Mordy | Masovian Voidodeship

"Mordy, a town in the former Siedlce Voivodeship, was the site of a Jewish ghetto established in November 1941. Located in the eastern part of the town, the ghetto held approximately 4,500 Jews over the course of its existence, including residents of Mordy and Jews from nearby localities, such as Sarnaki, who were brought there starting in May 1942.Ghetto inhabitants were forced to work in artisan workshops and engage in labor such as drainage projects. On August 22, 1942, the ghetto was liquidated. Its residents were rounded up and deported by the Nazis to the Treblinka extermination camp, where the vast majority were murdered." [AKG, ASG, sygn. 49, k. 143; Kolekcja “Z”, sygn. 488/j, k. 13. AP Warszawa, OT Siedlce, Akta gm Łysów, sygn. 309, k. 24-26. GK, Ankieta GKBZHwP, g., woj. Warszawskie. Archiwum ITS Arlosen.]

Mordy is located 108 km (67 miles) east of Warsaw and 18 km (11 miles) east-northeast of Siedlce. Jewish settlement in the town developed with relatively few restrictions, and the Jewish population grew steadily throughout the 19th century. By 1827, more than 500 Jews lived in Mordy, comprising about 45% of the total population. By the end of the century, this number had tripled, with Jews making up approximately 61% of the town’s residents.

Most Jewish inhabitants worked in traditional trades such as door-to-door sales and the selling of locally sourced foodstuffs. Many were also skilled artisans, particularly tailors and shoemakers, who played a vital role in the local economy. Jewish social and religious life was centered around the town’s synagogues and beth midrash, with the community adhering largely to Hasidic traditions.

On the eve of the Second World War, Mordy’s Jewish community numbered around 1,750 people, making up roughly half of the town’s population. These residents were predominantly Hasidim and made their livelihoods as petty agricultural merchants, small-scale traders, and craftsmen. They operated cobbler shops, tailoring businesses, numerous retail stores, and at least one inn. Their economic contributions were essential to the town and surrounding rural areas, providing much-needed goods and services to the broader community.

Mordy was heavily bombed in the first days of September 1939, at the onset of the war. Following the shifting terms of the German-Soviet agreements, the town ultimately came under German occupation.

Initially, Mordy’s limited German guard presence and its proximity to a Bug River crossing—approximately 23 km (14 miles) to the south—made it a vital transit point for Jewish refugees attempting to cross into Soviet-controlled territory. Many who were unable to cross immediately remained in Mordy, either temporarily or as a more permanent refuge.

A Jewish Council (Judenrat) was established in Mordy, likely in November 1939. By January 1941, the Jewish population had increased to about 2,000 due to the arrival of expellees from other towns, including Łódź, Kalisz, Poznań, and Mława. In its early months, the Judenrat focused on assisting refugees and fulfilling German demands relayed from Siedlce. By the summer of 1941, it was also tasked with supplying forced laborers for camps such as the Przebłucki estate near Mordy and another in Bartków Nowy.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, an open ghetto was created in Mordy. Jews, particularly refugees, were confined to the town’s prewar Jewish quarter in its southern section. In November 1941, this area was formally designated as a ghetto. Although it remained unfenced, signs were posted warning that anyone found entering or leaving without authorization would be punished. The ghetto population continued to grow; by December 1941, Jews from nearby villages—including Królowa Niwa, Przesmyki, Stok Ruski, and Tarków—had been relocated there, bringing the population to 3,195. In May 1942, approximately 500 Jews from Sarnaki were also transferred into the ghetto, raising the population to 3,817 by August. Local testimonies confirm that Jews found outside the ghetto were shot by German forces and buried in the Jewish cemetery.

The liquidation of Mordy’s Jewish community began on Saturday, August 22, 1942. That day, approximately 100 Jews—mainly the sick and weak—were shot by German forces within the town. Their bodies were buried in the Jewish cemetery. The remaining residents, around 3,500 people, were forced to march to the market square in Siedlce, where they joined Jews from the Siedlce and Łosice ghettos. During the wait for deportation, many were shot at random by SS guards. Deprived of water in extreme heat, they were marched to the Siedlce train station on Monday, August 23, and loaded onto trains bound for the Treblinka extermination camp.

Those who managed to avoid deportation by going into hiding were later found by German forces. They were detained in a local holding building known as the koza and subsequently taken to the Jewish cemetery, where they were executed. According to witness accounts, some Jews who died at the Klimonty labor camp were also buried in Mordy’s Jewish cemetery.

The forced labor camp at Bartków Nowy was liquidated on October 22, 1942, its inmates shot and buried in a mass grave. The Mordy forced labor camp met a similar fate around March 1943, when the remaining prisoners were executed on-site.

Approximately 20 Jewish survivors returned to Mordy after the war. However, in May 1945, between 2 and 12 of them were killed by partisans, believed to be members of the anti-Communist underground. In the wake of these postwar murders, the remaining Jews left Mordy, first relocating to Warsaw and later emigrating from Poland.

For more information on the killing of Jews in Klimonty, please refer to the corresponding profile.

https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol7_00295.html