The town of Piaski, located some 23 kilometers southeast of Lublin, was occupied by the Wehrmacht in October 1939, after a brief interlude of Soviet control.^[1] Under German rule, Piaski was assigned to the Lublin County (Kreis Lublin-Land) of the Lublin District of the General Government (Generalgouvernement) – Nazi-occupied central Poland, which had not been annexed to the Reich. On October 4, 1939, Emil Ziegenmeyer was appointed Kreishauptmann [county chief] of the Lublin County.^[2]

Shortly afterward, the German authorities ordered the establishment of a Judenrat (Jewish Council) in the town, with Mendel Polisecki as its chairman.^[3] Other known members of this body were Yosel Rosenblat, Yosel Ashman, and Moshe Drayblat.^[4] On January 1, 1940, the Wehrmacht left Piaski, and the German Gendarmerie became responsible for maintaining the occupation regime in the town.^[5]

Early in 1940, the Germans set up the Piaski Ghetto in the area of the town's Jewish quarter.^[6] Its size was reduced by June 1941, and its area consisted of two parts, straddling Lubelska Street.^[7] On September 9, 1941, by order of Ziegenmeyer, Piaski was declared a closed ghetto.^[8]...