Łomża Ghetto
Encyclopedia
The Łomża Ghetto was created by Nazi Germans on 12 August 1941 in the vicinity of the Old Market (Stary Rynek) in Łomża, Poland
; following their attack on the Soviet Union
. The Jews were ordered to move into it in a single day, resulting in panic at the main entry on ul. Senatorska. The number of Polish Jews compressed in the Ghetto ranged from 10,000 to 18,000. They came from the villages of Jedwabne
, Stawiski
, Piątnica
, Łomża, Wizna
, Rotki
and others. Often, six families were housed there in a single room. The Ghetto was liquidated later on 1 November 1942, when all inhabitants were shipped to Auschwitz for extermination.
. A Jewish Ghetto Police
was established with Solomon Herbert named as its Chief of Police. All Jewish inhabitants were ordered to move into the new Ghetto in one day, on 12 August 1941. On 16 August the inmates were assembled at the Green Market to be tallied. The Chairman of Judenrat was handed a list of about two hundred people accused of collaboration with the Soviets from before Operation Barbarossa
. They were taken to the Giełczyn forest and killed by a Nazi Einsatzgruppe under SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Schaper
. For the rest, work cards were distributed among those with a place of employment. In the following days more Jews were being brought in from surrounding villages such as Piątnica
, Jedwabne
and Stawiski
. The Judenrat requested permission to expand the Ghetto. The Germans agreed on the condition that Jews pay half a million Marks. On 17 September however, before the expansion, the inmates were again ordered to assemble at the Square. The Germans separated those who did not have a work card. Over two thousand men and women were trucked to the Giełczyn and Sławiec forests and exterminated. On that date, the Ghetto was surrounded by barbed-wire with only one exit, requiring a special permit from the Gestapo
. A main gate was built with the inscription: "DANGER, DISEASE". Jews who worked outside the Ghetto used that gate twice daily.
Epidemics of dysentery
and typhus
broke out in the winter of 1941. All infected died. A communal kitchen was set up serving about a thousand meals a day. There were no Jewish schools. Factories for ammunition, soap, leather, boots, and grease were established; some of them on the initiative of the Judenrat. They made products for the Germans such as shoes, garments and furs. On 1 November 1942 the Ghetto was surrounded by the German gendarmerie and the following morning evacuation was ordered. Most of the Jews, 8,000–10,000 were taken to a transit camp in Zambrów
and than to the extermination camp in Auschwitz. The remaining ones, went to the Kiełbasin and Wołkowysk camps and to Białystok. Only a few succeeded in escaping. They found refuge with the Catholic Polish families
. Dr. Hefner from Judenrat took his own life. Last inmates of the Łomża Ghetto stayed in the Zambrow barracks until 14 to 18 January 1943, when they were sent to Auschwitz.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
; following their attack on the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. The Jews were ordered to move into it in a single day, resulting in panic at the main entry on ul. Senatorska. The number of Polish Jews compressed in the Ghetto ranged from 10,000 to 18,000. They came from the villages of Jedwabne
Jedwabne
Jedwabne is a town in Poland, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in Łomża County, with 1,942 inhabitants .- History :First mentioned in 1455, Jedwabne received city rights on July 17, 1736, from the Polish king August III, including the right to hold weekly markets on Sundays and five country fairs a...
, Stawiski
Stawiski
Stawiski is a town in north-eastern Poland, situated within Kolno County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, approximately 16 kilometres east of Kolno and 74 km west of the regional capital Białystok. Stawiski is the administrative seat of Gmina Stawiski...
, Piątnica
Piatnica
Piątnica is a village in Łomża County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of gmina called Gmina Piątnica...
, Łomża, Wizna
Wizna
Wizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. The Biebrza River flows through town. Wizna is also known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. At present, farming and food production are the primary...
, Rotki
Rotki
Rotki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Drohiczyn, within Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland.- World War II:...
and others. Often, six families were housed there in a single room. The Ghetto was liquidated later on 1 November 1942, when all inhabitants were shipped to Auschwitz for extermination.
History of the Ghetto
In July 1941 Łomża Jews were ordered by the Germans to form a JudenratJudenrat
Judenräte were administrative bodies during the Second World War that the Germans required Jews to form in the German occupied territory of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union It is the overall term for the enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to...
. A Jewish Ghetto Police
Jewish Ghetto Police
Jewish Ghetto Police , also known as the Jewish Police Service and referred to by the Jews as the Jewish Police, were the auxiliary police units organized in the Jewish ghettos of Europe by local Judenrat councils under orders of occupying German Nazis.Members of the did not have official...
was established with Solomon Herbert named as its Chief of Police. All Jewish inhabitants were ordered to move into the new Ghetto in one day, on 12 August 1941. On 16 August the inmates were assembled at the Green Market to be tallied. The Chairman of Judenrat was handed a list of about two hundred people accused of collaboration with the Soviets from before Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. They were taken to the Giełczyn forest and killed by a Nazi Einsatzgruppe under SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Schaper
SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Schaper
Hermann Schaper , was a German member of the NSDAP and SS during the Second World War...
. For the rest, work cards were distributed among those with a place of employment. In the following days more Jews were being brought in from surrounding villages such as Piątnica
Piatnica
Piątnica is a village in Łomża County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of gmina called Gmina Piątnica...
, Jedwabne
Jedwabne
Jedwabne is a town in Poland, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in Łomża County, with 1,942 inhabitants .- History :First mentioned in 1455, Jedwabne received city rights on July 17, 1736, from the Polish king August III, including the right to hold weekly markets on Sundays and five country fairs a...
and Stawiski
Stawiski
Stawiski is a town in north-eastern Poland, situated within Kolno County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, approximately 16 kilometres east of Kolno and 74 km west of the regional capital Białystok. Stawiski is the administrative seat of Gmina Stawiski...
. The Judenrat requested permission to expand the Ghetto. The Germans agreed on the condition that Jews pay half a million Marks. On 17 September however, before the expansion, the inmates were again ordered to assemble at the Square. The Germans separated those who did not have a work card. Over two thousand men and women were trucked to the Giełczyn and Sławiec forests and exterminated. On that date, the Ghetto was surrounded by barbed-wire with only one exit, requiring a special permit from the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. A main gate was built with the inscription: "DANGER, DISEASE". Jews who worked outside the Ghetto used that gate twice daily.
Epidemics of dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
and typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
broke out in the winter of 1941. All infected died. A communal kitchen was set up serving about a thousand meals a day. There were no Jewish schools. Factories for ammunition, soap, leather, boots, and grease were established; some of them on the initiative of the Judenrat. They made products for the Germans such as shoes, garments and furs. On 1 November 1942 the Ghetto was surrounded by the German gendarmerie and the following morning evacuation was ordered. Most of the Jews, 8,000–10,000 were taken to a transit camp in Zambrów
Zambrów
Zambrów is a town in northeastern Poland with 22,933 inhabitants . It is the capital of Zambrów County. Situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , previously in Łomża Voivodeship .-History:...
and than to the extermination camp in Auschwitz. The remaining ones, went to the Kiełbasin and Wołkowysk camps and to Białystok. Only a few succeeded in escaping. They found refuge with the Catholic Polish families
Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
Polish Jews were the primary victims of the German Nazi-organized Holocaust. Throughout the German occupation of Poland, many Polish Gentiles risked their own lives—and the lives of their families—to rescue Jews from the Nazis. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the biggest number of people...
. Dr. Hefner from Judenrat took his own life. Last inmates of the Łomża Ghetto stayed in the Zambrow barracks until 14 to 18 January 1943, when they were sent to Auschwitz.