Ghetto of Częstochowa

The Częstochowa Ghetto was a ghetto established by the Nazis in Poland occupied during World War II , to rally population Jewish . Located in the city of Częstochowa , 64 km north of Katowice , it occupied the eastern part of the city center, which coincided in part with the city’s ancient Jewish quarter.

History

The ghetto was founded on April 9, 1941 , by order of Stabshauptmann Richard Wendler . In addition to the Jews of Częstochowa, the ghetto concentrated the Jewish population of nearby towns and villages, such as Krzepice , Olsztyn , Mstów , Janów or Przyrów ; As well as groups of Jewish displaced persons from areas of Poland annexed to Germany.

Although the exact number of people who passed through the ghetto is difficult to establish, it probably had a population of around 40,000 at the time, and at its most populous moment, just prior to its liquidation, it had about 48,000 inhabitants. Most of the inhabitants of the ghetto were forced to work as slaves in the arms industry, especially in the former factory “Mettalurgy” , which had been taken by the German company HASAG.

The Nazis began to liquidate the ghetto on September 22, 1942 , the day after Yom Kippur , and they finished it on the night of October 7. The action was carried out by units SS German, with auxiliary Ukrainian and Latvian , under the command of Schutzpolizei Paul Degenhardt. The Jews were assembled in the Daszynski square and later the majority (40,000) were transported to the Treblinka extermination camp .

Those who survived the initial settlement, about 8,000, were located in the so - called “small ghetto” . In which a clandestine Jewish resistance group was organized, headed by Adam Wolberg and Mordechaj Zylberberg. When the Germans began moved from the last prisoners to death camps in 1943 , the organization began an uprising (the Rise of the ghetto of Częstochowa ). ¹ When the Germans broke into their bunker Zylberberg committed suicide, ending the uprising the day after its beginning.

Los 3.900 sobrevivientes fueron encerrados en las instalaciones de la fábrica HASAG. Con el pasar del tiempo, el n´pumero de judíos confinados en la fábrica aumentó a 10.000, con la llegada de los últimos judíos del Gueto de Łódź y otros provenientes de campos de trabajo. En los primeros días de enero de 1945 la mitad de los judíos de Częstochowa fueron deportados. La ciudad fue liberada el 17 de enero de 1945 por los soviéticos, sobreviviendo 5.200 judíos que aun permanecían recluidos como esclavos de la fábrica HASAG.

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