Only 100,000 Jews have been left alive by the Nazis in Poland of the two million who resided there at the beginning of the Nazi occupation, according to a report received here today.
These last 100,000 Jews, the report says, are all concentrated in special labor camps in Galicia, Silesia and in the Lublin district. They are subject to military discipline and must work seven days a week. They are given one hour rest during the day and are not permitted to sleep more than five hours during the night. During their “free” hour of rest they are permitted to take walks, but not more than two persons together.
The Jewish labor camps, the report continues, are cut off from the out-side world. No cultural life is allowed there. The slightest infraction of the camp regulations is punishable with death.
All internal Jewish affairs in occupied Poland are, according to the report, directed by a Jewish relief office known as the Jeudische Unterstuetzung-stelle which is situated in Cracow, the seat of the Nazi governor. The office is headed by Dr. Weichert, a Jewish leader in Galicia. Jewish organizations in Switzerland have been sending parcels with medicine through the Red Cross to this office, from where they are delivered to various Jewish camps.
25,000 WARSAW JEWS ARE HELD IN A CAMP IN GERMANY
The report adds that about 25,000 of the Warsaw Jews who were deported to unknown destinations after the Nazi liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto are now being held in Camp Berenbostel, near Hannover, in Germany. Efforts on the part of Jewish leaders in neutral countries to get in touch with the German authorities with regard to sending relief to the Jews in this camp have brought no results.
In the Upper-Silesian towns of Sosnowice, Bendzin, Strzemieszyce, Dombrowa, Gornicza, according to the same source, all Jews were exterminated with the exception of 3,000 young men whom the Nazis are using for hard labor in the Silesian coal mines.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.