expelled Jews reached Warsaw, in the direst state of utter physical exhaustion
and mental collapse.⁶⁰⁴
Włodawa –In the second half of the month of May, a terrible massacre
took place in the shtetl, carried out by the Gestapo. More than 100 Jews were
shot, among them the Radzyń rebbe, Rabbi Lajner,⁶⁰⁵ and the town rabbi,
Rabbi Morgensztern. There is a report of a case of kiddush hashem in which
a Jewish young man, in reply to the murderers’ question “where is the rebbe”,
pointed to himself in order to spare the rebbe. He was shot immediately, but
that did not save the rabbi from death.
Dęblin (Irena)⁶⁰⁶ – At the beginning of the second ten-day period of the month,
the Germans expelled the whole Jewish population from the shtetl; on their
way, 42 Jews were shot by the Polish police.⁶⁰⁷
Ryki⁶⁰⁸ (near Dęblin) – On the same day, the whole Jewish population of Ryki
was also expelled in an “unknown direction”. The whole Jewish community has
disappeared without a trace. Before the expulsion, many local Jews were shot.⁶⁰⁹
Końskowola⁶¹⁰ – On Friday, 8 May, the Germans killed the rabbi and twenty or
so shtetl Jews, as well as a few members [3] of the Judenrat. There are reports
that the Germans herded many Jews together by the Vistula and told the
rabbi to be “Moses” and divide the waters of the Vistula for himself and his
Jews. They drove all the Jews into the water, with the rabbi at their head, and
the Jews drowned or were shot by the Germans while in the water. The shtetl
numbered about 1,300 Jews, of whom 800 were expelled by the Germans.
Children under age 10 and the elderly over 60 were sent away in an “unknown
direction”. 500 men have remained in the shtetl, employed by the Germans in
604 Note based on an anonymous testimony; see ARG I 1027 (Ring. I/922). To be printed in: The Ringelblum Archive. Accounts from the General Government.
605 Shmuel Shloyme Lajner. Yitzkhak Katzenelson wrote a poem in his honour entitled “Dos lid vegn Radziner” (Poem on the Radziner [rabbi]); see ARG II 395 (Ring. II/350).
606 Irena (Puławy County, formerly Garwolin County) – urban settlement established in the mid-nineteenth century in the suburbs of Dęblin, now part of this town.
607 The Jews were deported from Dęblin to the death camp in Sobibór on 6 May 1942. See Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, pp. 636–638.
608 Ryki (Puławy County).
609 The deportation took place on 7 May 1942. The Jews of Ryki were murdered in Sobibór. See Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, pp. 708–710.
610 Końskowola (Puławy County).
