Głogów Małopolski | Subcarpathian

/ A memorial drawing of the former synagogue and cheder (traditional elementary school) on Sienkiewicza Street in Głogów Małopolski. ©picture from “Społeczność żydowska w Głogowie Małopolskim by Jan Krawiec The former location of the synagogue in Głogów Małopolski. The building was destroyed during the war and demolished in 1945. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The territory of the ghetto in Głogów Małopolski which covered the central part of the town. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum View of one of the streets of the Głogów Małopolski ghetto with typical Jewish buildings today. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The location of two Jewish cemeteries in Głogów Małopolski.©picture from “Społeczność żydowska w Głogowie Małopolskim by Jan Krawiec Location of the first Jewish cemetery in Głogów Małopolski known as “the old cemetery,” established in the 18th century. The cemetery is administered by FODŹ. There is a commemorative plaque on its fence. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R., born in 1933, showed our team the Jewish cemetery in Głogów known as “the new one”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Commemorative plate on the wall of the “new” Jewish cemetery: “Jewish cemetery from 1712. Destroyed in 1942 during the German occupation. Until the renovation in 2012, it was used as a park.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The Jewish cemetery in Głogów commonly called “the new cemetery”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jadwiga L., born in 1921: “When the Germans arrived in town, they took goods from Jewish stores. The Jews had to wear armbands with blue Stars of David, but they could still trade until the ghetto was created.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jadwiga L., born in 1921: “The Jews from the ghetto were forced to do public work such as paving the streets with their gravestones.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Maria M., born in 1925: “The ghetto was created in town during occupation, but it only existed for a few weeks. It was fenced in and guarded by the Germans. The Jews from the ghetto had to wear armbands.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Maria M., born in 1925, recalled the Jews from the ghetto who helped her family to pick potatoes during the German occupation: “My father would pay them for their help with potatoes”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Maria M., born in 1925: “During occupation, my family hid a Jewish man, Kunysz. During the day he slept in the barn, and I would bring him food. At some point he left with his son. Later on, we learnt that he was killed.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R., born in 1933: “In 1942, my father made a deal with the mayor Wagner to have a group of Jews from the ghetto working with us for one day to help us picking potatoes. They worked in exchange for winter food supplies.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R. and Maria M. are siblings. Jan remembered the Jews from the ghetto that would help his family to pick potatoes. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Photo of Jan’s family and Jews from the ghetto who were helping them gather potatoes taken by a local photographer. “My father told the Jews to take as many potatoes as they could carry. He then transported all the potatoes to the ghetto.” ©Piotr Malec/Ya Jan R., born in 1933: “Jews from the ghetto were forced to perform forced labor. They were guarded by Jewish police and forced to sing: “Our golden Hitler taught us to work”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R., born in 1933 shared with our team some of archival documents about the Jewish community from Głogów that he collected over the years. Here he points out the area of the ghetto a prewar map of Głogów. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R., born in 1933: “Jews from the Głogów ghetto were transported to Rzeszów, from where they were brought here, to the “Bór” forest to be shot over the course of several mass executions.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Commemorative monument in the Głogów forest known as “Bór”, where at least 2000 Jews from Głogów, Rzeszów and its surroundings were shot by the Germans over several mass executions and buried in mass graves. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Jan R., born in 1933: “The mass graves were dug by Poles and members of Baudienst. One of my friends was in the Baudienst at that time. He told me that he had to dig and burry the pit after the shooting.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The stamp/seal of a rabbi, Moses Rubin from Głogów Małopolski, that was found at the mass grave in the “Bór” forest by Jan’s friend, a Baudienst member, the day he was requisitioned to fill the pit after the shooting. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum In the northwestern part of the forest between Rzeszów and Głogów, in 1939-1944, the Germans shot at least 2.000 Jews and 300 Poles. Jews were buried in two 50m x 5m mass graves which today are marked with a concrete plinth. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum “Mass grave of Jews from Głogów Małopolski and other locations, the victims of the Nazi terror, killed in mass executions in 1942-1944 in the “Bór” forest near Głogów. The number of victims is estimated at around 3,000”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews from Głogów, Rzeszów in Głogów Małopolski

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
At least 2,000

Witness interview

Jadwiga L., born in 1921: “Głogów Małopolski was a smaller, typical town of craftsmen before the war, inhabited by many Jews who were mostly merchants and craftsmen. All the trade in the town was run by the Jews. I went to school with Jewish children. A good friend of mine was called Rózia Lanksam, Frymka was another one. We were taught together but had separate religious classes. Jewish children went to the private building on the town square to have religious classes with a rabbi. I remember a Jewish family called Rech, they owned a leather store in town. We also had Jewish neighbors, their name was Wainstein. Before the war, there were two Jewish cemeteries here, as well as two synagogues, one for men and one for women. There were two ponds near the synagogue. On Saturdays, every Jewish store was closed. Jews would throw all the crumbs and garbage from their pockets into those ponds to get rid of their sins after leaving the synagogue. Relations between the communities were good. I remember that the mayor, the town council and my uncle, who was a postman, were invited each year for the Yom Kippur ceremony at the synagogue. Both communities lived together peacefully (…)” (Witness n°1006P, interviewed in Głogów Małopolski on May 2, 2019

Polish Archives

“Isolated and mass shootings of Jews and Poles:

-1939-1944: an indefinite number of Jews were shot in the neighboring forests “las głogowski” and “las rudzinski” (200m from the Głogów - Rzeszów road). Jews were brought there from the ghettos of Rzeszów and Głogów (among others). A few dozen Poles from the Rzeszów prison were also shot there in several shootings.

Jewish victims:

• A few thousand Jews were shot on 7-15.07.1942 by the platoon made up of members of the Waffen-SS. The Jews were taken from Rzeszów in trucks during the liquidation of the ghetto. Among the victims, there were mostly people unable to work: sick, disabled, elderly, etc. The executions took place in the “las głogowski” forest. Bodies of victims buried in pits dug by members of the Baudienst.” [Register of places and facts of crimes committed by the Nazi occupiers in Poland in 1939-1945, Rzeszów voivodeship]

 

Historical note

Głogów Małopolski is a town in Rzeszów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located 12 km (7,5 miles) north of Rzeszów. Jews probably settled in Głogów at the end of 16th century. In 1712, the community established its first cemetery, and built its first synagogue in the town in the 1730s. During the 19th century, the community had two synagogues, as well as a mikvah (ritual bath), and two rabbis – one working for the Kahal (Jewish community organization) and one at the synagogue. It was also around that time that the number of Jews in Głogów reached its peak, with more than 1200 individuals, representing 40% of the total of 2,800 inhabitants. However, the Jewish population started to decline over the following decades and, 20 years later, the size of the local religious community had decreased to 1,167 people, with 962 Jews living in the town itself (slightly over ⅓ of the population).

In 1921, there were 648 Jews living in Głogów Małopolski, representing about 28% of a total population of the town. Jews from Głogów were mainly merchants and craftsmen. Yahad witness Jadwiga L., born in 1921, recalls: “Głogów Małopolski was a smaller, typical town of craftsmen before the war, inhabited by many Jews who were mostly merchants and craftsmen. All the trade in the town was run by the Jews. I went to school with Jewish children, we only separated for religious classes. There were two synagogues and two Jewish cemeteries in Głogów.” At the outbreak of war, approximately 600 Jews Inhabited the town.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

In December 1939, around 90 Jewish refugees, mainly from Kalisz and Łódź, arrived in Głogów. In May 1940, the Juderat (Jewish Council) reported that 130 Jewish families lived in the town. By November, the number of Jews had increased to circa. 800. In June 1941, the school building was turned into a labor camp for around 100 Jews and Poles. The camp inmates were submitted to carry out forced labor, consisting of cleaning the town, excavating earth and working in the weapons magazines. In September 1941, Jews from Raniżów, Staniszewskie, Zielonki, Mazury and Kolbuszowa were also deported to Głogów. Deportees, mainly Jewish farmers, were permitted to take all their belongings with them, except for livestock. Refuges and deportees who had settled in Głogów in the period 1939-1940 were forced to relocate to the barracks in Rzeszów.

On February 1, 1942, the ghetto was established in Głogów. Jews from Sokołów were transferred there after ghetto liquidation in the town. Yahad witness Jan R., born in 1933, recalled that the ghetto was fenced with a 2m high barbed wire fence and guarded by Germans and Jewish police carrying wooden bats. There was also a labor camp in Glogów, which employed about 200 Jews from Sokołów, Raniżów, Kalisz and Łódź. The Jews were initially used for various jobs around the town, as well as for digging potatoes and planting forests. The ghetto in Głogów was liquidated in June 1942, with the Jews being systematically taken to Rzeszów on requisitioned carts. Jan R. recalled: “As my father owned a horse and a cart, he was requisitioned with others to transport the Jews from the ghetto to Rzeszów, but due to his good relations with the mayor of the town, he was able to avoid doing it.”

Various executions took place in Głogowski forest, known as “Bór”, where thousands of Jews from the Rzeszów ghetto were shot and buried. According to different archival sources, between 2.000 and 5.000 Jews were shot in the forest between 1939 and 1944. The executions were intensified in July 1942, when a few thousand Jews were shot by the platoon made up of members of the Waffen-SS. The victims were buried in two 50m long mass graves that had been dug by requisitioned Poles and members of the Baudienst. The same men had to fill in the mass graves after the executions.

According to the archives around 10 Jews from Głogów were shot at the Jewish cemetery on different days in 1942.

 

 

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