שילוח מ - Ludwin, Lubartow, Lublin, פולין ל - Leczna, Lubartow, Lublin, פולין ב- 21/10/1942

Ludwin gmina is an administrative district in the Łęczna County of the Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. During World War II (according to the 1943 register),^[1] it comprised thirty-one villages, including those with Jewish population -- Dąbrowa, Dratów, Kobyłki, Kaniowola, Piaseczno, Rozkopaczów, Rózplucie, Zezulin and others. Its administrative seat was the village of Ludwin, situated approximately 4 km north of Łęczna and 25 km east of the regional capital, Lublin. German records indicate that, in May 1942, the Jewish population of Ludwin numbered sixty-seven. ^[2]

Ludwin was occupied by the Wehrmacht in September 1939. Under German administration, Ludwin was incorporated into the Lublin County [Kreis Lublin-Land] of the Lublin District – which, from October 4, 1939, was headed by County Governor [Kreishauptmann] Emil Ziegenmeyer.^[3]

The nearby town of Łęczna, which had a larger Jewish population, became an assembly point for Jews from the surrounding villages. An open ghetto was established there in 1940. The Jewish Social Self-Help committee in Łęczna was responsible not only for the local Jewish community, but also for those in Ludwin and Spiczyn.^[4] From April 1942 on, some Jews from the villages of the Ludwin gmina were relocated to the Łęczna Ghetto and the associated forced labor camp,^[5] where many perished. Among deportees, there were five Jews from Stara Wieś, forty-six from Zezulin, three from Dratów, fifteen from Kobyłki, twelve from Dąbrowa, three from Ziółków, and several persons from Roskopaczów.^[6] A number of Jews had been killed earlier, in Ludwin itself. The local Polish villager Zenon Kowalik, who was six years old in 1941, recalls living next to the police station, hearing the screams and cries of people being beaten and tortured, and witnessing the shooting of Jews.^[7]...