1 Killing site(s)
Marian B., born 1932: "The Germans ordered the detention of Jews in a Polish jail. These Germans were not permanently stationed in Łaskarzew but traveled from Sobolew once a week. During these visits, they would take the Jewish prisoners from the jail to a site that, before the war, had been associated with the Młoda Polska organization. This site included a shooting range with a backstop, in front of which executions took place. The Jews were forced to kneel with their hands raised. Groups of eight to ten were brought to the range and executed there." (Testimony N°YIU528P, interviewed in Łaskarzew, on September 30, 2015)
"-120 Jews shot between September and November 1942.
-27 Jews shot on 28.11.1939.
-14 Poles killed in various camps between 1941 and 1944.
-18 Poles shot in November and December 1943 and in January 1944.
-54 Poles and Jews shot on 17.09.1939.
-Dozens of other individual shootings or shootings of a few people." [Court Inquiries about executions and mass graves in districts, provinces, camps and ghettos RG-15.019M Reel #12]
Łaskarzew is a town in Garwolin County, Masovian Voivodeship, located approximately 14 kilometers (9 miles) south of Garwolin and 75 kilometers (47 miles) southeast of Warsaw, on the banks of the Promnik River. The Jewish presence in Łaskarzew dates back to the mid-18th century, although significant settlement only began in the late 18th century, following the lifting of restrictions on Jewish residence.
In 1857, 158 Jews lived in the town, and their numbers grew steadily over the decades. By 1900, the Jewish population had risen to 1,258, comprising 44% of the town’s total population, and by 1938, it had reached approximately 1,500. Throughout the 19th century, Jewish tailors established Łaskarzew as a regional center for tailoring, a trade that remained significant during the interwar period.
The Jewish community’s infrastructure included a synagogue, built in 1893, and a Jewish cemetery, likely established around 1863, near the modern-day Solidarności and Biskupa Łazarza streets. The cemetery marked an important step in the community’s pursuit of independence from the Garwolin Synagogue District.
By the early 20th century, the Jewish community in Łaskarzew had developed a range of educational, social, and political institutions that enriched the town’s cultural and social life. This vibrant legacy endured until the outbreak of the Second World War.
On September 17, 1939, German forces entered Łaskarzew and immediately retaliated against local resistance by executing 53 inhabitants, including 30 Jews. The synagogue and ritual bath were destroyed, along with most of the town’s buildings. On November 28, 1939, another group of 27 Jews was executed.
A new administration was established, including a local auxiliary police force. Initially, Łaskarzew was overseen by the German gendarmerie from Sobolew and Garwolin. Over time, a Schutzpolizei unit was stationed in the town. At the end of 1939, a Jewish Council (Judenrat) was formed, later assisted by a Jewish police unit.
In March and November 1940, over 100 Jewish refugees from Garwolin arrived in Łaskarzew. In November 1941, an open ghetto was established in the western part of the town, encompassing Dąbrowska, 11 Listopada, Wolska, Garbarska, and Alejowa Streets. The ghetto housed between 1,300 and 1,500 Jews, including those from nearby localities such as Maciejowice, Wola Rębkowska, Górzno, and Pilawa. Local witnesses recalled that Poles could move freely around the ghetto when Germans were not present.
Up to 200 ghetto inmates were forced into labor at the Wilga camp, digging drainage ditches along the Vistula River. Others were assigned to paving the Łaskarzew-Sobolew road during the summer of 1942. According to some sources, a number of ghetto residents were deported to Bełżec on May 17, 1942.
The final liquidation of the ghetto took place on September 30, 1942, led by an SS unit. Between 400 and 900 Jews were gathered in the market square before being marched to the train station and deported to the Treblinka extermination camp. During the liquidation, many Jews fled into the surrounding forests, with estimates of those who escaped ranging from 200 to 900 people.
A local witness, interviewed by Yahad, recounted the murder of a group of around 20 Jewish children, aged 9 to 12. Escorted by four Germans to the Łaskarzew park, the children were brought to a pit dug in the park. Placed along its edge, they were killed in small groups with automatic weapons, after which the pit was filled in.
In total, 120 Jews from Łaskarzew and surrounding areas were killed in the town after the ghetto’s liquidation. Some sources suggest that Jews who returned from hiding in the forests were briefly held in a second ghetto established in the town for about six weeks before being deported to Treblinka. Isolated killings of Jews and non-Jews continued in Łaskarzew until the end of the German occupation.
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