Zdziłowice | Lublin Voivodeship

Zdziłowice 1938 r. Mala Weber with children, from left- Herszek, Chanka, Fajga. ©Taken from http://www.fpkt.org.pl/ / The place where the villagers were rounded-up on September 6-7, 1942. Back then it was a central square. © Christian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Bronislaw Z., born in 1925: “The Jews, the Poles aged 16 and over, women with children were all separated in different groups. The Germans ordered to denounce suspects: those who used to steal before the war.” © Christian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum According to Yahad’s witness, 5 Jews, as well as one Pole, were murdered at this place. Their bodies were buried somewhere else, unfortunately, Yahad’s team couldn’t establish where exactly. © Christian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Execution site in Zdziłowice where up to 80 Jews were shot and buried. © Christian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum Yahad-In Unum’s team during an interview. © Christian Monterroso /Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Zdziłowice

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Field
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
Over 73

Witness interview

Bronisław Z., born in 1925, remembers the prewar life: “There were many Jews in this district before the war. Only in Zdziłowice there were about a hundred Jews. More Jews lived in Turobin and Modliborzyce. The majority of them lived off trade. I had a Jewish neighbor. He was selling beer. His name was Berek and he had five children. Another Jew, Chaim Goldkofman, was buying and selling fabrics. All the shops in the town belonged to Jews. The Jews were honest, sometimes they made business with dishonest people, but they never cheated on someone else. One could buy everything in their shops, including tobacco. You know back then everybody smoked.” (Testimony n°752, interviewed in Zdziłowice Trzecie, on October 7, 2017).

Polish Archives

Type of site: execution site of the Jewish population.

Historical data: On September 7, 1942, the village of Zdziłowice was surrounded. First, in the morning, a Nazi soldier shot 3 Jews. Then, all the Jews were rounded up, taken outside the village and shot. There were 73 people. One Pole was also executed that day.

Exact location:

Village: Zdziłowice

Street: -

Powiat: Janow Lubelski

Voivodeship: Lublin [GK 195/VIII/8 p.1]

Historical note

Zdziłowice is a village located about 59 km south of Lublin. According to the 1921 census, 33 Jews lived in the village making up only 2% of its entire population. Before the war, according to the local witness, the Jewish community of Zdziłowice numbered approximately one hundred Jews. They lived off small scale trade and hand crafts. All the shops in the town were owned by Jews. Even though there was no synagogue, the Jews were religious. The Jewish males prayed in a special prayer house.  

Holocaust by bullets in figures

At the beginning of the occupation, the Germans divided Zdziłowice  in 4 parts: Zdziłowice  I, Zdziłowice  II, Zdziłowice  III and Zdziłowice  IV. In the fall of 1941, all the Polish schools were closed. The Jews could continue to live in their houses for about 2 years after the occupation.  On September 7, 1942, the mass execution was conducted. After having surrounded the village, the Germans rounded-up all the residents at the central square. 120 Jewish men were chosen and sent to Majdanek. According to Yahad’s witness, 5 Jews were immediately shot there, as well as one Pole. According to the Polish archives, on the same day, the Germans murdered 73 Jews, mostly elderly people, women and children, outside the village in the Zarzeczny’s field. The corpses were buried near the execution site.

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