Transport from Trzęsiny, Zamosc, Lublin, Poland to Szczebrzeszyn, Zamosc, Lublin, Poland on 29/09/1942

Trzęsiny – a village in the administrative municipality of Radecznica, Biłgoraj County, some 14 kilometers from the town of Szczebrzeszyn – had in 1921 a population of 136.^[1] In 1939, 15,663 Jews lived in Biłgoraj County, in the Lublin District, constituting about 46 percent of the population.^[2] Two Jewish families, in all about ten people, lived in the village when the war broke out: the Kiselowicz family, which was an elderly couple; and Yehoshuale Rotman's family, a younger couple with six or seven children.^[3]

Shortly after the Germans arrived in the area, in September 1939, the Jews in Trzęsiny were forced to wear Star of David armbands and were subjected to economic persecution, violence, and forced labor. Survivor Aron Kiselowicz, who moved from Janów Lubelski to live with his parents in Trzęsiny after the war broke out, testified that the Jews of the village were subordinate to the Judenrat in the village of Gorajec. The Judenrat in Gorajec selected people for forced labor, and apportioned the work.^[4]

From mid-October 1939, Biłgoraj was the administrative center of the Nazi authorities in the county.^[5] The position of county governor (Kreishauptmann) was held by Dr. Werner Ansel (October 26, 1939-March 31, 1942) and afterward by Hans Augustin (April 1-December 1,1942); the two were partly responsible for planning and organizing the deportations in the district.^[6] In the beginning of May 1942, the Population and Welfare Department in Lublin, headed by Richard Türk, instructed the county governors to prepare for the deportation of all the Jews in the district.^[7]...