Wave of Deportation from Kowale Panskie, Ghetto, Poland to Mogilno, Camp, Poland on 05/1942

In May-June 1942, the Nazi authorities carried out at least three roundups in these villages. Young Jewish men and women were taken to several forced-labor camps in the vicinity of Poznań (Posen) and Mogilno, where they were put to work on the construction of railroads and a highway, as well as on the German urban plans for modernizing Poznań by enlarging green areas of the city, inter alia. Many Jews tried to escape or hide during the roundups, but most of them were caught. Postwar testimonies of Jews from Turek and vicinity mention three transports: a) first transport was of men alone; the second was of women alone; and c) the third transport included both Jewish men and women. In the first transport, the Germans needed approximately 400 Jewish men to fill their quota. According to Yehoshua Eibeshitz (b. 1916), this transport ended up in the forced-labor camp of Schwaningen. Eibeshitz, in his autobiography, provides a detailed description of the events that occurred at the time of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost): He heard the news about the Germans hunting Jews while he was praying. Eibeshitz tried to hide, but was caught and taken to a "small dirty hole," where he and other Jews were imprisoned. The next morning, a Saturday, the prisoners were forced to march to the Turek train station, a distance of approximately 20 km. In Turek, the prisoners were forced by German gendarmerie into cattle cars, where they joined Jews from other villages of the rural ghetto. They were guarded by armed gendarmes. According to Eibeshitz, the train left the station at 12:00 and reached Kalisz (Kalisch) seven hours later, in a ride that usually only lasted three and a half hours. In Kalisz, the German police lined the prisoners up and marched them to a school building and locked them in; on the way, the Jews were able to talk with local people. While they were imprisoned in the school, three Jewish women brought them food....