Jaslo | Subcarpathian Voivodeship

The Great synagogue in Jaslo, built in 1905, was burned down by the Nazis on September 15, 1939 © Forest Hill Jewish Centre Jaslo, Poland. Jews gathering at the entrance to a store © Yad Vashem Jaslo, Poland. Two Jews from the Ghetto guard the entrance of the ghetto © Yad Vashem Jaslo, Poland. Jews on Kosciuszki Street, wearing armbands. © Yad Vashem / Katarzyna L., born in 1924, was a witness of a shooting of Jews in a forest in Krajowice, in the outskirts of Jaslo. She watched it, hidden in the bushes with her brother. © Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum Katarzyna L., born in 1924, recalls: “They had to undress and stand in a row on the edge of the pit. They were shot in the head.”© Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum Yahad-In Unum’s research team during the interview with Katarzyna L., born  in 1924© Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum Katarzyna L., born in 1924, recalls: “I was hidden on that hill while I was watching the execution of Jews.” © Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum Katarzyna L., born in 1924, recalls: “After the execution, young Polish men, Junaki, filled the pit with a thin layer of soil. After a few days, we couldn’t get closer to that place, the stench was terrible.” © Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum Jadwiga M., born in 1927, recalls: “Jews from Jaslo were shot in the local Jewish cemetery. One day, I saw a group of Jews being brought there to be executed. The pit was already dug.”© Freddy Murphy-Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Jaslo

2 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Jewish cemetery (1); Krajowice Forest (2)
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
About 200 and 260

Witness interview

Waldemar S., born in 1930, recalls: “Before the war, there were a lot of Jews living in Jaslo, especially in the Targowica quarter. They were mainly traders and artisans. I remember a Jew, Isaac Rubel, he owned a brickyard and a vodka factory in Jaslo. He had four sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Stefan, was more or less my age. I used to play with him, we were friends.” (Witness N°360, interviewed in Jaslo, on June 23, 2014)

Polish Archives

Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos.

1. Date and place of execution: from 1941 until September 1944 in the Jewish cemetery in Jaslo;

2. Type of execution (shooting, hanging or other): shooting;

3. Data on the executed victims (Poles, Jews, other nationalities): around 2.000 Poles and Jews from Jaslo and its surroundings and from the Gestapo prison in Jaslo were shot by the Gestapo members from Jaslo (Becker, Matheus, Drzyzga, Chrostek, Laubenthal, Mentz et Herbst) at the local Jewish cemetery; personal data of the victims remain unknown because the executions were perpetrated at night or dawn; the majority of the victims were Jews and prisoners of war; victims’ bodies were buried at the Jewish cemetery in several mass graves; [RG-15.019M Reel#10 FILE 34]

Historical note

Jaslo is a town in southeastern Poland, situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. The majority of Jews in Jaslo lived in the Targowica quarter. They were mainly traders and artisans. In the interwar period, they owned many houses, shops and restaurants. They also owned several mills, brickyards, brooms or shoes and soap factories, a tannery, a printing company and much more. In Jaslo, there were many Jewish tailors, hairdressers or shoemakers as well as lawyers, doctors and a judge. There were two synagogues as well as two chedars and two mikhvas. Jews had schools, a Jewish bank, a library and even a football club. Shortly before the Second World War, there were about 3.000 Jews living in Jaslo (30% of a total population).

Holocaust by bullets in figures

In September 1939, right after their arrival, the Germans burned down the main synagogue. During the first weeks of the German occupation, many restrictions were placed upon on the Jewish population, such as prohibiting listening to the radio or using public transport. From August 1941 onwards, Jews were not allowed to move freely in Jaslo. In January and February 1942, the Germans shot about 40 Jews in the local Jewish cemetery. In spring of the same year, the ghetto was created in Jaslo, for the local Jews as well as for many Jews from Frysztak, Jedlicz, Kolaczyce and Krosno. The majority of them were transported to the Belzec death camp in summer 1942. In the meantime, many executions took place in Jaslo and its surroundings. In May 1942, 1500 Jews from the ghetto were shot in the Warzyce Forest by Germans and Ukrainian soldiers. Another mass execution in the Warzyce Forest took place on the August 3, 1943, when about 690 Jews from Jaslo and Frysztak were shot. On the July 12, 1942, the Germans shot 260 Jews in the Krajowice Forest (Krajowice is actually an area of Jaslo). Many shootings of Jews took place at the local Jewish cemetery as well, where about 200 Jews were shot during the German occupation. The Jaslo ghetto was liquidated in December 1942 and the Jews remaining there were transferred to the Rzeszow ghetto.

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