1 Killing site(s)
Stanisław Ł., born in 1925: "Just before the liquidation of the ghetto, on my way to work, I saw a Jewish woman running down a dirt path about a hundred meters ahead. Today, it is a paved street, but back then, it was just a simple track leading to 1 Maja Street. A German soldier emerged from that street, pursuing her. He fired, and she collapsed near the wooden buildings that lined the path. As he approached, he shot her in the head. Horrified, I turned back immediately. By the next day, her body was gone." (Testimony N°YIU683P, interviewed in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą, on June 7, 2017)
Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą is situated in the Mazovian Voivodeship along the Pilica River, approximately 70 km (44 miles) south of Warsaw. The town gained municipal rights in 1400, and Jewish settlement began in the late 18th century. By 1857, Jews constituted the majority of the population, numbering 1,759 out of 2,887 residents, or approximately 61%. They were primarily engaged in trade and crafts, with textile production becoming a significant local industry.
The Jewish community established key institutions in the town, including a synagogue and a cemetery, and played a vital role in its economic and cultural life. During the 19th century, Jewish entrepreneurs operated tanneries and workshops, significantly contributing to local trade. Jewish traders were also central to the annual Capuchin fair held on St. Martin’s Day, an event that attracted merchants from far-reaching regions.
Economic challenges in the late 19th century led to a decline in local industries, prompting many residents to migrate to larger cities. By 1921, the Jewish population had decreased to 1,504, making up approximately 40% of the town’s 3,761 residents. On the eve of the Second World War in 1939, the Jewish community in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą numbered over 1,300, comprising about 50% of the town’s population.
Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą was occupied by German troops on September 8, 1939. Shortly afterward, a new administration was established, including a Polish police unit and a Gendarmerie (Order Police) outpost, which was set up in the former monastery building.
Anti-Jewish measures were quickly implemented in the town. Jews were required to pay contributions, dismantle the synagogue, and, starting in 1940, wear distinctive signs bearing the Star of David from the age of 14. The Judenrat (Jewish Council), assisted by the Jewish police, was tasked with organizing forced labor and meeting daily quotas demanded by the Germans. These labor assignments included land reclamation, road maintenance, forestry, and agricultural work. Between 50 and 60 Jewish men were deported to labor camps in the Lublin district, while 200 to 400 Jews were forced to work in a labor camp established within the town itself. Jewish-owned workshops and factories, such as a sawmill, were confiscated by Volksdeutsche but continued to operate using Jewish laborers.
At the end of 1940—or, according to some sources, in the spring of 1941—a closed ghetto was established in the town center on Targowa Street. By November 1941, the ghetto held 3,700 inmates, including local Jews as well as deportees and refugees from Mogielnica, Błędów, Piaseczno, Grójec, Tarczyn, and Vienna. Overcrowding, hunger, disease, and grueling working conditions led to the deaths of approximately 300 inmates. By October 1942, isolated killings of Jews, both within the ghetto and those caught outside its confines, resulted in an additional 150 deaths. Among these victims were approximately 25 Jewish policemen who, after being detained by the Gendarmerie, were taken to a ravine just outside the ghetto. Their hands bound with barbed wire, they were executed in groups. Jewish men were later forced to transport the victims’ bodies to the Jewish cemetery for burial.
By October 1942, the ghetto’s population had decreased to 3,400 inmates, including 400 Jews from Odrzywół who had been deported on August 20, 1942. The ghetto’s liquidation was carried out on October 22, 1942. Approximately 3,000 Jews were taken to Drzewica and then transported to Opoczno. Poles from Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą and Żary were requisitioned to provide carts and horses for the deportation. Women and children were placed on carts, while others were forced to march in a column. Upon reaching the train tracks, the Polish helpers were dismissed, and the Jews were loaded onto trains. On October 27, 1942, these trains transported them to the Treblinka extermination camp.
After the ghetto was liquidated, 20 to 25 Jews remained in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą to sort and segregate looted Jewish property. These individuals were later sent to the Tomaszów Mazowiecki ghetto. In 1942 or 1943, headstones from the Jewish cemetery were repurposed for constructing a road from Borowina that passed through Wólka village.
By the end of the war, only 55 Jews from Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą were known to have survived.
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