שילוח מ - Ruda Opalin, Chelm, Lublin, פולין ל - Sobibor, מחנה השמדה, פולין ב- 05/1942

The village formerly known as Ruda Opalin, and also referred to as Ruda B.,^[1] was located in the western part of the present-day village of Ruda Huta, some 14 kilometers northeast of Chełm. Nowadays, the village of Ruda Opalin is located elsewhere, just north of Ruda Huta. Before the war, it was home to 236 Jews.^[2] At the time of World War II, Ruda Opalin was part of the Świerże Gmina in the Chełm County, Lublin District.^[3]

The Wehrmacht occupied the area in September 1939, after a brief interlude of Soviet rule. Some Jews left with the Red Army, crossing over into the USSR.^[4] Shortly after the onset of the German occupation, a Judenrat was established in the nearby village of Sawin, some 14 kilometers northwest, and its jurisdiction also included Ruda Opalin (Ruda B.).^[5]

Around May 1942, the Chełm Landkommissar encouraged Jews in the Chełm district to volunteer for agricultural work, in order to avoid the deportations. Jews between the ages of 5 to 80 came forward to be registered. A few of them were assigned to work at the Ruda Opalin manor house, next to the glass factory, where the Landkommissar lived at the time. The workforce may have included some local Jews, residents of Ruda Opalin. The Jewish laborers worked in the fields and plantations of the estate, and were protected from deportation for the time being.^[6]...