Dębica (Dembitz) | Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Destruction of Jews in Dębica

1 Sitio(s) de ejecución

Tipo de lugar antes:

Wolica Forest

Memoriales:

Yes

Período de ocupación:

1939-1944

Número de víctimas:

Between 200 and 574

Entrevista del testigo

Olga K., born in 1927: "I don't remember much from those times… Unfortunately, my memory is failing me now. I do remember that Catholics and Jews lived in Dębica. The two communities got along quite well, and children from both went to primary school together. The Jews were mainly involved in trade and owned shops in Dębica. I used to go shopping there with my parents. During harder financial times, the Jews sold goods on credit: they would write down our purchases, and we paid for them at the beginning of the following month.

When the war started, the Jews were taken away somewhere, and some of them were shot in a nearby forest. I know this because I saw the trucks driving them there, and then I heard the gunfire. Afterwards, the Germans assigned villagers to fill in the pits. Since there weren't enough people because the men were running away, women had to go as well, including me. The pit in the forest was very large and deep, at least as deep as a person is tall. I don't remember how long it took us to bury the bodies, but a German with a rifle was guarded us the whole time. Before covering the bodies with earth, the Germans ordered us to pour some white substance into the pits. Today, there’s a monument at the site." (Witness N°YIU342P, interviewed in Dębica, on June 17, 2014)

Archivos polacos

"Buchholz, commander of German Gendarmerie in Dębica from 1941, commanded detachments of Gendarmerie during the deportation and extermination operations against the Jews of Dębica and Sub-District on June, 1942, when over 12,000 were deported to Belzec extermination camp. The sick and elderly, women and children were escorted by the S.S. and gendarmerie to a forest near Wolica where they were killed and buried in mass graves. Buchholz was in charge of gendarmerie during deportation operations on November 15, 1942, when 800 Jews were sent to Belzec. He also commanded detachments of Schutzpolizei during operations against Jews of Dębica in December 1942 when the remainder of the Jewish population was deported to S.S. forced labor camps or executed on the spot." [Source: Records of investigation and documentation of the Main Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes in Poland Reel 2 Page 243/355]

Nota histórica

Dębica is a city in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the seat of Dębica County. It is located approximately 110 km (68 mi) east of Kraków. Historically part of Little Poland in the former Sandomierz Land, Dębica belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship prior to 1945, before joining the newly formed Rzeszów Voivodeship after the Second World War.

The first mention of Jews in Dębica appeared in an agreement from 1471. This suggests a small Jewish community lived in the town as early as the 15th century. However, Dębica’s first kahal was likely founded by Jews expelled from nearby Pilzno after being driven out in 1577 and banned from local trade in 1635. After 1660, the town also sheltered Jewish refugees from Tarnów, Lipiny, Straszęcin, and Ropczyce. Through their hard work and enterprise, these newcomers reversed Dębica’s decline, driving its population and economic growth. Census data from 1764 records 911 Jewish residents in Dębica across 135 households. Thirty-three of these householders worked in different trades, including tailors, butchers, bakers, hatters, a goldsmith, a ropemaker, an engraver, a barber-surgeon, a musician, a cantor, and four teachers.

Moreover, the Jewish population significantly shaped the local economy through real estate broking, moneylending, and running taverns, breweries, and distilleries. In the 19th century, prominent merchants like the Kotz, Leibel, Leiter, and Rubinowicz families spearheaded Dębica’s industrialization. Local Jewish entrepreneurs established several manufacturing ventures: Jakub Taub opened a rope and reed mat factory employing 14 workers, Mendel Lejb founded a shoe factory, Natan Grünspan produced wheelbarrows and wagons, and Natan Eisen operated an iron foundry, machine shop, and locksmith enterprise. By 1880, Dębica's Jewish population had grown to roughly 2,400, accounting for over 70% of the town's total residents.

Jewish life centered heavily on traditional upbringing, as evidenced by the early 20th century, when only 27 of the 406 local high school students were Jewish. By 1870, the kahal oversaw two synagogues, a cemetery, a religious school, and three charitable brotherhoods.

In 1921, about 40% of the town’s population was Jewish (1,564 individuals out of 3,922 inhabitants) and by September 1939, approximately 2,900 Jewish residents lived in Dębica.

Holocausto por balas en cifras

As soon as they occupied Dębica on September 8, 1939, German forces implemented anti-Jewish measures, including property confiscation and the closure of Jewish institutions. Jewish residents were forced into manual labor, such as street cleaning, road construction, and factory work. A Jewish Council (Judenrat), established in November 1939, was charged with organizing daily forced labor units and collecting money and assets to satisfy German 'contributions' demands. In June 1940, a group of young Jewish men was sent to the nearby Pustków labor camp, though the Judenrat secured the return of some workers throughout the year using bribes.

In early 1941, a ghetto was established near the marketplace, initially enclosing approximately 2,200 local Jewish residents. By the summer of 1942, the ghetto was enclosed with barbed wire, and leaving required a special permit. Individuals caught outside the ghetto perimeter were shot at the local Jewish cemetery.

As German authorities prepared to liquidate nearby Jewish communities in mid-1942, the scope of the Dębica ghetto expanded considerably. Prior to the first deportation operation, Dębica became an assembly point for Jews brought from surrounding localities, including Sędziszów Małopolski, Ropczyce, Pilzno, Radomyśl Wielki, and Baranów Sandomierski. Mass killings took place locally during this concentration period. One large group was murdered in the Wolica forest, also known as Lisia Góra or Łysa Góra near the village of Wolica. Historical sources offer varying accounts of these forest killings, dating the event to July 10, July 21, or late July 1942. Local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum provided additional details. Maria B., born in 1933, witnessed the shooting of Jews, while Olga K., born in 1927, was requisitioned alongside other residents to cover the pit containing the victims. Estimates of victim numbers at this site range from roughly 200 in a local Memorial Book and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum records to 574 in other accounts, whereas the site monument honors approximately 500 victims. Additionally, individuals caught hiding in the ghetto were shot at the local Jewish cemetery.

The first mass deportation to the Bełżec killing center began shortly thereafter. During the selection process, individuals stripped of their work permits were transferred to a secondary collection point directly below Każynca Lunka prior to boarding the trains. Ultimately, up to 12,000 Jews from throughout Kreis Dębica, including 2,000 local residents, were deported to Bełżec during an operation conducted in late July 1942 by SS forces and local police.

Following this first deportation, only several hundred Jews with valid work permits remained in the ghetto, while others were transferred to forced labor at aircraft factories in Rzeszów and Mielec, or sent to the Pustków camp. By the fall of 1942, the ghetto population comprised approximately 600 detainees, including those who had returned from hiding. On December 15–16, 1942, a second deportation operation was carried out at Każynca Lunka to liquidate the remaining ghetto inmates. Following this operation, only the Jews assigned to the railway labor camp remained. At the beginning of 1943, their number increased to 1,600 due to individuals relocated from neighboring communities. While 50 undocumented Jews were turned over and murdered early in 1943, others fled to the Bochnia ghetto, later sharing the fate of its residents when they were deported to Auschwitz in September 1943. The liquidation of the Dębica labor camp began in April 1943, with the remaining inmates transferred to labor camps near Kraków or other sites.

While some Jews survived the war by finding shelter with Polish families or hiding in forests, the total number of survivors from the Dębica ghetto cannot be precisely determined.

In 1949, a memorial funded by Bar Natan of Tel Aviv was unveiled at the killing site in the Wolica Forest, featuring Polish and Hebrew inscriptions dedicated to the Jewish victims murdered there by German forces. A separate plaque at the site specifically commemorates Mosze Goldman, Ester Goldman and her family, and Hinda Goldman alongside the rest of the victims.

Jewishgen

Otros enlaces

• Watch the full video testimonials on the Yahad-In Unum media platform, InTestimony

Pueblos cercanos

• Pustków
• Pilzno

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