Transport from Szyszkow, Bilgoraj, Lublin, Poland to Krzeszow, Bilgoraj, Lublin, Poland on 16/09/1942

Located in southeastern Poland, Szyszków is situated 30 kilometers southwest of the town of Biłgoraj. During World War II, it was part of the Potok Górny municipality (gmina), in Biłgoraj County (Landkreis), within the Lublin District (Distrikt) of the General Government (Generalgouvernement).

According to the Potok Górny municipal census from October 25, 1939, 243 Jews resided in the villages of the municipality (gmina). Among them were fifteen in Szyszków, composed of seven people ages 0-16; seven ages 16-60; and one woman sixty years old or older. Nine were male and six were female.^[1] The total number of residents in the village was 612.^[2] The local Jews belonged to the families of Fiszer, Gajst, and Frampoler.^[3]

In mid-September 1942, the Jews from the village of Szyszków, along with the Jews from the entire Potok Górny municipality (gmina), were deported 15 kilometers west to the nearby town of Krzeszów. A survivor from the village of Potok Górny, Shlomo-Yitzhak Sprung, recounts how on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), September 11-13, 1942, the German authorities ordered the deportation of the Jews in the Potok Górny municipality, including the villages of "Potok Górny, Kulno, Lipiny and Szyszków" to Krzeszów.^[4] A letter written by the head of the municipality (wójt gminy), J. Jaceczko, on September 16, 1942, instructs the head of the Szyszków village (sołtys wsi) "to provide a sufficient number of horse-drawn wagons for four Jewish families, at least two per family." The four families were transported to Krzeszów as part of the "resettlement action," a German code name for deportation.^[5]...