1 Killing site(s)
Zbigniew P., born in 1932: "Next to the school, the Germans built a crematorium specifically for burning the bodies of victims buried in the Jewish cemetery. I saw dozens of corpses being transported on long carts, similar to those used for hauling hay, but with ladders on the sides. The victims’ arms and legs stuck out from the carts, and the bodies were covered in earth. The smoke was terrible—we had to plug our noses to endure it."" (Testimony N°YIU466P, interviewed in Węgrów, on July 23, 2015)
"Approximately 2,000 Jews were shot starting from 22.09.1942 (during the liquidation of the ghetto). The shootings continued throughout the year." [Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos = Ankieta Sadow Grodzkich, 1945 Reel 14 File 44]
Węgrów, located along the Liwiec River in eastern Poland, lies approximately 71 km (44 miles) east-northeast of Warsaw. The town’s history as a center of Jewish life dates back to at least 1537, when the first records mention Jewish residents in this private estate. By 1621, Jews made up about 20% of the town’s population and had already established key communal institutions, including a synagogue, known as the Kazimierz Synagogue, as well as a cemetery and a school. A second synagogue was built in the late 18th or early 19th century.
In 1765, the Jewish population of Węgrów numbered 581. Over the following decades, this number grew significantly, reaching 2,130 by 1840, when Jews constituted the majority of the town’s residents. Węgrów also became an important center of Hasidic Judaism, with prayer houses established by groups from Góra Kalwaria, Kock, Aleksandrów, and Warka.
On the eve of the warI in 1939, Węgrów was home to 9,200 Jewish residents, who made up two-thirds of the town’s total population of 11,000.
Węgrów was occupied by German forces on September 10, 1939, and antisemitic violence began immediately. A group of the town’s wealthiest Jews was arrested and subsequently murdered. Synagogues were closed by the military administration, and on Yom Kippur, September 23, 1939, Rabbi Jaakov Mendel Morgenstern was killed in the market square.
A Judenrat and Jewish police force were established on November 28, 1939. By mid-1940, Węgrów became a focal point for Jewish deportations. Between 1939 and December 1941, around 1,645 Jews from Pułtusk, Kałuszyn, and other nearby towns were forcibly relocated to Węgrów.
An open ghetto was created in 1941, housing as many as 8,300 Jews by mid-1942. Enclosed by a 2.5-meter wooden fence with a guarded gate, the ghetto restricted movement from February 1941 onwards, making trade nearly impossible and worsening living conditions. Severe housing shortages forced many deportees into attics or overcrowded rooms. The Judenrat established a Housing Authority to redistribute living space and a community kitchen to feed the destitute, but conditions remained dire. By late 1941, many Jews hovered on the brink of starvation. Heavy bribes imposed by the local authorities exacerbated the crisis, while isolated killings and two typhus epidemics in 1941 further devastated the population.
Inmates were conscripted for forced labor, including draining marshlands, rebuilding bridges, and agricultural work. From May 1942, Jewish laborers were also sent to construct the Treblinka extermination camp. According to a Yahad witness, the synagogue in Węgrów was demolished by the Germans, its materials repurposed for the construction of Treblinka. By the summer of 1942, fears of mass deportations intensified. Workers sent to Treblinka had not returned, and on August 24, 1942, the cancellation of Jewish travel passes confirmed the community’s worst suspicions.
The liquidation of the Węgrów ghetto began on Yom Kippur, September 21, 1942. Members of the SS, Ukrainian auxiliaries, German Gendarmes, Polish (Blue) Police, and Polish firefighters surrounded the ghetto. Approximately 9,000 Jews were forced into the market square. Up to 600 were killed during the Aktion, while between 3,500 and 5,000 were marched to the train station in Sokołów Podlaski and deported to the Treblinka extermination camp. Approximately 2,000 Jews managed to hide during the liquidation. Over the following days, around 1,400 of them were caught and murdered, either in the town or at the Jewish cemetery. While some Jews were betrayed by local Poles, others were sheltered at great risk.
In November 1942, a second ghetto was established, housing 150–300 Jews who had either been spared during the first liquidation or had come out of hiding. These individuals were forced to repair Jewish homes and workshops for transfer to non-Jews. This second ghetto was liquidated on April 30, 1943, with its residents murdered in the Jewish cemetery. Isolated killings of Jews in hiding continued until the end of the German occupation.
In the summer of 1944, members of Sonderkommando 1005 were brought from Treblinka to exhume and burn the remains of Jews. Under strict German supervision, Jewish workers, marked with large stars on their backs, used tongs to remove decomposed corpses from graves in the Jewish cemetery. The bodies, loaded onto carts carrying 10–15 at a time, were transported to a crematorium near the local school and burned. This operation lasted for several weeks.
In addition to targeting Jews, the Germans murdered eight Roma women during the occupation, executing them in front of the synagogue wall.
Only around 100 Jews from Węgrów survived the war.
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