Jastków | Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship

Jastków is located 74km east of Kielce. According to the local residents, the village was home only to Poles. A big Jewish community lived in the nearby town of Ćmielów, located 3km away. The first records about the Jewish community in Ćmielów go back to the early 18^th century. The community increased over the years. By 1827, 147 Jews lived in the town. According to the census in 1921, 664 Jews lived in the town making up 27% of the total population. The majority of Jews were traders or craftsmen. According to a local resident interviewed by Yahad, some Jews were coming from Ćmielów to sell their goods in Jastków. They had their own synagogue, built in the 1860s. There was a mikveh (ritual bath) as well. On the eve of WWII, about 500 Jews lived in Ćmielów.

Jastków and Ćmielów were occupied by the Germans in September 1939. Right after the occupation, the anti-Jewish measures were implemented. The Ćmielów Jews were subjected to pay contributions and their shops were taken over by the Germans. The Jews continued to live freely until the creation of the ghetto in June 1942. While the majority of Jews were deported to the Treblinka camp in October 1942, several isolated shootings were conducted in Ćmielów and in Jastków. Undocumented until recently, the execution is Jastków was conducted some weeks after the deportation, in October 1942. The victims were a Jewish family of four, native from Ćmielów, owners of the lemonade shop, who came to Jastków to hide. They were denounced and killed by Germans in a silo pit. There is no memorial at the execution site. Those who were not found immediately, but after a certain time, were confined into a camp created in January 1943 in Ćmielów. The camp inmates were eventually deported to the Treblinka camp some time later.

For more information about the Jews killed in Ćmielów please refer to the following profile