Transport from Rejowiec, Chelm, Lublin, Poland to Majdanek, Camp, Poland on 06/06/1943

Rejowiec, a town some 55 kilometers east of Lublin, in the Chełm County of the Lublin District, was home to 2,500-2,600 Jews on the eve of World War II.^[1]

The Wehrmacht occupied the town in September 1939, after a brief interlude of Soviet rule.^[2] Dr. Warner Ansel was the County Governor between April 1 and December 1942, while Claus Harms held this post between December 1942 and May 1944. Both Ansel and Harms were responsible for planning and conducting the deportations during the relevant periods.^[3]

The first deportation from Rejowiec to a death camp, most likely to Sobibor, took place on April 7, 1942. More than 2,000 people were sent to their deaths at this time.^[4] A smaller group of some 400-500 Jews was sent to the Krychów Wasserwirtschaft (water management) labor camp on April 8.^[5] Some 400 Jews were able to remain in the town, either by hiding or by being classified as "useful" laborers.^[6] On April 16, 18, and 20, a total of 3,070 Jewish deportees arrived in Rejowiec from Nitra (Slovakia) and from Theresienstadt, followed by 1,000 deportees from Wrocław and Lipnik on May 5, and by another 3,652 Slovak Jews on May 23, 24, and 25.^[7] Most of these Jews were deported from Rejowiec to the Sobibor death camp in at least one deportation, which took place on August 9.^[8]...