the Piaski Luterskie Ghetto

Jews in Piaski (Piaski Luterskie) are mentioned in 1699. Their population grew from 571 in 1827 to 1,836 in 1857 and 2,674 (total 3,974) in 1921. Between the World Wars, the Jews suffered economically from Polish competition and increasing anti-Semitism, but Jewish public life flourished and Zionist activity was extensive. In 1939, the Jewish population was 4,165. As the Jews of Piaski fled east on the approach of the Germans in September 1939, Jewish refugees from western Poland began arriving. In the interlude between Soviet and German rule, local Poles murdered and robbed Jews. In early 1940, a Judenrat and ghetto were established. Hundreds of Jews were sent to forced labor camps and with the arrival of refugees, the ghetto population rose to 5,000. A second ghetto, crowding 20 people into a room, was set up in June 1941. In March 1942, 3,500 Jews were deported to the Belzec death camp to make room for 4,200 Jews from Germany, 1,000 from Czechoslovakia, and others from Kalisz. The ghetto population at this time stood at about 6,500. In September there were deportations to Belzec and in October 4,000 were deported to the Sobibor death camp via Trawniki. Subsequently, 6,000 surviving Jews from the region were brought there. The ghetto was liquidated in February or March 1943. The men were brought to Trawniki, but all traces of them have been lost. The fate of the children and women is unknown. Of the 35 survivors, most were young people who joined partisan units.