JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

ialystok
Holocaust Period
Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the Germans entered
Bialystok, first occupying it from September 15 until September
22, 1939, when it was transferred to the Soviets. The second
German occupation was from June 27, 1941, to July 27,
1944. At that time some 50,000 Jews lived in Bialystok, and
some 350,000 in the whole province. On the day following the
second German occupation, known as “Red Friday,” the Germans
burned down the Jewish quarter, including the synagogue
and at least 1,000 Jews who had been driven inside.
Other similar events followed in rapid succession: On Thursday,
July 3, 300 of the Jewish intelligentsia were rounded up
and taken to Pietrasze, a field outside the town, and murdered
there; on Saturday, July 12, over 3,000 Jewish men were put to
death there. Their widows were later known in the ghetto as
“die Donnershtige” (“the ones from Thursday”) and “di Shabbesdige”
(“the ones from Saturday”). A *Judenrat was established
on German orders (July 26, 1941), and chaired by Rabbi
Rosenmann, but his deputy, Ephraim *Barash, was the actual
head and served as its liaison with the German authorities.
On August 1, some 50,000 Jews were segregated into a closed
ghetto. The three gates in the barrier were guarded by armed
gendarmes.
For administrative purposes, Bialystok was incorporated
into the Reich (end of July 1941), as an autonomous district
(Bezirk) of East Prussia under Gauleiter and Oberpraesident
Erich Koch, one of Hitler’s trusted men. Under this setup various
Nazi authorities in Berlin, Koenigsberg, and Bialystok issued
frequently contradictory orders concerning the fate of
the Jews of the ghetto. The first year, there was relative quiet
and order in the ghetto (except for the deportation of 4,500
of the poorest Jews to Pruzhany) as the Germans wished to
exploit the ghetto to a maximum in industrial production
for the army. Every Jew in the 15–65 age group was forced to
work, and the Germans meted out physical punishment, including
death sentences, to anyone attempting to avoid or resist
forced labor. The only remuneration was a daily bread ration
of 500 grams, which was later reduced to 350 grams. In
addition, the Germans confiscated property, imposed forced
“contributions,” and collected a head and apartment tax; the
Judenrat collected its own taxes to cover its expenses. There
were private factories in the ghetto, owned by a German in-
568 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3