Transport from Bilgoraj, Bilgoraj, Lublin, Poland to Majdanek, Camp, Poland on 14/05/1942

Biłgoraj County is located in today’s Lublin Province, in southeastern Poland. Before World War II, it was a typically agricultural region with a poor road infrastructure. In 1931, the county had a Jewish population of 12,938. When the Germans occupied Poland in September 1939, the county’s boundaries were changed, increasing the Jewish population to around 16,000. In 1939, the town of Biłgoraj itself had a Jewish population of 5,010. When the Germans entered the town, on September 17, 1939, they forcefully evicted many Jews from their apartments and housed soldiers in them. A few days later, Biłgoraj came under Soviet rule, but on October 5 or 6 the Red Army withdrew and the city reverted to German occupation. About 1,500 Jews left with the Soviet troops, fearing persecution by the Nazis. In November 1939, the German administration established a Judenrat, with Haim-Mordechaj Hirszenhorn as its chairman. In 1942 there were at least 2,200 Jews left in Biłgoraj, including Jews from nearby villages, according to data compiled from documents of the Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Social Self-Help (Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna, ŻSS), the Central Welfare Council (Rada Główna Opiekuńcza, RGO) and the local administration from the occupation period. ...