Big Action (Warsaw)

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The announcement of the Jewish Council in Warsaw of July 22, 1942, issued by German order, regarding the start of the major action to dissolve the Warsaw ghetto .

The dissolution of the Warsaw ghetto is referred to as the Great Action ( Wielka Akcja in Polish ), called resettlement to the east in the Nazi camouflage language . It was part of the systematic extermination of Jews and was carried out between July 22nd and September 21st, 1942 as part of " Aktion Reinhardt ".

background

Although reports and rumors about deportations from predominantly Jewish-inhabited towns and other ghettos raised fears, things remained calm in the Warsaw ghetto at first. Employment rose and the economic situation improved slightly. Withdrawal movements by the Wehrmacht led to an optimistic assessment of the chances of survival.

On April 18, 1942, during the so-called “bloody night”, 52 people were arrested and shot according to prepared lists. More nightly raids followed and caused fear and horror. On July 19, 1942, Heinrich Himmler sent the central order for the murder of the Jews in the Generalgouvernement to the Higher SS and Police Leader East (HSSPF) Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger .

course

On July 22, 1942 at 10 a.m. the SS and Police Leader Hermann Höfle ordered the chairman of the Judenrat Adam Czerniaków to have 6000 ghetto inmates ready for removal every day for “resettlement to the east”. That same day the first transport went to the Treblinka extermination camp . The next day, Czerniaków took his own life with a cyanide capsule . He had hoped to be able to "shake up the world" with such an alarm signal; However, his suicide was only known abroad a few weeks later.

Members of the Jewish security service actively participated in the deportations . As deputy commander, Jacob Lejkin had 2000 to 2500 Jewish auxiliary police officers who were supported by German police officers and Trawniki if the daily quota had not yet been met. The Jews were herded to the Umschlagplatz and then deported in freight trains to the Treblinka extermination camp .

In the first phase of the campaign, many residents tried to get work permits from German companies (szopy); some jobs were bought. 65,000 ghetto residents were deported within ten days.

After some refugees returned to Warsaw from the transport trains to Treblinka in August 1942, it became clear that these deportations were not for resettlement, but only for one purpose: the systematic extermination of Jews. In a second phase, from July 31 to August 14, 1942, the Germans and their 200 Trawniki helpers organized most of the actions themselves; the Jewish security service only played a “secondary role”. On August 5th, the deportation of 10,000 orphans who had lost their parents to epidemics or deportations was ordered. Janusz Korczak accompanied one of these transports .

In a third phase, which lasted from August 15 to September 6, 1942, the SS and their helpers combed apartments and streets according to plan. First unskilled workers with their families, then skilled workers were included in the deportations. The SS forced every Jewish police officer to bring in five Jews a day; otherwise he would be evacuated himself. Between July and September 1942, at least 6,600 Jews were shot dead in raids in the ghetto alone.

In the final phase of the action, i. H. From September 6th to 11th, about 100,000 ghetto residents were gathered between ulica Smocza, ulica Gęsia, ulica Zamenhofa, ulica Szczęśliwa and Plac Parysowski (so-called “Kessel in ulica Miła” or “Kessel in ulica Niska”). In the selection process , 32,000 people were given the so-called "life numbers" and were allowed to stay in the ghetto, 2,600 Jews were shot and a further 54,000 were brought to Treblinka.

September 21 was the last day of the major action, which fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur . On that day, the forces of the Jewish security service were reduced from 2,400 to 380 people. Many police officers and their families got to the transshipment point and were then deported.

Deportation of Jews to Umschlagplatz (between 1942 and 1943)

A total of around 265,000 Jews were killed during the major action. Around 10,000 people were murdered on site and around 70,000 people (legally or illegally) lived in the significantly reduced ghetto area. About 75% of the ghetto residents were deported to Treblinka and the ghetto area was limited to the production facilities (so-called sheds) in the northern part of the separate Jewish quarter and the Tobbens sheds near Pańska Street.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Israel Gutman et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Holocaust . Munich and Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-22700-7 , Vol. 3, pp. 1540f.
  2. ^ Israel Gutman et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Holocaust . Munich and Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-22700-7 , Vol. 3, p. 1541.
  3. ↑ Klaus-Peter Friedrich (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933–1945 (source collection) Volume 9: Poland: Generalgouvernement August 1941–1945 , Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71530- 9 , p. 28 as well as doc.VEJ 9/96.
  4. ↑ Document VEJ 9/98 and 9/99 in VEJ: Klaus-Peter Friedrich (arr.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Vol 9, Munich 2013. ISBN 978-3-486-71530-9 , P. 340f. / Perelmuter, Zoja .: Żydzi warszawscy, 1939–1943: Ghetto - podziemie - walka . Rytm, Warszawa 1993, ISBN 83-8524926-5 .
  5. ↑ Klaus-Peter Friedrich (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Volume 9, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71530-9 , p. 28.
  6. ↑ Person, Katarzyna., Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma .: Dziennik . Wyd. 2nd Edition. Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma, Warszawa 2016, ISBN 978-83-65254-20-7 .
  7. ^ Israel Gutman et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Holocaust . Munich and Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-22700-7 , p. 1541.
  8. ↑ Klaus-Peter Friedrich (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Volume 9, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71530-9 , p. 29.
  9. ^ Israel Gutman et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Holocaust . Munich and Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-22700-7 , p. 1542.
  10. ^ Israel Gutman et al. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Holocaust . Munich and Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-22700-7 , p. 1542.
  11. ↑ Klaus-Peter Friedrich (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Volume 9, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71530-9 , p. 29.
  12. ↑ Leociak, Jacek, Weszpiński, Paweł E., Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów ,: Ghetto warszawskie: przewodnik po nieistniejącym mieście . Wydanie drugie, zmienione, poprawione i rozszerzone edition. Warszawa 2017, ISBN 978-83-63444-27-3 .
  13. ↑ Leociak, Jacek, Weszpiński, Paweł E., Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów ,: Ghetto warszawskie: przewodnik po nieistniejącym mieście . Wydanie drugie, zmienione, poprawione i rozszerzone edition. Warszawa 2017, ISBN 978-83-63444-27-3 .
  14. ↑ a b Państwowe Muzeum na Majdanku ,: Zagłada Żydów w Generalnym Gubernatorstwie: zarys problematyki . Wydanie 1 edition. Lublin 2017, ISBN 978-83-62816-34-7 .
  15. ↑ a b Wielka Akcj a. Żydowski Instytut Historyczny / Information from the Judenrat probably too few; see: Klaus-Peter Friedrich (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Volume 9, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71530-9 , p. 29. and Doc. VEJ 9/195 table 3.
  16. ↑ Perelmuter, Zoja .: Żydzi warszawscy, 1939–1943: Getto - podziemie - walka . Rytm, Warszawa 1993, ISBN 83-8524926-5 .