The Jews in Lublin - Biblioteka Multimedialna Teatrnn.pl - Brama ...

establishment of the ghetto was preceded by the displacement of about 10,000 Jews
from Lublin to small towns of the Lublin district 20 .
Until the end of its existence, the Lublin ghetto was not fully closed, however the
concentration of a community of almost 40,000 people in such small space (as stated
in October 1941) 21 contributed to unusually cramped living conditions, poor sanitary
and hygienic conditions. This led as a consequence, to outbreaks of epidemics of contagious
diseases, which in connection with starvation and weakening work, decimated
the inhabitants of the Jewish district of Lublin.
The large deportation from the ghetto of Lublin began during the night of the
16th of March 1942. Lublin became the first Jewish centre in the General-Government,
in which the "AktionReinhardt" — the systematic and mass extermination of
the Jewish population in this area — was realised. The people caught in the ghetto area
were at first concentrated in the square in front of the Judenrat, where the preliminary
selections were made. Persons that were recognized as not able to work were guided to
the meeting point in the Maharshal Synagogue, and next to the rail ramp by the city
slaughterhouse at Kalinowszczyzna. From there, transports to the extermination camp
at Bełżec left almost everyday. During the "Aktion", which lasted one month (until
the middle of April 1942), about 26,000 Jews were transported there from the ghetto
of Lublin, and 1,500 were shot right away. Among the deported was the president of
Judenrat, Henryk Bekker, and half of the remaining members of Jewish council 22 .
The rest of the living Jews were moved to the newly created ghetto at Majdan
Tatarski - in the suburbs of Lublin, and placed in the neighbourhood of the concentration
camp at Majdanek. Altogether about 7,000 Jews settled there, including 4,250
who did it legally (being in possession of documents authorizing them to settle in the
lew ghetto — the so called J-ausweises). As the Jewish quarter at Podzamcze was empty,
Germans started to destroy it systematically. Among other things, the main street of
the quarter, Szeroka and the synagogue complex at Jateczna street were destroyed.
The fate of remaining ghetto at Majdan Tatarski was finalised on the 9th of November
1942. Most of its inhabitants were chased away on foot to the camp at Majdanek,
where the newly arrived were selected straight away. All of the people that were
unable to work, the elderly and children, were sent to the gas chambers, the rest were
shot right away (including the last president of Judenrat, Marek Alten, and the chief
of the Jewish Police Service, Henryk Goldfarb). After the definitive elimination of the
ghetto at Majdan Tatarski, its buildings were burnt down 23 .
It is very difficult to estimate, how many Jews of Lublin managed to survive
the Holocaust period. At the beginning of August 1944, there were about 300 Jews
20 Cf. KIEŁBOŃ J.: Migracje ludności w dystrykcie luhebkim w latach 1939-1944. Lublin 1995, p. 159.
21 Cf. RADZIK T., Lubelska dzielnica zamknięta, p. 35.
22 Cf. ibidem, pp. 42-45.
23 Cf. ibidem, pp. 47-56.
19