Transport from Zmudz, Chelm, Lublin, Poland to Chelm, Chelm, Lublin, Poland on 10/1942

Żmudź is a village lying some 22 kilometers southeast of the town of Chełm in eastern Poland. According to the census of 1921, the village was home to some forty Jews, out of a total population of 472. The census also mentions a manor farm (folwark in Polish) named Żmudź, which had about ninety-nine residents, seven of whom were Jews.^[1] The Jewish community of the village grew over the years, and, according to historian Tatiana Berenstein, it numbered some 122 members on the eve of World War II.^[2] In the first weeks after the outbreak of war, Żmudź fell under German control, and was administratively assigned to the Chełm County of the Lublin District of the General Government (the part of German-occupied Poland that was not officially annexed to the Reich).

In Żmudź, as in many other villages and towns in the area, the freedom of movement and trade opportunities of the Jews were restricted. The local Jews were forced to work in agriculture and construction without any remuneration. One of the waterworks (Wasserwirtschaft) camps was set up near Żmudź.^[3] Both local and non-local Jewish forced laborers may have been used there. According to historian David Silberklang, the camp had some 200 Jewish inmates.^[4]

However, according to Yehoshua (Szyja) Szteinwurcel, who had moved from Chełm to Żmudź in 1939 as a seven-year-old boy, the situation in the village was relatively peaceful at first. Apparently, the first Aktion in the area was carried out by the Germans, at an unknown date, as a reprisal for an attack on German guards by partisans. Many of the local Jews were rounded up and shot dead. A German dragged Yehoshua's sister Pesia by the hair, and then murdered her. The rest of the family hid in a bunker, which they had prepared in advance.^[5]...