We Remembr Jewish ZAGLEMBIE!

David Liwer

IR HAMETIM

Town of the Dead

(The Extermination of the Jews in the Zaglembia Region)
Translated by A. Sz. Sztejn

Tel Aviv 1946

Translated to English by Ada Holtzman, in Honor of Lance Ackerfeld!

Dedicated to the memory of the comrades
Dora Hercberg
Aliza Zitenfeld
Sara Kukelka
Szmuel Rozencwajg
The modest heroes who died on a foreign land on their way to Eretz Israel

Table of Contents

	Page
Forward	7
A message is delivered, by the translator	12
The battle started, 1939	14
Every place and its horrors	16
In Bedzin again	18
The first community	20
The beginning of the Gestapo activities	24
The first very bad news from Lodz	26
New decrees	28
The murder of the Jewish prisoners of war	29
The confiscation of Jewish factories	30
Moniek (Mosze) Marin	32
The Jewish police	34
Help to Warsaw and Lodz	37
The confiscation of the houses of the Jews	38
The center of the Judenrats of the Jewish Communities in Eastern and Upper Silesia	39
The mobilization to Forced Labor	43
The "Shopy"	45
The farm	48
The mission of Eliezer Geler	52
February 1941	53
New decrees	54
In prison	58
Gallows	64
The first deportation from Bedzin - Sosnowiec	65
June 1942	69
The second deportation 12 August 1942	72
Life continues... June 1942 July 1942	77
The visit of Mordechai Anilewicz and Elizer Geler September 1942	81
What was happening in the Forced Labor Camps October 1942 The song "Mamma Mamma"	84
Help from abroad	96
The assault on Szymon First	97
The Forced Labor Camp A. K. (Arbeits Kommando) January 1944	102
The erection of the Ghetto	103
The passports of foreign countries	105
The last action of Marin and his end May 1943	113
The third deportation 22 June 1943	116
Defence	123
1 July 1943	129
Regards from Eretz Israel	130
The total deportation 1 August 1943	134
In the Forced Labor Camp	149
My escape from the Forced Labor Camp	166
Smuggling the border 1944	178
The road across the border of Slovakia - Hungary	183
Budapest	186
The date: 11 March 1944	191
Across the border Hungary - Romania	196
Arad (Romania)	201
Bucharest	205
"Kazbek" (the ship)	210

INDEX
Compiled by Ada Holtzman

Nr.	SURNAME	NAME	PAGE
1	ALTMAN	Hindel (Hanoch)	51
Deported by Marin and among his first victim.
2	ANILEWICZ	Mordechai	81,82
The leader of Ghetto Warsaw Uprising.
3	APPELBOIM	M.	157
A famous artist.
4	APPELBOIM	-	18
Builder of the grand synagogue of Bedzin.
5	BACHARARZ	Mordechai	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
6	BALAWAN	M. Prof.	37
From Warszawa.
7	BARENBLAT	-	85
Head of the Jewish police in Bedzin.
8	BELCHARZ	Kalman	100,101,109,111, 112a
Among the "Gordonia" activists.
9	BERGER	-	76
Two brothers deported to Auschwitz 13.8.2003.
10	BERNARD	Hedva	146
Member of the pioneer movement underground; Kibbutz "Dror"; befallen in battle.
11	BICHOWSKI	-	112
From the Jewish police but cooperated with the pioneer movement.
12	BLAT	-	167
An activist of "Hanoar Hatzioni"; hid in the Aryan side of Sosnowiec.
13	BLUMENFRUCHT	Hari	124
Members of the pioneer movement underground.
14	BLUMENFRUCHT	Roza	122
Wife of the artist CYGLER; jumped off the train to Auschwitz.
15	BOCIAN	Cypora	146
Member of the pioneer movement underground; Kibbutz "Dror"; befallen in battle.
16	BONHARD	Bunem, R'	108
Delivered by the Judenrat to the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz.
17	BORENSTEIN	Dr.	40,82,114
Among the managers of "The Joint" in Poland.
18	BORENSTEIN	-	109
Father of Hanka.
19	BORENSTEIN	Hanka	81,82,100,101,106, 109,111,134,147
Among the leaders of "Gordonia"; one of the main characters in "Hakhalutz" and in the underground.
20	BORZIKOWSKI	-	122
Daughter of Eliezer from Sosnowiec; jumped off the death train and deported again the following day.
21	BRAND	Joel	188
Active in the rescue activities in Hungary.
22	BRANDES	Cwi	109,131,132,142
Leader of "Hashomer Hatzair"; active in the resistance.
23	BRANDES	Aharon	142
Brother of Cwi; among the survivors.
24	BRANDES	Fola	145175
Member of the pioneer movement underground.
25	BRAUN	Bronka	118
Saved a whole bunker.
26	BRZESKI	-	51
Friend of KORZUCH.
27	BUCHSZREJBER	-	17
Father & son.
28	CHMIELNICKI	Bracha	101
29	CIMMERMAN	Szlomo	81110
Among the leaders of "Gordonia".
30	COHEN	Nachum, Rabbi	65
Hung in a public execution in Sosnowiec.
31	CUKERMAN	Szlomo	164
Hid in a bunker; killed by the Germans after the last akcja.
32	CYGLER	-	18122
Builder of the grand synagogue of Bedzin; jumped off the train to Auschwitz with his son.
33	CYMERMAN	Szlomo	49,100,109,111
Among the leaders of "Gordonia".
34	CZARNA	Fania	40,66,67,114
Active in the Judenrat.
35	CZERNIAKOW	Adam	40
Chairman of the Judenrat in Warszawa.
36	CZERNSKI	Sz.	37
From Warszawa.
37	DAKS	Mosze	187
Member of the pioneer movement in Bratislava.
38	DEFNER	-	142
Died in Bedzin in the 3rd akcja.
39	DIAMENT	Israel	50,82
Representative of "Hanoar Hatzioni" in Bedzin.
40	DOLENROZA	Frumka	146
Member of the pioneer movement underground; Kibbutz "Dror"; befallen in battle.
41	DOMB	-	147
Jewish policeman; helped the "farm" and the underground; killed in the field in the last akcja.
42	DUNSKI	Cwi	107
Member of "Hashomer Hatzair"; in the underground.
43	DUNSKI	-	107
Mother & sister of Cwi.		-
44	DWORSKI	Tuvia	146
Member of the pioneer movement underground; Kibbutz "Dror"; befallen in battle.
45	EK	Natan Dr. & Family	37,82,83,85,105, 106
From Warszawa; among the leaders of the party "Hitachdut" in Poland.
46	ELIASZ	-	127
Member of "Gordonia"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
47	ENGLARD	Abraham	17
Brother of Mosze.
48	ENGLARD	Mosze	17
Brother of Abraham.
49	ENGLARD	Szajal'eh, Rabbi	66
The Rabbi of Sosnowiec; deported to death in the first deportation.
50	ERLICH	Jakob	22
Second chairman of the Jewish Committee.
51	ERNEST	Joske	17
52	ERNEST	Melech	129
A rich Jew from Bedzin who helped the underground a lot.
53	FAJT	Josel	15,16
54	FEFFER	Uwarmund	65
Hung in a public execution in Sosnowiec.
55	FINKELSTEIN	Szmuel	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
56	FIRSTENBERG	-	157
Among the rich people of Bedzin.
57	FISHER	Max	145171
From Kibbutz "Bedzin"; survived.
58	FOGEL	-	125
Chairman of the Judenrat in Pilica; murdered with his wife after liquidation.
59	FRUST	Szymon	85,86,97,98,99,100, 101,110
From Warszawa; member in "Gordonia".
60	GAFTEK	Baruch	49,52,81,82,112a, 146
The commander of the Jewish fighting organization.
61	GEBIRTIG	Mordechai	90
A Great Yiddish poet from Krakow; author of "Es Shtetl Brent".
62	GEFNER	Aharon	110
Survived because he held foreign passport of Paraguay; detained in a German camp.
63	GELBARD	Una	124
Member of Hashomer Hatzair; sacrificed herself for the underground.
64	GELBERT	Israel	106
Representative of "Zionim Klaliim".
65	GELER	Eliezer	49,50,82,83,84,85,96,128,129
Messenger and leader of the resistance in Warszawa and Zaglembia.
66	GERTNER	-	20
Wife of Max GERTNER.
67	GLAZER	-	54
A refugee from Bilic (phonetically spelt, may be Bielica); an activist in "Hitachdut".
68	GOLD	Abraham	110
Survived because he held foreign passport of Paraguay; detained in a German camp with a family.
69	GOLDBLUM	Alter	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
70	GOLDMINC	-	121
He and his brother jumped from the death train to Auschwitz.
71	GOLDMINC	-	163
The commander of the Jewish police in Sosnowiec; killed by the Gestapo.
72	GOLDSTEIN	Libek	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
73	GROIBARD	Benjamin	108,109,110
Among the survivors with his wife.
74	GROIBARD	Bobek	107
In the underground; grandson of the old Rabbi of Bedzin.
75	GROSMAN	Rabbi	,6,68,,72,7,112, 155,156
The Rabbi of Bedzin; activistin "HaMizrachi".
76	GROSMAN	-	19
77	GRUBARD	Benjamin	22,41
Third chairman of the Jewish c; head of the Judenrat in its beginning.
78	GUS	Gutek	122
Among the members of the pioneer movement (& the underground).
79	GUTER	Neta	161
Manager of the Kheder (the religious school) "Yesod Torah".
80	GUTMAN	Alek	124
Members of the pioneer movement underground.
81	GUTMAN	-	165169
Potatoes merchant; hid in a bunker for months then killed by the Germans in front of the camp.
82	HAFT	-	18
Builder of the grand synagogue of Bedzin.
83	HAMBURGER	-	19
Father & son.		-
84	HEGER	Rabbi	66
The Rabbi of Sosnowiec.		-
85	HENIG	-	163
Active in the Judenrat; arrested and killed by the Gestapo.
86	HERCBERG	Dora	174,175,175,178
Member of the pioneer movement underground.
87	HERSZKOWICZ	-	149
A carpenter and his two sons; killed in the last akcja.
88	HERSZLIKOWICZ	Abraham	122
Among the members of the pioneer movement (& the underground).
89	HERSZPINKEL	-	76
Deported to Auschwitz 13.8.1942.
90	HIRSZENBERG	-	53
An artist.
91	HOLLENDER	Regina	20, 125
Member of the pioneer movement underground; survived because of the foreign passport.
92	HUTNER	Chawa	120
Presdient of "Wizo" in Bedzin; died in heroism.
93	ICKOWICZ	-	19
94	IZBICKI	Abraham	136, 167,169,171
From Czestochowa; member of the pioneer movement underground; wrote a poem "In the Bunker".
95	JAKOBOWICZ	Pnina	146
Member of the pioneer movement underground; Kibbutz "Dror"; befallen in battle.
96	JAKOBOWICZ	-	20
Father-in-law of LEWKOWICZ.
97	K.	Fela	173,174
Member of "Hashomer Hatzair".
98	KAC	-	18
A baker.
99	KAMINER	Idel	142
Brother-in-law of the author; in the last Jewish workers group.
100	KASTNER	Dr.	187
Chairman of "Haichud" party in Budapest; active in rescue activities.
101	KATZENGOLD	Hala	127
Member of "Hashomer Hatzair"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among the 19 victims.
102	KLEIN	-	163
Active in the Judenrat; arrested and killed by the Gestapo.
103	KLEJNBERG	A.	40163
Member of the supply unit in the region Judenrat; killed with his family by the Gestapo.
104	KLINGER	Chajka	81,82,140,141,145, 171,181,182
Among the resistance activists.
105	KOENIG	Dr.	80
From Magdburg; deported to Bielsko and from there to Bedzin.
106	KOENIG	-
His last words before embarking the death wagon: "I go with my people; Khzak Veematz"!.
107	KORINSKI	Josef	166,170,182,186
Activist of "Hakhalutz" in Poland; active in Bratislava; survived. In page 186: his name is Kornanski Josef.
108	KORNFELD	-	30
P.O.W.
109	KORZOCH	Bolek	167
Activist of "Hanoar Hatzioni"; hid in the Aryan side of Sosnowiec.
110	KORZUCH	Josef (Israel)	51,106,112,131
Among the Judenrat but helped the Zionist youth and resigned; representative of "Hanoar Hatzioni".
111	KORZUCH	-
Son of Josef.
112	KOSZOSZOWICZ	Dr.	35
113	KOWALSKI	Jechiel	25
114	KOWILC	Klara	175
Her father owned a house where members of the underground hid.
115	KOZLOWSKI	Dawid	20,106,107,112a, 127
Representative of "Hashomer Hatzair"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
116	KRINSKI	-	85
Manager of the Gymnasium in Warszawa.
117	KRUWKA	Icchak	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
118	KSZOSZIWA	Motel	105110
In the underground; from the "Dror" movement; survived with wife.
119	KUKELKA	Renia	124,141,145,178, 181,182
Member of "Dror"; sacrificed herself for the underground.
120	KUKELKA	Sara	124,140,141,145, 169,170,173,174, 175,178
Sister of Renia; heroine of the underground.
121	KUPERBERG	Rywka	101
Survived.
122	KUPERMINC	Abraham	174
123	KUPERMINC	Chaim, Rabbi	66
Activist of "HaMizrachi" in Sosnowiec; deported to death in the first deportation.
124	LANDAU	Chana	119
Cried at the Nazis and died in heroism.
125	LANDAU	Family	119
126	LASKER	Mechil	85,110
Head of the labor office by the Judenrat; survived with a family.
127	LAZEROWICZ	-	33,106
Head of the community; representative of "Poalei Zion".
128	LENCENER	Chawa (Chawka)	145
Member of the pioneer movement underground.
129	LERNER	Szlomo	100,109,111,131, 132,134,147
Among the "Gordonia" activists.
130	LEVI	Josef	83
Killed in Lodz in the beginning of the war.
131	LEWIN	Mendel, Rabbi	77
Rabbi in Bedzin.
132	LEWIN	Rabbi	67,68,72,75
Son of r' Hirsz Henich LEWIN; brother in law of the Gerer Rabbi.
133	LEWIN	-	25
The Rabbi of Bedzin.
134	LEWINSZTEIN	Dr.	40
Marin's assistant.
135	LEWKOWICZ	I.	25
Editor of the newspaper "Zaglembier Zeitung".
136	LEWKOWICZ	-	20
Son in law of JAKOBOWICZ.
137	LEZENGA	-	101
Survived.
138	LIBERMAN	H. Dr.	50,156,168,174
Chairman of the Judenrat in the last camp of Sosnowiec.
139	LIBERMAN	-	174
Father of Dr. H.		-
140	LIBLING	-	107
Brothers arrested by Marin and delivered to the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz.
141	LICHTENSTEIN	& Family	83
Deported to Dachau and then to Auschwitz where gassed to death.
142	LIPSZIC	Gucia	120
Manager of the kitchen.
143	LIWER	Abraham	59
Lived in the Aryan side of Krakow.
144	LIWER	Arie	49,50,81,82,105, 110,111,166
An activist in "Gordonia"; head of the resistance group "lakrav" (to the battle).
145	LIWER	Chaim	145
Uncle of the author; shot in his bed at the last akcja.
146	LIWER	Dawid	59
Representative of the party "Hitachdut"; author of the book.
147	LIWER	Kalman	59
Father of seven sons including Dawid Liwer.
148	LIWER	Menachem	101,153,168,175, 179
Son of Miriam & Dawid.
149	LIWER	Miriam	101,107,112,143,14 4,169
Wife of the author Dawid Liwer.
150	LIWER	Szlomo	61
Youngest brother of Dawid.
151	LONDERNER	-	174
Comrade freed from the Markstadt concentration camp
152	LUBOTKIN	Cwia	167,168,169
Among the leaders of the Warszawa Ghetto uprising.
153	MANALA	Abraham	101,110
Son of Prof. M. Manala; activist in "Gordonia".
154	MANALA	M. Prof.	40,74,110
Marin's assistant.
155	MARIN	Chaim	40,41,58,115
Brother of Mosze Marin.
156	MARIN	Mosze (Moniek)	21,22,32,33,40,43, 44,50,51,52,55,66, 67,68,69,70,71,73, 83,84,95,97,102,10 7,110,111,112,113, 114,115,116,125,12 9,162
Chairman of the Center of the Judenrats in Zaglembia; murdered also, probably in Auschwitz.
157	MEGER	-	174
Comrade freed from concentration camp Markstadt.
158	MENSZEL	Aron	49,50
159	MLACH	-	19
160	MORAD	Cypora	127
Member of "Kibbutz Bedzin"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
161	MOLCZADSKI	Chaim	40,41,50,51,72,73, 86,99,100,101,107 108,111,131
Marin's assistant.
162	NEJFELD	L.	145
Cousin of the author; shot in the street for not running fast enough to the death train, in the last akcja.
164	NOJMAN	Aizik	126
From Zarki; only survivor of an underground group betrayed by the Pole Sucha.
165	OPPENHEIM	Mosze	120
Among the members of the pioneer movement (& the underground).
166	ORBACH	Mosz'leh	127
Member of "Hashomer Hatzair"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
167	ORNER	Abraham	76
Son of the Rabbi of Nasielsk; deported to Auschwitz 13.8.1942.
168	ORNER	Ne'e Liwer	76
Author's sister deported to Auschwitz 13.8.1942.
169	PERLMUTTER	-	76
Committed suicide during the second deportation 12-13 August 1942.
170	PESACHSON	Edza & Sister	82,124
Two sisters among the resistance activists.
171	PESACHSON	-	119
An old activist of the "Bund"; killed himself in heroism.
172	PFEFER	Alek	119
Son of Cwi.
173	PFEFER	Cwi	119
A dedicated Zionist; brother-in-law of the author.
174	PIEPSZ	Szlomo	25
175	PLOTNICKA	Frumka	105,111,131,132, 146,
In the underground; from the "Dror" movement.
176	POHORILA	Markus	131
Member of the "Kibbutz Bedzin"; active in the underground.
177	POLITANSKI	I.	25
178	PULMAN	Chawka	126,171
Sister of Marek; active in the underground of Warszawa.
179	PULMAN	Jadwiga	126
Mother of Marek from Warszawa; active in the underground.
180	PULMAN	Marek	126
Memberof a known family from .
181	PULMAN	Wol	126
Brother of Mar; active in the underground of Warszawa.
182	PUMERAN	Vania	130
A messenger from Istanbul.
183	PUTCZ	-	145
Had a sausages shop; carried hiown shot father to the cart of the dead after the last akcja.
184	RABINOWICZ	-	16
185	RECHNITZ	-	30
P.O.W.
186	RECHNITZ	-	112
Survivor; from the Jewish police but cooperated with the pioneer movement.
187	RECHTMAN	Dr.	103
Zionist activist and member of Bedzin municipality; survived.
188	REJCH	Bobi	182
Active in the pioneer movement in Slovakia.
189	ROTNER	-	53
190	ROZENBERG	Kuba	124
Member of the pioneer movement underground.
191	ROZENCWAIG	Szmuel	160
Member of the pioneer movement underground; hid in the Aryan side.
192	ROZENFAFT	Yosele	120,121
Among the members of the pioneer movement (& the underground); leader of the Polish Jewish survivors in Bergen-Belsen.
193	ROZENKER	Mosze	174,185
Representative of the party "Hitachdut" in Bedzin municipality; refugee in Kosice.
194	ROZENKER	-	174
Sister of Mosze.
195	ROZENS	Dawid	146,169,171,185
Member of the pioneer movement underground; drowned in an illegal ship on the way to Eretz Israel.
196	ROZENS	-	169
Wife and son of Dawid; hid in the Aryan side.
197	ROZOWIN	Cwi	110
Survived because held foreign passport of Paraguay; detained in a German camp.
198	RUBINLICHT	Eliezer	19,20,22,25,117
Deputy of the town's mayor; first chairman of the Jewish Committee.
199	RUMKOWSKI	-	40
Chairman of the Judenrat in Lodz.
200	SALA	-	127
Member of "Gordonia"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
201	SCWARTZ	-	185
Helped the refugees in Kosice.
202	SOKOWSKI	-	104
Member of "Poalei Zion"; in the underground.
203	SPIRSTEIN	-	19
204	STAWSKI	-	18
A baker.
205	STEJER	Mosze	161,162
Father of Pincze.
206	STEJER	Pincze	161
Member of "The Youngsters of Agudat Israel"; kept Jewish prayers and customs in spite of the constant threat of death penalty.
207	STERN	Herszel	65
Hung in a public execution in Bedzin.
208	SZ.	Meir	175,176,177
Comrade hid in a bunker in Michalkewicz.
209	SZAJNERMAN	Mordechai	65
Hung in a public execution in Bedzin.
210	SZAJNTEL	Israel	127
Member of "Gordonia"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground
211	SZAJNTEL	Meir	134
Deported to Auschwitz in the last transport and called the victims to cheer "L'Khaim Jews; l'Khaim!" in the train.
212	SZAPIRA (BRIKEWER)	Rabbi	76
Rabbi of Bedzin; the brother of the Plocker Rabbi SZAPIRA (executed by Poles in 1920).
213	SZEHN	-	33
Owner of a factory.
214	SZIFER	J.	37
215	SZMIETNA	-	115
216	SZPICBERG	A.	40118
217	SZPIGLER	-	19
218	SZPRINGER	Herszel	50,105,107,112, 112a,120,122,131, 132,140,142,145
Representative of "HaKibbutz" in Bedzin; prominent character of the pioneer movement underground.
219	SZPRINGER	Joel	122
Among the members of the pioneer movement (& the underground).
220	SZUALB	Natan	96,105,106,128
Stationed in Geneva in the "Communication Bureau" ("Lishkat Hakesher").
222	SZWARCBOIM	Alfred	25,111,128
From Bedzin; foresaw the events and run away to Swiss in time and from there he helped "half of Bedzin"...
223	TANENBERG	Abraham	127
Member of "Gordonia"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground.
224	TANENBERG	Zalman	127
Member of "Gordonia"; betrayed by a Pole Sucha; among his 19 victims from the underground.
225	TENCER	-	50
Representative of "Hashomer Hatzair" in Bedzin.
226	TENENBOIM	Szlomo	141
Among the survivors.
227	TERLA	-	125
Helped the underground.
228	TERLO	Gur Arie	125
From Jerusalem.
229	TOBIASZ	-	23
Owner of an iron factory in Sosnowiec.
230	WEJCIER	Dr.	35
231	WEJCZENBERG	A.	20
232	WEJNCIER	G.	19,20,25
An engineer.
233	WINER	Cina	158
Sabotaged the Jewish property robbed by the Germans after the liquidation of the Ghetto.
234	WOLHENDLER	-	106
Representative of "Poalei Zion Smol".
235	WONDERSMAN	Herszel	146,165,169
Member of the pioneer movement underground; killed by the Germans in Budapest.
236	WONDERSMAN	Mrs.	165,166
Died in the bunker where she hid herself.
237	ZACHARIASZ	-	107
Born in Palestine and returned to Poland with mother; in the underground.
238	ZILBERG	Chaim	106
Representative of "HaMizrachi".
239	ZILBERSTEIN	Abraham Dr.	106,128
Representative of the Jewish Agency in Geneva.
240	ZILBERSZEIN	Abraham	142,145,152,153, 175,179
Member of the pioneer movement underground.
241	ZITENFELD	Aliza	130,140,141,145, 171,174,175
Handled the connection with children sent to camps in Germany.
242	-	Benito (Jakob)	182
Member of Hashomer Hatzair in Slovakia.
243	-	Blumka	155
A nurse who took care of the clinic in the last camp; survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.
244	-	Dudi	147
Member of the pioneer movement underground; in the farm; killed in the 2nd day of the last akcja.
245	-	Esterka	152,153
A little girl survived the akcja and escaped from the camp in Bedzin.
246	-	Moniek	145
From the children Kibbutz; survived.
247	-	Natka	147
Member of the pioneer movement underground; killed in the last akcja.
248	-	Rabbi of Miszkow	79
Prayed with his people "Vidui" (the confessional prayer) before deportation to death.
249	-	Roman	173,174,175
A German who helped the underground and was killed by the Nazis.
250	-	Szmuel	178

DEFENCE
Pages 123-129
Translated by Ada Holtzman

On the outside, it seems that the Ghetto returns to its routine, to its worries and sufferings, as before, but it was not but a delusion. We lacked peace of mind. The methods of the Germans were now transparent: first use the power and labor ability of the young; then rob all the Jewish property; and finally take the soul.

There are some who ask why didn't you escape? Those who ask this question ignore the fact that there was no where to run away in this world full of hatred and animosity. We thought we are the last Jews of Europe, and sometimes we saw ourselves, here in the Ghetto, the last Jews of the world' short of any help and assistance, isolated and cut off human ties, and we cannot trust but ourselves - us, few Jews, weak in body and broken in spirit' after four years of torture and oppression, starvation and humiliation under the Nazi boots, surrounded by the armed enemies, equipped with the newest and technologically the most advanced arms. And in spite of this, the Jewish youth of Zaglembia who survived decided to fight and defend himself. Unfortunately we did not know that a very short time was left before the next Aktion (akcja), and we truly had faith that we shall materialize our plans - and we had grand plans, like the plan to encircle the Ghetto in a belt of mines and blow it together with the Nazis. The comrades from Warszawa sent us instructions to make bombs and mines - but the storm of the deportation prevented us from fulfilling it.

The groups who prepared themselves to the defense and uprising were from members of the youth pioneer movements ("tnuot hanoar hakhalutziot"): "Gordonia", "Hashomer Hatzair", Kibbutz "Dror", "Hanoar Hatzioni" and "Hashomer Hadati". But we had no arms. In spite of that, preparations were made to self-defense, even before the last deportation and by the guidance of members of the Kibbutz we started training of the use of weapons. To get the desired arms we were forced to send members to Warszawa - a matter of great danger and huge difficulties; we worked to obtain foreign false passports bearing Christian names, smuggling the border in Zarki and more.

Three young women volunteered to scarify their life for this holy mission: Edza Pesachson, Una Gelbard ("Hashomer Hatzair") and Renia Kukelka ("Dror"). The first one, Edza Pesachson, was caught in a train station at Czestochowa and severely tortured, but did not reveal who was she, for whom and for what did she carry the weapons. According to what comrades from Czestochowa told us - she was hanged in the local prison as a Christian. Tsecond one, Una G, mto evathe German hangmen, finally failed and was caught in Zawiercie anthere she was shot. Rwas captured while she traveled for the second timto Warszawa and succeeded, after four months of torture, by the help of her courageous and heroine sister Sara (member of Kibbutz Bedzin) to escape from the prison in Myslowice.

Also the members from Hanoar Hatzioni made extensive efforts to obtain arms, and one case is known about the young man Hari Blumenfrucht who decided, together with two of his friends - Alek Gutman and Kuba Ro, who is in Israel now, to attack a German apartment and take weapons found there by force. They entered the apartment of a known German by the name of Micacz tied his wife and servant and confiscated the arms found there. On their way back to the Ghetto, a notorious Nazi murderer by the name of Scherter noticed Hari Blumenfrucht and asked him about his whereabouts in the Aryan side without the sign "Jude". The young man took out a pistol and wanted to shoot the German, but he stood near him and managed to take the pistol off his hands. The young man was arrested and severely tortures but did not reveal anything, also after his parents were arrested too and he was promised they would be released if he told them who are his partners and associates. He died in terrible agony, but in purification and heroism.

We endeavoured to have contacts with the Polish underground. To our dismay, there was not any activity of Polish underground in the Zaglembia region. It is indeed very strange, as this region in Zaglembia - Upper Silesia, where there was a big center of Polish workers with a communist inclination. Where were all its activists? It is true, the progressive Polish intelligentsia and workers activists were deported to Concentration Camp Dachau, or to the General Government zone. But it remains a fact that there was not any anti-Nazi movement in the region nor any comprehensive sabotage activities in our region. The Polish underground was active only in two neighboring towns, in Pilica and Wolbrom. From German newspaper we learned about raid on police stations, blowing storehouses of weapons, killing German and Polish policemen etc.

The chairman of the Judenrat in the town of Pilica, Fogel, was very popular by the population, because he spared no efforts to save us from the nails of the hangmen. Also the Gestapo had to come in terms with him. By the comrade Regina Hollender, in whose house we gathered to discuss with him saving our comrades by joining the Polish partisans, we learned of his contacts with the Polish underground. But according to his opinion, it was impossible, because the Partisans in this are were not assembled in camps or in the forests, as our region has nearly no forests, but rather they emerge from the local population in the town or the villages, and attack Germans targets or make sabotage actions and then return to their own homes. In spite of this, we made up connections with one name Terla (his origins are from the town of Wolbrom and he is a relative of the comrade Gur Arie Terlo from Jerusalem), and he helped us in purchasing arms in Warszawa. Afterwards he came to Bedzin and helped us in obtaining false Polish certificates etc.

After the deportation of Pilica, Fogel wished to settle in Bedzin, and asked permission from Marin (the town Pilica was in the Generalgouvernement zone). His request was rather, that he would not disturb his transfer and the permission itself he will get by himself from the Gestapo. But after their conversation, Marin refused to adhere to his request. Fogel was obliged then, to remain in Pilica after the deportation, together with a small group of its last Jews who worked in the liquidation of the Jewish property, assembled in camps for dispatch to Germany. Part of this property, Fogel used to smuggle to polish partisans. But eventually, someone denounced him to the Gestapo, informing that he keeps ties with the Polish Partisans and even help them with money. As a result, the entire group who survived was imprisoned immediately, including his wife who was in Zawiercie, and everyone was murdered in horrible cruelty.

In spite of all this, we did not give up the trials to contact the Polish Partisans. Comrade Mark Pulman*⁾ who spent a long time with the Polish Partisans in the area of Warszawa and Radom, returned to Bedzin from Warszawa in the beginning of June. He confirms to us the fact that the Polish Partisans do not wish to join Jews into their units, and only because of his Aryan face he could stay with them as a Pole. In Bedzin Marek met one Christian name Sucha (who lived in Sosnowiec, in 23 Mundziow Street), whom he knew in Warszawa already, as an officer in the Partisans' army. This Christian accepted to transfer a group of our members to the partisans in the Miechow-Krakow area, in the condition that they will all be arms with weapons. After a visit of two of our group in his apartment - who gave the impression of a poor house where the misery pops from every corner and the children there are all hungry (it was all staged eventually in advance) - it was decided to send the first group, who counted 10 people. They received leather coats, new shoes and arms. In the place they were also delivered a slogan, according to which one Pole will connect them with the partisans in the assigned place.

After three days the Pole who led them returned and the secret slogan in his mouth. Only afterwards we learned that he led them to false "partisans". Then the second group left, with 10 members again. Only due to lack of arms - fortunately - not a bigger group left then. After two days returned to Bedzin one of it members, Aizik Nojman of Hashomer Hatzair in Zarki and testified the following:

"Happily we passed villages and were accepted nicely by peasants who knew we are going to join the partisans. By night, when we arrived to the forest, we sat down to have a rest. Our Polish escort got further away from us, telling us that he was going to fetch water. Afterwards he brought a can of water and than disappeared again. All of a sudden we were encircled by a unit of riders, and before we could get hold of our arms and defend ourselves, we were shot at by bullets of machine guns. Only by pure chance I was not hurt and kept alive. When they left the place I started run as fast as I could. I caught a train in the train station and returned to Bedzin."

The following day, this Polish traitor Sucha, came and told us that the group failed but he knows another safer route and he will continue transfer them to the Polish partisans. We informed him that we do not have arms and persons anymore, and if times come we do, we would contact him. Then we learned that this Pole is a Gestapo agent and it was him who betrayed and turned all our members to its murderous hands. Thus we lost young dedicated and dear comrades; from the Kibbutz: Alter Goldblum, Szmuel Finkelstein, Cypora Morad, Icchak Kruwka, Mordechai Bachrarz, Libek Goldstein. From "Hashomer Hatzair": Dawid Kozlowski, Hela Kacengold, Mosz'leh Orbach; from "Gordonia": Abraham Tanenberg, Zalman Tanenberg, Israel Szajntel, Eliasz, Sala and other 4 members of "Hanoar Hatzioni" and "Hashomer Hadati" whose names I don't know.

Nothing was left for us, for the time being, to do but continue building the bunkers, which we started to do already before the two deportations. We build now bunkers in nearly all the houses. Known are the "blind rooms", or dark attics without windows: building one additional wall parallel to the wall of the room and the entrance to it is blocked by a cupboard or a mirror; or a bunker build in the cellar that the entrance to it is through an opening in the window-still, or through a stove on which one part there are still pots for camouflage and an entrance to the bunker is hidden in another part. We made a hole across the floor and from there to the cellar. In Sosnowiec there were bunkers of which the entrance was from a well in the yard, under piles of waste etc. And there was one bunker, which its cover wall was closed and open by electricity - result of special building art full of innovatiand inv.

The Kibbutz iBedzin erected two bunkers to its members. One was bin a warehouse of coal:a pile of coal covered its entrance and the exiwas across the second wall of the house. Another one was in the laundry of the Judenrat. Beside those, other 3 bunkers were built: of "Hashomer Hatzair" and two of "Gordonia". After one of them was liquidated, its inhabitants gathered in the bunker at the farm.

The equipment of the bunkers with arms was with many difficulties as already explained. After Ghetto Warszawa Uprisingon 19 April 1943 - Eve of Passover day 1 5703 - we could no more contact the comrades in Warszawa, and transfer of arms outside the fence was impossible. We sent comrade Natka from the "Gordonia" group to Warszawa and her mission was to contact Eliezer Geler. But she returned after a short time without being able to contact no one of the comrades whose addresses in the Aryan side she had. In spite of all this, we had some arms and money in every bunker of the movement, because although there was sever censorship and closed borders, we somehow succeeded in getting some money transferred in some ways from the "Communication Bureau" ("Lishkat Hakesher") in Swiss and from Warszawa, according to the addresses of the movements for whom they were sent to. Who but us can appreciate the extent of the efforts of our comrades Natan Szualb and Abraham Zilberstein in Swiss? Part of the success in the transfer of funds and arranging false certificates should be credited to Alfred Szwarcboim, a man from Bedzin who lived in Swiss. Nearly half of the Jewish population of Bedzin and Sosnowiec had contacts with him, wrote him letters and sent him photographs. He was among the few Jews who foresaw the events and run away to Swiss in time (1940), leaving behind a prosperous iron shop. He also dared to refuse Marin who wanted to appoint him the head of the Judenrat of the community of Bedzin. "You cannot imagine what great happiness is expected to you and your family", he tried to persuade him, but his efforts were in vain.

There was in Bedzin a group of members who Eliezer Geler transferred a while before from Warszawa and Czestochowa, unprepared for defense, without documents, clothes and weapons. "Gordonia" decided to run for them a special appeal among the party members. I managed at that time to enlist to the idea of Jewish defense a rich Jew, among those who became rich from the war. This Jew, son of a distinguished family, Melech Ernest was his name, contributed generously to everybody in need and to us he donated 50,000 marks. We decided to attribute it all to Eliezer Geler's group. With the help of a comrade from Wolbrom, we bought a few arms to equip their bunker and also food and clothing for them. The rest of the money was shared among the members to ease their misery.

*⁾ Mark Pulman was a member of a distinguished family from Warszawa, member of the Zionist Socialist movement. The mother, Jadwiga, activist in the underground movement; the elder son Wolf, active also, as well as his young brother Marek. The sister Chawka was active as will in the movement and the ZOB (the Jewish Fighting Organization, Warszawa) and was member of "Hakhalutz". Among the survivors and live now in Sweden.

**⁾ Ajzik Nojman; among the survivors, immigrated to Eretz Israel in the illegal ship "Tel Khai".

Page 149

A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bedzin

Zaglembie, at JewishGen Shtetlinks

Book of Sosnowiec and the Surrounding Region in Zaglembie I

Book of Sosnowiec and the Surrounding Region in Zaglembie II

Shalom Zaglembie!

Posted in April 28^th, 2003

Last updated September 25^th 2007

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