1939: the Jewish population of Sosnowiec was 28k; 1946: only 400 pre-war Jewish residents remained

Via the Holocaust Historical Society: Sosnowiec, Poland, is four miles northeast of Katowice. In 1939, the Jewish population stood at approximately 28,000. German forces entered Sosnowiec on Monday, September 4, 1939, and immediately began a reign of terror that included random shootings, abductions, abuse and destruction of Jewish property.
On September 9, 1939, members of the Einsatzgruppe von Woyrsch, named after its commander Udo von Woyrsch, burned down the synagogue, which was located on Dekert Street.
After the chaos of the first days of the occupation, the German authorities began to remove the Jewish population from economic life, limiting their rights and isolating them from the Aryan population. By the end of 1940, the process was complete, with significant participation by the acting mayor, Schneider, who was the mayor of Walbrzych.
In the period from October 1940, to August 1942, there were recurring transports of Jews from Sosnowitz to various labor camps.
Between August 1942 and March 1943, there were three major 'round-ups' in Sosnowitz and 2,000+ people were rounded up and sent to labor camps as a result.
According to the records maintained by the Judenrat, 27,456 Jews were living in Sosnowitz during May 1942. In April 1942, on the orders of the Gestapo, the Judenrat prepared lists of people - more than 5,000 people altogether for transportation. The list contained the elderly, homeless, unemployed, women, children and refugees. Very few people showed up at the appointed time, so the Gestapo, together with the Jewish Police, accompanied by Merin, supplemented the transport with Jews living at Dekert Street 14, Targowa Street, 2 and 11 and Modrzejowska Street 23.
On May 12, 1943, this transport of 1,500 people was sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. In the second half of June 1942, the Gestapo organized a second transport of approximately 2,000 Panska and Ostrogorska Streets residents. This transport consisted of the poor, handicapped, children from the orphanage, and hospital patients.
The third and largest deportation took place on August 12, 1942. The Germans used the pretext that they needed to inspect and stamp identity papers. The so-called 'Stadium Aktion' lasted two days. Jews were assigned to one of four groups. Families that included no children and whose members worked were released after their papers were stamped. Young people who were unemployed and who did not have a special exemption due to their family were designated for transfer to labor camps. Families in which some members worked and others were unemployed, or in which there were children, were assigned to group 3 - their fate was uncertain and was to be considered again later. Elderly people and those unemployed or held invalid exemptions were assigned to group 4. This group was destined for transportation.
Of the 25,000 people gathered at the Unia Stadium, approximately 8,000 were selected and deported over three days to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. During this 'Aktion' several hundred people were shot, or died from stress and exhaustion, or committed suicide. On August 20, 1942, there were 20,936 Jews residing in Sosnowitz.
In May 1943, to supplement a transport to Auschwitz Concentration Camp of Jews from the liquidated Modrzejow and Czeladz ghettos, the Gestapo added approximately 1,000 people - mainly children- from Sosnowitz. A second 'Aktion' of this type took place in June 1943 in which 2,000 people, among them patients from the Jewish hospital, were sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
The final liquidation of the Sosnowitz ghetto began on the night of August 1, 1943. Police companies from Sosnowitz, Maczki, Kattowitz, Bytom, and Gilwice arrived for the 'Aktion,' as were training, factory, and reserve police detachments, for a total force of 22 officers and 775 men, armed with machine guns and grenades.
Lieutenant-Colonel Schadow, the chief of the Sosnowitz police, directed the 'Aktion' in which approximately 10,000 Jews were deported to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, whilst some 400 people were shot when they resisted or tried to escape.
On August 2, 1943, a group of 300 people - mainly officials of the Judenrat, the Central Office, and the Jewish Police - were sent to the labor camp at Gora Swietej Anny.
The 'Aktion' lasted until August 15, 1943.
#Holocaust #JewishHistory #Sosnowitz