שילוח מ - Brzeziny, Lubartow, Lublin, פולין ל - Piaski, גטו, פולין ב- 21/10/1942

Brzeziny is a village located approximately 30 km from the city of Lublin.^[1] During World War II, it was the administrative center of a gmina that comprised twenty-one villages, among them those with Jewish population: Łańcuchów, Malinowka, Kamionka, Ostrówek, Wólka Łańcuchowska, and others.

The 1921 Polish census indicated that, at this time, the gmina belonged to the Lublin County and consisted of forty-two settlements, fourteen of which were home to Jewish communities. At that point, there were 284 Jews living in the gmina, with the largest Jewish populations existing in the villages of Puchaczów (ninety-four) and Malinówka II (eighty-seven).^[2]

Brzeziny was occupied by the Wehrmacht in September 1939. Under German administration, the gmina was incorporated into the Lublin County [Kreis Lublin-Land] of the Lublin District, which was headed by County Governor [Kreishauptmann] Emil Ziegenmeyer from October 4, 1939.^[3] The Jewish center of the gmina was the village of Puchaczów, where the majority of the prewar Jewish population lived, and where the Nazis deported additional Jews from nearby localities. Between November 29 and December 13, 1940, a total of fifty-one Jews were transported to Puchaczów from Kraków and other cities and towns in eastern Poland, including Bar Grodzki, Biała, and Podgórze.^[4] According to the documentation of the Jewish Social Self-Help Committee, there were 356 Jews living in Puchaczów in June 1941, compared to 378 earlier.^[5] German records indicate that in August–September 1942, a total of 351 Jews still resided within the gmina, 181 of them in Puchaczów.^[6]...