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WITNESS TO THE DESTRUCTION OF LUBOML
By Rochl Leichter
In the first days after the outbreak of the war
between Poland an d Germany there were many
rumors about the Poles leaving, but no one knew
what the next day would bring. And then, in
mid-September, the Poles did leave town, and on
the morning of September 17, 1939, the vanguard
of the German army appeared, and right behind
them, German troops. They stayed in town and
the surrounding area for three days, but did not
do any harmand then left.
It turns out that the Russians were coming
close to the city and, in fact, they entered and
governed until June 23, 1941. From every indication
we had, there were good reasons to assume
the Soviets would be ruling the town forever, but
following the declaration of war on Russia by
Germany in mid-1941, the situation changed.
Under pressure from the German armies, the Red
Army retreated from Luboml, and on June 23,
1941, the Germans entered the town.
On the same day the occupiers dispersed the
entire population. Jews and other residents slept
in the fields and villages, and only after two days
did they return to a half-burned city and try to
manage in the few buildings still remaining, in
very crowded conditions. An order was promulgated
that forbade theft and other irresponsible
acts, and the district commissar appointed a
Judenrat, headed by Kalman Kopelzon. The German
deputy commissar, the tyrant Kopf, began to
rule with an iron fist.
On the third day of the German occupation,
all Jews aged 14 and over had to assemble in the
market square and listen to a speech by the district
commissar. The Jews came out of fear of the occupier.
Kopf picked five people out of the large
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gathering, Meyer Tseylingold, Shmuel Shuster,
Yakov Gelibter, Shmuel Vayngarten, and
Nachman Shtreicher, who were killed in front of
the Judenrat. The Jews were filled with fear and
realized the danger they were in; the decrees
became more severe every day.
On the very first day of their arrival, the
Germans demanded all the gold we hadrings,
jewelry, utensils, etc. They forced us to supply
clothes, boots, and otherbelongings. The Judenrat
had the responsibility for bringing in these "contributions,"
and the Starosta building became
filled with possessions of the Jews. After that
came the work order, with the Nazi Klein in
charge, and the Jews were forced to wear armbands
with the Star of David. On Yom Kippur the Star of
David was replaced by the yellow badge that
every Jew always had to wear on his back and
front.
After three weeks, the Gestapo arrived and
demanded that the Judenrat supply people for
forced labor. When the Judenrat tried to refuse,
they were given the ultimatum that if they did not
supply the required number of Jews by a certain
hour, members of the Judenrat would be taken out
and killed. Fear descended on the Jews and on the
Judenrat, which quickly went into hiding. Immediately
after this, Jews were rounded up in the
streets, pulled out of their houses, and gathered
in the square. Most were beaten and flogged,
among them Rabbi Alter London.
About 500 people were transported in closed
trucks to the outskirts of town, and after about an
hour the echoes of shots were heard from the side
of the new cemetery at the end of Ostrovetska
Street and the suspicion was that they had been