Szczebrzeszyn⁵⁶⁹ – In the first half of April the situation of the Jewish
population of Szczebrzeszyn deteriorated sharply.
The following excerpts from letters sent on 14–16 April give us an idea
of the full nightmare: “Death is looming large before the eyes of the entire
Jewish population. We are in need of rachamim gedolim.⁵⁷⁰ To live through
the day is for us an achievement. Food is impossible to get because everything
is closed. You can’t get food for any amount of money. May the Almighty have
mercy on us, especially the children. . . . You cannot imagine our plight. . . .
We keep on saying, whatever happens, may we all be together . . .”
“We thank God that we are still alive; if we have survived till today,
we hope to stay alive. Life is full of terror, you cannot imagine. We have
just heard – praise be to God – that the train for the Jews has been cancelled”.
⁵⁷¹ [4] “If God helps and we see you again, that will be something to
write about in the history books . . .” “For eight days now, we haven’t undressed
or slept . . .”⁵⁷²
On Thursday 16 April, 30 wealthy Jews attempted to leave Szczebrzeszyn,
but the Germans seized them on the way and shot them all.⁵⁷³
Międzyrzec Podlaski⁵⁷⁴ – On Friday 17 April the Germans demanded that the
local Judenrat hand over the rabbi, whom they intended to shoot. Unless their
demand was met, they would shoot 50 Jews. When the rabbi heard of the sentence
passed on him, he immediately informed the Judenrat that he was ready
to go to his execution, and he did in fact go straight to the SS. It was not
long before the SS included in their demand not only the rabbi but also
569 Szczebrzeszyn (Biłgoraj County).
570 (Heb.) “great compassion” (cf. Isaiah 54:7), i.e. Divine mercy.
571 Zygmunt Klukowski wrote on 8 April 1942 that news about Bełżec as a place of mass extermination of Jews had reached Szczebrzeszyn. Klukowski called the trains headed for Bełżec “Jewish trains” (Judenzüge). See Zygmunt Klukowski, Dziennik z lat okupacji (Lublin, 1958), p. 254.
572 These are fragments from Fishl Fryda’s and Sore Wulf’s letters from Szczebrzeszyn to Moshek Wulf in Warsaw, dated 14, 16, and 17 April 1942. See ARG I 1022 (I/545).
573 On 14 April Klukowski wrote that eight Jews were arrested at the train station in Szczebrzeszyn as they were attempting to go to Warsaw. Five of them were apparently executed in Zwierzyniec. See Z. Klukowski, Dziennik, p. 255.
574 Międzyrzec Podlaski (Radzyń Podlaski County).
