryk who survived, and went with him to Australia.
Six Jews were sheltered for two years from 1943 until the arrival of the Soviets in 1945 by Maria Sitko and her daughter Wanda Sitko-Gelbhart, including Fela Kac and her aunt Fryda, Heniek Mandelbaum, Jerzy Feder, as well as Felicja and Leon Weintraub. They shared a tiny apartment consisting of one room with a kitchen and a vestibule with the door into the corridor. Fryda with Fela escaped from the Holocaust train. During police searches, the Jews used to descend into two dugouts constructed by the men under the floors, so the Sitko women could pretend that they did not harbor fugitives, which carried the death penalty in those days. Wanda Sitko stole an identity card while visiting the police station, and gave it to Jerzy Feder which allowed him to go outside with her to obtain the necessities of life on the Aryan side of the city. All Jews survived the Holocaust. Thirty years later in 1986 – after her mother's death – Wanda Sitko-Gelbhart received a letter from the survivors which stated: "You and your mother at the risk of your life did things impossible and great, all this disinterestedly, acting only from the heart, which at that time was truly heroic.
See also
*List of Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland
Ghettos were established by Nazi Germany in hundreds of locations across occupied Poland after the German invasion of Poland.Yitzhak Arad, ''Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka.'' Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1987.''Biuletyn G ...
Notes
References
*Konrad Charmatz (2003),
Nightmares: memoirs of the years of horror under Nazi rule in Europe, 1939-1945.
' Syracuse University Press; , via Google Books.
*Israel Gutman
Israel Gutman ( he, ישראל גוטמן; 20 May 1923 – 1 October 2013) was a Polish-born Israeli historian and a survivor of the Holocaust.
Biography
Israel (Yisrael) Gutman was born in Warsaw, Second Polish Republic. After participati ...
(1990),
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust.
' Macmillan,
*Mieczysław Łyszczarz, ''Martyrologia Żydów m. Sosnowca w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej'' (szkic monograficzny), Sosnowiec 1970.
*Henry Schwab, ''The echoes that remain'', Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, 1992, p. 55.
*Jarosław Sobaszk, Łukasz Podlejski, ''Żydzi w Sosnowcu-historia niepełna.'', ADORE Dąbrowa Górnicza 2005
*N.E.Sternfinkiel, ''Zagłada Żydów Sosnowca'', Katowice 1946.
External links
*Konrad Elkana Charmatz (2000)
translated from the Yiddish by Miriam Dashkin Beckerman, full text at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS).
at orans.org
*
{{Authority control
Ghetto uprisings
Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Poland