City located in Poland and capital of the Lublin district. Prior to World War II approximately 40,000 Jews lived in Lublin. During the first weeks of the war, before the German army reached Lublin, thousands of Jews arrived in the city seeking refuge. On September 18 1939, the Germans occupied Lublin and immediately began persecuting the city's Jews. Many were sent to forced labor, some were physically attacked by the Germans, and Jewish property was confiscated. In November 1939, Jews were forced to wear the Jewish badge (see also Badge, Jewish), their movement was restricted, and those Jews living on the city's main street were evicted from their homes.
The Germans commenced implementing a grand plan to deport all Jews in Poland and the Reich to the Lublin district. This program, known as the Nisko and Lublin Plan, was ultimately scrapped. However, by February 1940 some 6,300 Jews had been brought to the area.
In January 1940, the Germans instituted a Judenrat in Lublin. The Judenrat set up welfare institutions, soup kitchens, health services, and orphanages. However, when the Germans began arresting Jews for forced labor, the Judenrat was ordered to provide lists of even more Jewish names. The council eventually succumbed to German pressure, horrifying the city's Jews.
In the spring of 1941, the Nazis ordered the establishment of a ghetto in Lublin. In preparation, they thinned out the city's Jewish population by deporting about 10,000 Jews to nearby towns. The ghetto was instituted in March 1941; housing over 34,000 Jews.
The deportation of Jews to the Belzec extermination camp commenced on March 17, 1942 - Up to 1,400 Jews were deported daily. This deportation aktion ended on April 20, after 30,000 Jews had been deported to their deaths, leaving 4,000 in the city. Over the next few months the remaining Jews were moved to a Lublin suburb and were subjected to periodic selections (see also Selektion). By October, 3,800 Jews had been selected for deportation to Majdanek, near the city. In July 1944, the last Jews from Lublin were murdered by the Germans. The city was liberated that same month.