Nowy Bartków | Mazovian Voivodeship

Nowy Bartków, Siedlce Voivodeship, north-west of Siedlce. Labor camp.

"Established in 1942, liquidated in 1943. It was located across 4 barracks. Polish citizens of Jewish descent, an average of 400 people, stayed there. They worked on river regulation, building fish ponds, and repairing dams. 10 people died. During the liquidation of the camp, prisoners were transported to another camp." [AGK, ASG, sygn. 62, k. 243.]

Nowy Bartków is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Korczew, within Siedlce County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Korczew, 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Siedlce, and 107 km (66 mi) east of Warsaw.

Little is known about the pre-war Jewish population of Nowy Bartków itself. According to some Yahad witnesses, only a few Jewish individuals resided in the village. The Jewish population in the broader region primarily lived in surrounding towns and villages, such as Sawice, Korczew, or Sokołów Podlaski, where they were largely involved in commerce and operated their own shops.

After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and the Soviet Union followed on September 17, Korczew County quickly fell under German control and was incorporated into the Nazi-administered General Government. German forces immediately began targeting the Jewish population. This led many wealthier Jews to flee eastward into Soviet-occupied territory, though they were often searched and had their valuables confiscated.

Beginning in the fall of 1941, Jews from Sokołów Podlaski were deported to labor camps in the Korczew area, including Szczeglacin and Nowy Bartków. Several hundred individuals from nearby towns and villages were also confined in these camps. In the spring of 1942, Jews from Mordy were also transferred to Nowy Bartków. As a result, the camp’s inmates were primarily Jews from Sokołów Podlaski and Mordy, with an average population of about 400 workers at any given time.

According to historical archives, the Nowy Bartków labor camp consisted of four barracks, located on the outskirts of the village in an area locally known as "Strachany meadows." Prisoners were subjected to forced labor, primarily focused on river regulation, establishing fish ponds, and repairing dams, all under the strict supervision of German guards. Likely in 1942 (though some sources suggest 1943), as the work along the river progressed, the camp was liquidated, and its prisoners were transferred to Szczeglacin.

Sources indicate that 10 Jewish workers died in the Nowy Bartków labor camp during its operation. In 2015, during an investigation in Nowy Bartków, the Yahad team, aided by an eyewitness, successfully located their burial site in a field several dozen meters from where the camp once stood. Today, this site is covered by a forest, and there is no monument commemorating the victims.