Siedlce Ghetto

 

Ghettos

Ghetto Map

Siedlce was occupied by German troops on 10 October 1939. Before WWII around 50% of the 30,000 inhabitants were Jews.
In December 1939 the synagogue was destroyed by the Germans. Since 1940 many Jews had to work in forced labour camps within the city.

In 1941 the Germans established a ghetto in the north western part of Siedlce. Jews from Siedlce and its surroundings were forced to move into the ghetto. In March 1942 12,417 Jews lived in the ghetto.

On 22 August 1942 5,500 Jews from nearby Losice were brought to Siedlce and sent to Treblinka on the next day. The same happened with 3,800 Jews from Mordy.
The Austrian soldier Hubert Pfoch took photos of a deportation on 21 August 1942.

 

The burning Siedlce Synagogue *

On 23 August approximately 11,700 Siedlce Jews were deported to Treblinka. Around 2,000 others were shot at the Jewish cemetary, some deported to forced labour camps. After this deportation many Jews still remained in Siedlce. 600 people got the permission to stay in the small ghetto. In addition around 2,400 Jews and a lot of gypsies lived in the ghetto, coming from surrounding villages. On 24 the hospital was liquidated - the doctors, nurses and patients were executed in the hospital. Only four persons survived the massacre. During the next days many smaller executions took place on the ghetto territory. The people, discovered by the SS in their hiding places, were killed on the spot.

 

A Siedlce Boy in his Hiding Place *

On 25 November 1942 the SS ordered to transfer the ghetto outside the town, on the suburb Gesi Borek. The SS told the Jews that typhus appeared in the ghetto and that it could become dangerous for the whole town. On 28 November all people were deported to Treblinka. The complete transport was killed on the way to Treblinka because the people started to escape from the cattle cars. The arrival of this transport was described by Samuel Willenberg who testified that in all waggons only the corpses of the shot people were found. In the same transport a lot of Roma died.

Several forced labour camps for Jews were located near Siedlce:
- Camp I: on the territory of the army barracks. This camp was liquidated together with the small ghetto.
- Camp II ("Reckmann"): 500 Jewish prisoners produced rails for the "Reckmann" company. This camp existed until March 1943. Almost all of them were executed on the territory of the camp, only three persons survived.
- Camp III ("Kiesgrube"): 300 prisoners were forced to work in the gravel pit. On 14 May 1943 the camp was liquidated. Some prisoners were burned in the barracks, some were executed on the Jewish cemetery. Only one person survived.
- Camp IV (on Brzeska street): hundreds of Jews were forced to build the ways and streets in Siedlce and its surroundings. The camp was liquidated together with the small ghetto.
- Camp V ("Bauzug"): 100 Jews had to build the railway line Siedlce-Brest. The camp was liquidated in 1943 and the prisoners were shot.

Except the Jews from Siedlce, Jews from Losice, Sarnaki and Mordy were arrested in the ghetto. Most of them were deported to the small ghetto, after the liquidation of the provincial ghettos.
In April 1943 all Jews from the last forced labour camp in Siedlce were killed.