1 Killing site(s)
Henryk K., born in 1925: "My Jewish classmate once told me how he hid in a barn with other Jews after the ghetto was liquidated. The Germans found them and shot everyone on the spot. He managed to fall to the ground just in time, and the bodies of those who were shot covered him, soaking him in their blood. Believing they had killed everyone, the Germans threw him onto a cart and took him to the Jewish cemetery, where only Poles remained—tasked with transporting and burying the bodies. Somehow, he got up and managed to escape. He came to me for help, but our house was already overcrowded, and it would have been too risky." (Testimony N°YIU505P, interviewed in Stelągi, on September 21, 2015)
"393 people, Poles, Jews and Soviet POWs, were shot on 22 and 23.09.1942 in and around Sterdyń." [Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos = Ankieta Sądów Grodzkich, 1945 Reel 13 File 44 part 2].
Sterdyń (Sterdin in Yiddish) is located 21 kilometers (13 miles) north of Sokołów Podlaski and 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) east of Kosów Lacki. Just before the outbreak of World War II, the village had a Jewish population of 686 residents, accounting for 87.5 percent of the total population.
Sterdyń was occupied by German forces on September 14, 1939. Soon after, Jewish-owned shops were looted, and the local synagogue was closed. In November 1939, a Judenrat (Jewish Council) was established, followed by the formation of a Jewish police force.
During the winter of 1939-1940, approximately 800 Jews were transferred to Sterdyń from Kalisz. In late 1941 to early 1942, an additional 103 Jews arrived from Jabłonna Lacka and Chruszczewka. According to a Yahad witness, Jews from Konin (Wielkopolska) were also relocated to Sterdyń. Jewish residents were subjected to forced labor, primarily on expropriated estates and drainage projects in the area.
In June 1940, an open ghetto was established, restricting Jews to the village limits. Though it was not physically enclosed, movement was severely restricted, and by January 1941, Jews were prohibited from leaving the ghetto without special permission. A typhus epidemic broke out in the summer of 1941, leading to the complete sealing of the ghetto. Despite the risks, some Jews traded with local farmers to cope with food shortages, as such activities were forbidden by the Germans.
Warnings from local Poles about an impending ghetto liquidation prompted around 700 Jews to seek refuge in nearby forests and estates. On September 23, 1942, German forces arrived, surrounded the town, and shot anyone attempting to escape. The 500 Jews who remained in the ghetto were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, located 26.3 kilometers (16 miles) northwest in Kosów Lacki. The victims were marched on foot, surrounded by German guards on motorcycles, while those unable to walk, including the elderly, were transported on carts. After the column left, a Jewish boy, around 10 years old, was shot by a German soldier near his home in Sterdyń.
Following the liquidation of the ghetto, Germans continued to search for Jews who had fled. Over the next two days, around 270-300 Jews found in hiding were killed and buried in Sterdyń.
In the following months, further executions occurred. A local witness interviewed by Yahad recounted how a group of Jews hiding in a barn on an estate were shot, with one survivor escaping by pretending to be dead. The bodies of the victims were buried in the Jewish cemetery by requisitioned Polish locals. In March and April 1943, additional Jews, including a woman and three children, were executed. Another 40 Jews were killed in the autumn of 1943. Many of these victims were buried in mass graves in and around Sterdyń. Yahad also identified a mass grave containing about 70 Jews from Sterdyń, captured in a nearby forest and transported to Olszew, where they were murdered and buried. Only about 30 Jews from Sterdyń survived the occupation.
During the same period, Soviet POWs and Poles suspected of aiding Jewish refugees were also killed in Sterdyń.
For more information about the persecution of Jews from Sterdyń, please follow the corresponding profile.
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