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Nazis Slay 170 Jews in Polish Town

December 13, 1939
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Massacre of some 170 Jews by Nazis in various Polish towns was reported here today. Forty were shot down in one instance when a German soldier accidentally shot another and blamed Jews for the killing. Seventy-four were executed in the town of Konskie, Kielce province, after a slain soldier was found in the vicinity. Some 60 were massacred in Chmelnik, in the same district, when a few of them tried to save the Scrolls of the Law from a synagogue set afire by the Nazis.

Approximately 10,000 Jews fled from the town of Kalisz, it was learned, after German troops were billeted there. Some 2,000 of them were without food for four days.

Jews of all ages in the Lodz and Kalisz districts have been ordered to wear broad yellow armlets under an ordinance issued by the provincial army chief, Colonel Uebelhoer.

A rigid curfew has been imposed in the same districts for Jews and Gentiles. Jews must remain off the streets between the hours of five p.m. and eight a.m., while Gentiles are under curfew from 8.30 p.m. to five a.m. The death penalty is provided for Jews who violate the curfew. Non-Jews are subject to unlimited fine, imprisonment or both.

All Jewish textile factories and wholesale stores have already been Germanized in Lodz. Sixty per cent of Jewish retail shops have also been Germanized, with the remainder to be closed by Dec. 31. Jews in Lodz are permitted only to work as cab drivers or porters.

The formerly wealthiest Jew in Lodz, the famous industrialist Oskar Kohn, was driven from his own villa in Lodz. He is now living in the flat of his former factory watchman.

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