שילוח מ - Trawniki, Lublin, Lublin, פולין ל - Belzec, מחנה השמדה, פולין ב- 01/03/1942

The first Jews settled in Trawniki in the late 19th century, creating a small community, which consisted of 141 members on the eve of World War II.^[1] Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, the town was briefly held by Soviet forces. When the Red Army retreated from the area, some local Jews joined the exodus, moving into the Soviet interior. Shortly after occupying Trawniki, the Nazis turned it into a multifunctional site, using it for various purposes. Most importantly, an open ghetto was established in the town, accommodating both local Jews and deportees from other areas. On December 10, 1940, fifty-one Jews arrived in Trawniki from Krakow, followed by another ninety-six deportees in March 1941. In August that year, Trawniki was home to 263 Jews,^[2] and this figure stood at 259 in February 1942.^[3] The Judenrat [Jewish Council] of Trawniki was closely connected to the Judenrat in the nearby village of Biskupice. In early 1940, the members of the Trawniki Judenrat were: David Goldbaum, Bencjan Erlich (a merchant), Nojech Elpern (a merchant), Gerszon Burstyn (a wood sorter), and Faiwel Holzman (an accountant).^[4]

In March 1942, the Jewish community of Trawniki was deported to the Belzec death camp, as part of Operation Reinhard. The official in charge of the deportations was SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle, head of the "Jewish affairs" desk of the SS and Police Leader (SSPF) in the Lublin District, Odilo Globocnik. The deportation orders were coordinated and passed down from Höfle’s office in Lublin, through the district SS and police leaders. According to historian Robert O’Neil, 600 Jews were deported from Trawniki to Belzec on March 1, 1942,^[5] and the liquidation of the ghetto took place on the same day. By contrast, historian David Silberklang estimates that 250 Jews were deported to Belzec in March.^[6] The latter estimate seems more plausible, in light of the available data on the number of ghetto inhabitants in March 1942. However, it is likely that some inmates of the labor camp established in Trawniki in the early summer of 1941 were also included in this deportation.

 Because of the multifunctional role of Trawniki, historians have tended to gloss over the tiny local Jewish community and small ghetto. Some sources even erroneously state that there was no ghetto in Trawniki.^[7] However, according to the documentation of the Jewish Social Self-Help committee of that area, the ghetto definitely existed.^[8]...