שילוח מ - Jastkow, Lublin, Lublin, פולין ל - Belzyce, Lublin, Lublin, פולין ב- 09/10/1942

The village of Jastków is the seat of a gmina (municipality or commune) some 13 kilometers northwest of the center of Lublin. The 1921 census shows that 212 Jews lived in the municipality, constituting about twenty percent of the total population.^[1] The gmina comprised fifty-five villages, of which the following had Jewish communities: Dąbrowica (fourteen Jews), Dąbrowica-Mostki (eight), Jastków (forty-two), Ługów (six Jews – three in the village itself, and another three at the manor house), Moszenki (thirty-two), Moszna (seven), Ożarów (nine), Ożarów przy Ługowie (six), Płouszowice [also known as Płonszowice] (fifty-four), Sieprawice (six), Snopków (seven), and Tomaszowice (twenty-one).

The German army occupied the area on September 24, 1939.^[2] In October that year, under German control, the municipality became part of the Lublin County (Lublin-Land) of the Lublin District, and Emil Ziegenmeyer was appointed the Lublin County Governor.^[3] The administrative staff in Ziegenmeyer's office included Fichtner and Rodde; the secretary was Gerhard Forster, while the police department of the Lublin-Land civil administration was headed by Schoof (first names unknown, except for Forster). Ziegenmeyer and his team would determine how many people were to be deported from different localities in the county at any given time.^[4] There were posts of the German Gendarmerie and the Blue Police in Jastków.^[5]

On November 23, 1939, all Jews in the area were ordered to wear armbands, so as to be easily identifiable.^[6] On January 10, 1940, the wójt (head) of the Jastków gmina confirmed that the Jews under his jurisdiction had received the order and made the armbands at their own expense.^[7] The Jews' property was confiscated by the Germans. Then came the order for all Jews between the age of sixteen and sixty to report for work....