Sosnowiec Ghetto
Encyclopedia
Sosnowiec Ghetto or Sosnowitz Ghetto was a ghetto
established for Jews
by Nazi German
authorities in the Province of Upper Silesia
in occupied Poland during the Holocaust.
, which bordered Będzin, became the only two towns in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie region that were still inhabited by Jews.
The city, located on the pre-war Polish-German border, was taken over by Germans within the first days of the invasion of Poland. Local Jews were rounded up and terrorized immediately; shootings and first mass executions followed soon afterward, and forced relocations, slowly creating a ghetto. On September 9, the Great Synagogue in Sosnowiec was burned.
Judenrat
and Jewish police were soon established; the head of the Sosnowiec Judenrat was Moishe Merin (Mojżesz Merin). In the first months of 1940 the Zentrale der Judischen Altestenrate 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 local labor camp was established, along with various workshops, overseen by Germans (see Forced labor in Germany during World War II
).
Ever since the ghetto was established, there had been a steady trickle of Jews sent to labor and extermination 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 (Szrodula) district. Środula also bordered the site of the Będzin Ghetto
. At this point about 13,000 Jews still lived in Sosnowiec. The creation of the Sosnowiec ghetto ended on March 10, 1943, when it was finally closed off from the outside world.
Thousands of Jews were deported from Sosnowiec ghetto to Auschwitz in June 1943. The Ghetto was liquidated two months later, in August, and almost all remaining Jews were also deported to Auschwitz. A few hundred Jews remained in the Środula ghetto, which was liquidated in January 1944.
against the Germans. The uprising, a final act of defiance of the local population, was unsuccessful; most of the Jewish fighters perished fighting the overwhelming German forces.
Resistance of the ghetto inhabitants is commemorated by one of the streets in Sosnowiec, bearing the name "of the defenders of the ghetto" (Ul. Bohaterów Getta).
comic by Art Spiegelman
.
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
established for Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
by Nazi German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
authorities in the Province of Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia
The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...
in occupied Poland during the Holocaust.
History
Before the war, there were about 30,000 Jews in Sosnowiec, making up about 20% of the town's population. Over the next few years Germans would resettle Jews from smaller local communities to Sosnowiec, temporarily increasing the Jewish community size to 45,000. By late 1942, Będzin and nearby SosnowiecSosnowiec
Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in...
, which bordered Będzin, became the only two towns in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie region that were still inhabited by Jews.
The city, located on the pre-war Polish-German border, was taken over by Germans within the first days of the invasion of Poland. Local Jews were rounded up and terrorized immediately; shootings and first mass executions followed soon afterward, and forced relocations, slowly creating a ghetto. On September 9, the Great Synagogue in Sosnowiec was burned.
Judenrat
Judenrat
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...
and Jewish police were soon established; the head of the Sosnowiec Judenrat was Moishe Merin (Mojżesz Merin). In the first months of 1940 the Zentrale der Judischen Altestenrate 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 local labor camp was established, along with various workshops, overseen by Germans (see Forced labor in Germany during World War II
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
).
Ever since the ghetto was established, there had been a steady trickle of Jews sent to labor and extermination 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 (Szrodula) district. Środula also bordered the site of the Będzin Ghetto
Będzin Ghetto
Będzin Ghetto or the Bendzin Ghetto was a ghetto established for Jews by Nazi German authorities in occupied Poland during the Holocaust. A major ghetto in East Upper Silesia, it was created in May 1942...
. At this point about 13,000 Jews still lived in Sosnowiec. The creation of the Sosnowiec ghetto ended on March 10, 1943, when it was finally closed off from the outside world.
Thousands of Jews were deported from Sosnowiec ghetto to Auschwitz in June 1943. The Ghetto was liquidated two months later, in August, and almost all remaining Jews were also deported to Auschwitz. A few hundred Jews remained in the Środula ghetto, which was liquidated in January 1944.
Uprising
There had been considerable underground activity among the Jews in Sosnowiec Ghetto, mostly 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 (ŻOB) in Będzin and Sosnowiec staged an uprisingGhetto uprising
Ghetto uprisings were armed revolts by Jews and other groups incarcerated in ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europes during World War II against the plans to deport the inhabitants to concentration and extermination camps....
against the Germans. The uprising, a final act of defiance of the local population, was unsuccessful; most of the Jewish fighters perished fighting the overwhelming German forces.
Resistance of the ghetto inhabitants is commemorated by one of the streets in Sosnowiec, bearing the name "of the defenders of the ghetto" (Ul. Bohaterów Getta).
In popular culture
Sosnowiec Ghetto is the setting of the MausMaus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
comic by Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
.
Further reading
- Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
- Mieczysław Łyszczarz, Martyrologia Żydów m. Sosnowca w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej, Sosnowiec 1970 r.
- 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, Nightmares: Memoirs of the Years of Horror Under Nazi Rule in Europe, 1939-1945, full text at MIGS
- Sosnowiec Ghetto at orans.org
- Book of Sosnowiec and the Surrounding Region in Zagłębie
- Photo from the Sosnowiec ghetto
- HOLOCAUST TESTIMONIES: The Ghetto of Sosnowiec (Srodula).
- Documents and postcards from Sosnowiec Ghetto
- salamandra, The House of DollsThe House of DollsThe House of Dolls is a 1955 novella by Ka-tzetnik 135633. The novella describes "Joy Divisions", which were allegedly groups of Jewish women in the concentration camps during World War II who were kept for the sexual pleasure of Nazi soldiers....
written by Ka-Tzetnik (Yehiel De-NurYehiel De-NurYehiel De-Nur or Dinur, , born Yehiel Feiner was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, whose books were inspired by his time as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp....
)