The Gestapo has expelled 600 Polish Jews into the “no-man’ sland” on the Lithuanian frontier, fatally injuring four of them, in addition to eight children who died of exposure, and shooting several Polish farmers who attempted to provide the refugees with food, it was learned here today.
After imposing a collective “fine” of 100,000 zlotys ($19,000 at pre-war rates) on Jews in the towns of Wizajny and Punsk in the Suwalki district, the secret police agents expelled the 600 from their homes into the frontier area and warned them they would be machine-gunned if they attempted to return.
The refugees tonight were without shelter in the swampy “no-man’s-land,” eight children already dead from exposure. The only food which the Jews had was grass. S.S. men (Nazi elite guards) had visited the expelled Jews during the night, beating up several of them, of them, of whom four died, and seizing their money, food and clothing, even shoes.
The Gestapo warned Polish farmers that they would be shot if they attempted to aid the Jews. Several who gave the refugees potatoes were executed.
A pathetic plea was received from rabbis in the city of Suwalki declaring that the same fate threatened the Jews there.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
