In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Krasnystaw, the capital of the Krasnystaw County of the Lublin District, some 55 kilometers southeast of Lublin, was home to 2100 Jews.[1] The Germans occupied Krasnystaw on September 18, 1939. Around September 28, they ceded the town to the Soviets. Following a border demarcation that restored Krasnystaw to Germany, almost 1,000 local Jews joined the Soviet military evacuation. On October 7-8, 1939, the town was reoccupied by the Germans.[2]
In January 1940, a Judenrat was set up in Krasnystaw, headed by Lipa Rajchman, with David Zylbercan as his deputy.[3] Subsequently, a Jewish order service (also referred to as a Jewish police) was established upon German orders.[4] On May 29, 1940, a Jewish Social Self-Help [JSS] committee was set up in the town, headed by Michel [Michal] Szolsohn. Some of its other members were: Szmil Silbermann, Szyja Zycer, Chaim Warsznyter, and Jakob Neumann.[5]
On August 9, 1940, the Jewish population of Krasnystaw was herded into a ghetto, which consisted only of Grobla Street. Because of the limited space in the ghetto, most of the Jews were left without a roof over their heads. There were tragic instances when the members of a family had to be separated. People huddled in attics and shacks. Poverty spread throughout the ghetto, and with it, the threat of epidemics.[6]...