1 Killing site(s)
Wanda M., born 1931: "The children from the Szmul family managed to escape before the execution and hid in the forest. In the evenings, they would come for food, and my mother would feed them. Then, one day, they stopped coming. I don’t know when, how, or where they died, but that winter was brutal, with heavy snow and freezing temperatures. The Germans were scouring the woods, and survival under those conditions was nearly impossible. Winters back then were far harsher than they are today. It was truly dreadful." (Testimony N°YIU510P, interviewed in Stoczek, on September 23, 2015)
"188 Jews shot on 22.9.1942" [Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos = Ankieta Sadow Grodzkich, 1945 Reel 14 File 44.]
Stoczek, also known as Stoczek Węgrowski, is located approximately 70 kilometers (44 miles) northeast of Warsaw. In 1921, the village had 1,636 residents, about 75% of whom were Jewish. Stoczek was home to a synagogue and a Jewish cemetery. Until 1996, it consisted of two separate villages: Stoczek-Osada and Stoczek-Wieś (Stoczek-Village).
On September 10, 1939, Stoczek was bombed by German forces, resulting in the destruction of much of the town and the burning of the synagogue. Initially occupied by the Germans, Stoczek briefly came under Red Army control before being returned to German hands following modifications to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. During this period, many Jewish refugees from other parts of Poland arrived in Stoczek, attempting to cross into Soviet territory. By 1940, however, stricter border regulations forced many refugees to remain in the town.
In the early stages of the German occupation, Jewish homes and businesses were looted by German forces and local collaborators. In early 1940, the Germans established a Judenrat (Jewish Council) and a Jewish police force in Stoczek. The town became a gathering point for Jews, with an open ghetto set up within its limits. From February 1941, Jews were forbidden to leave Stoczek, with severe consequences for those caught outside, often resulting in their murder. The ghetto became increasingly overcrowded as Jews from surrounding villages, including Osówno, Prostyń, Korytnica, Grębków, Miedzna, and Stara Wieś, were forced to relocate to Stoczek. By November 1941, the Jewish population in Stoczek had grown to about 2,000, with three to four families sharing single apartments. The cramped conditions led to a typhus epidemic that claimed the lives of approximately 20% of the Jewish residents.
On May 15, 1942, the Judenrat in Stoczek was ordered to supply 35 men (or 135, according to one source) for forced labor at the Treblinka extermination camp. News of the mass killings at Treblinka soon reached the ghetto through hidden messages. By early September 1942, most of Stoczek’s remaining Jewish men had been deported either to Treblinka or to nearby labor camps, leaving mostly women and children behind.
The final liquidation of the Stoczek ghetto took place on September 24 and 25, 1942 (September 22, 1942, according to some records). During this Aktion, 188 Jews were executed at the Jewish cemetery in Stoczek. The remaining Jews were gathered at the marketplace with their belongings, then taken on foot and by cart to the Sadowne train station, where they were deported to Treblinka on September 25, 1942. Some tried to jump from the train during transport but were shot by guards.
The victims killed during the ghetto liquidation, along with those later found in hiding, were buried in mass graves at the Jewish cemetery in Stoczek. A German officer remained in the town to locate and execute any remaining Jews in hiding. One witness described the killing of a Jewish family of five by this officer; their bodies were buried near the mass grave of those killed during the liquidation.
A monument now stands in the Jewish cemetery in Stoczek, bearing an inscription: "Here lie the corpses of the Jews of Stoczek, murdered by German-fascist bandits and their stooges. 1941-1944, honoring their memory!"
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