Szczucin | Lesser Poland Voivodeship

/ Jozef S., born in 1931, saw the execution of a Jewish girl and her mother. The mother begged the Nazis to save her daughter, but both of them were shot. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Former building of the synagogue which is used today as a library. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Former train station from where thousands of Jews were brought from Pacanow, Nowy Korczyn, Stopnice, and others were deported to Treblinka. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Former train station from where thousands of Jews brought from Pacanow, Nowy Korczyn, Stopnice and others were deported to Treblinka. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Yahad’s team with a local resident Josef S. during an interview. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Jewish cemetery where the bodies of isolated killings were buried. There were at least a dozen known Jewish victims who were buried here. © Cristian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum

Executions of Jews in Szczucin

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Jewish cemetery
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
Dozen

Witness interview

Jozef S., born in 1931, recalls: “Upon their arrival, the Germans opened a warehouse where people had to bring eggs, gooses, ducks, and hens. Everyone had to bring those for the Germans’ needs. Once, when I went there with my mother, a German called me: “Komm! Komm kleiner!” He gave me two ducks, and I had to queue. They filmed the scene as if people were giving the poultry voluntarily, of their own will. In exchange they gave me sugar and alcohol. So that time, I was filmed. When I tell this story to my children, I always say I was an actor in a propaganda film.” (Witness n°567, interviewed in Szczucin on April 8th, 2016)

Historical note

Szczucin is located 78km south-east of Kielce. The records of the Jewish community in Szczucin go back to the 18th century. They had a synagogue, and their own cemetery. The Jewish community     was quite significant as part of the community: in 1860, out of 1,100 people, 547 were Jews. According to the local resident interviewed by Yahad, the majority of Jews lived in the town center, and Jewish and Polish children went to the same school. The Jews lived off of the small scale      trade and craft. In 1939, 800 Jews lived in the town making up 40% of the total population. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Germans invaded the town on September 8th or 9th, 1939.  Immediately after the occupation, all Jewish shops were sealed and the Jews were forbidden to excel. There was no ghetto established locally, all the Jews from Szczucin were moved in 1942 to the Tarnow ghetto located 37 km north. In March 1925, 25 Jews were shot after they were forced to dig and bury Polish soldiers murdered by Germans. According to the local witness interviewed by Yahad, several isolated shootings took place in Szczucin. The victims’ bodies, including Jews and non-Jews, were buried at the Jewish cemetery. In addition to the killings conducted in the town, the Szczucin train station was used as the main deportation point to Treblinka. The Jews were brought on foot from Nowy Korczyn, Pacanow, and Stopnica to the station in Szczucin to be sent to the extermination camp. Today, there is no memorial for the Jewish victims killed during the Second World War.

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