Transport from Siennica Rozana, Krasnystaw, Lublin, Poland to Izbica, Krasnystaw, Lublin, Poland on 01/09/1942

The village of Siennica Różana is the administrative seat of the Siennica Różana municipality in the Krasnystaw County, eastern Poland. According to the 1921 Polish census, the villages that made up the Siennica Różana municipality during World War II were home to 157 Jews.^[1] Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Siennica Różana municipality fell under Nazi occupation, until the arrival of the Soviet Army in 1944. Under the Nazis, the municipality was part of the Krasnystaw County (Kreis in German) of the General Government (the part of occupied Poland that was not officially annexed to the Reich).

As the Nazi occupation set in, refugees and deportees from other parts of Poland began to arrive in the Krasnystaw County. According to a report by the Jewish Social Self-help (JSS) organization from October 15, 1940, the Jewish population of the Siennica Różana municipality had risen to 220.^[2] From April 18, 1941, more Jews arrived from Izbica, Lublin, Krasnystaw, and Warsaw. By June 5 that year, the number of Jews in the municipality had increased to 435, and most likely continued to grow.^[3] The Jews were distributed among all the fifteen villages of the municipality, and the Jewish Council drew its members from several of them.^[4] The first step toward the isolation and expulsion of the local Jews was taken already in late December or early January 1942, when some of the Jews were forced out of their homes.^[5] In January 1942, a special circular banned the Jews from buying necessities at local stores, which were marked with a sign that read: "Żydom wstęp wzbroniony" [Entry to Jews is forbidden].^[6]

Czesław D., a resident of the village of Siennica Różana who worked as a fireman during the war, would testify that, sometime after the invasion of the Soviet Union (i.e., June 22, 1941) by Nazi Germany, three German policemen arrived in the village and set up a permanent police station in the manor house of Jerzy K..^[7] The commander was known as the "Wachtmeister," while the second policeman, who spoke German and knew Polish quite well, was identified as Hans Sosner, also known as "Sosna." Several Polish Blue policemen and five Ukrainian policemen were employed at the station.^[8] The functionaries of this police station took an active part in the deportation of the Jews....