Transport from Radziejow, Aleksandrow Kujawski, Warszawa, Poland to Chelmno, Extermination Camp, Poland on 21/04/1942

Radziejów is a village located between Inowrocław (German: Hohensalza) and Włocławek (Lask), approximately 60 kilometers north of Chełmno and 120 kilometers north of Łódź. On October 26, 1939, the town, with its population of 3,200, was annexed by the Germans and it became part of Landkreis Nessau (Nieszawa County), which was renamed Hermannsbad (Ciechocinek) in 1940.^[1] According to German records, almost 4,000 Jews lived in Nessau County,^[2] between 599 and 728 of them in Radziejów.^[3] By January 1940, about one half of the county's Jewish population had been expelled or deported to the General Government (Generalgouvernement, the zone of Nazi-occupied central Poland not formally annexed to the Reich).^[4] According to different sources, in June 1940 there were approximately 1,530–2,188 Jews in the county, 630 of them in Radziejów.^[5]

In the summer of 1940, the Jews were concentrated in the "Jewish street" (Jidishe gas) in Radziejów, where many Jews had lived before the war.^[6] Beginning in 1940, the Jewish community was made to deliver young people for forced labor; the workers were rotated intermittently. In June 1941, Jews who were deemed fit for work were slated to be deported to the labor camp in Mogilno.^[7]

On January 26, 1942, the Jews of Radziejów were ordered to assemble in a big hall. At that time, their homes were ransacked, and they were required to pay Kopfsteuer (head tax) to the Germans. Frightened by rumors regarding the fate of Jews from other towns, the Jews of Radziejów expected to be deported; as a result, many fled or hid.^[8] The fact that a significant number of Jews managed to escape the village before the deportations began was uncommon for a small community in the Warthegau....