Transport from Komarow, Ghetto, Poland to Sobibor, Extermination Camp, Poland on 23/05/1942

The town of Komarów is located 100 kilometers southeast of Lublin and 27 kilometers southeast of Zamość. In 1921, its 2,895 residents included 1,752 Jews.^[1] German troops occupied Komarów on September 13, 1939. They then withdrew and the Soviet army took over the town. Eventually however, after the borders between Germany and the USSR were finalized, the Soviet troops retreated and Komarów came under Nazi control until 1944. As the Soviet troops drew back behind the Bug River on October 8, many local Komarów Jews joined them.

Although some Jews had already fled with the Soviets, many more subsequently arrived in the ghetto, causing an increase in the population density and creating a housing shortage. Beginning in 1940, about 200 Jews were deported to Komarów from the areas of Włocławek, Koło, Sierpc, and Częstochowa. Homeless Jews from Krasnobród, Tyszowce, Łaszczów, and Tomaszów Lubelski, were deported to Komarów as well. About 200 Jews were deported to Komarów from Lublin in March 1941 and another 400 from the Zamość ghetto.^[2] Sometime in the spring or summer of 1941, a Jewish ghetto was established in Komarów.^[3] On May 1, 1941, the SS transferred 250 Jews, originally assigned to the Zamość ghetto, to Komarów. On May 2, 1942, 729 deportees from the first Theresienstadt transport arrived in the town.^[4]

The first deportation of Jews from Komarów to a death camp most likely took place on May 23, 1942.^[5]  On that day, the Germans rounded up Jewish women, children, and elderly. Those who were still able to work, and had work permits, were allowed to stay. Some went into hiding places prepared in advance, and others tried to run off. Some were shot, and others, like Adam Shtibel, managed to escape.^[6] Moshe Bahir, one of the Komarów deportees (originally from Płock) described the deportation:...