Transport from Praszka, Ghetto, Poland to Wielun, Ghetto, Poland on 12/08/1942

Praszka (Praschkau) was part of the former border region with Silesia, Germany, in southwest Poland, located a few kilometers from Kreuzburg (Kluczbork). The town was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 1, 1939, and annexed to the Reich on October 26 as part of the newly formed county Landkreis Wielun. About 1,000 citizens, roughly 23 percent of the population, were Jewish. An unknown number of Jews escaped to nearby towns like Wieluń (Wielun) and Osiakow (Ostwerder). From day one of the occupation, Jewish life changed for the worse. The synagogue was closed and turned into a storehouse for coals. Jewish property was confiscated, Jewish shops were ordered to close, and Jews were immediately forced to wear the yellow star. They were publicly humiliated by cleaning the streets on their knees. Many Jewish men were first imprisoned in city hall and from there deported to a prison in Łódź, where they were interrogated and tortured. A Judenrat (Jewish Council) was established in the spring of 1940 and chaired by a Jew named Goldrat. A closed ghetto, surrounded with barbed wire, was created on October 24, 1940; it had an increased population due to refugees from the county, specifically from the neighboring villages. Sonia Games from Praszka, who wrote a book about her ordeal, describes some of the living conditions: “It encompassed several small streets adjacent to the Jewish cemetery, which were vacated for that purpose. It was a dilapidated part of town consisting of old homes and shacks. A barbed wire fence sprung up, closing off streets, cutting us off efficiently from the rest of the world.… The Ghetto became crowded, sometimes ten to a room, only enough space given each person to sleep upon. It was rat infested.” ...