Bialystok
A city in northeastern Poland, seat of the district of that name.
The Nazis occupied Bialystok on September 15, 1939. On September 22, it was handed over to the Soviet Union. On June 27, 1941 Bialystok was occupied by the Nazis and on that day 2000 Jews of Bialystok were killed. The killing continued over the next two weeks when another 4000 Jews were murdered in an open field near Pietraszek.
On June 29, 1941, the Nazis demanded the establishment of a Judenrat. Within a day or two, the Judenrat was established, comprised of 24 members, with Efraim Barasz as its chairman.
On August 1, 1941, 50,000 Bialystok Jews were confined into a ghetto. The ghetto was split into two parts: east and west divided by the Biala River.
The ghetto rapidly became the center of industry, a supply base for essential items required by the economic arm of the occupation authorities. Most of the Jews worked in these industries and a few were employed in German factories or industries outside the ghetto. The ghetto industries also ran an “illegal” clandestine industry which produced products for the use of the Jews in the ghetto. There was an open trade in goods which were exchanged for food. Smuggling also took place. By mid -1942, the Gestapo ordered the Judenrat to put an end to the commercial activities in the Ghetto.
The German civil administration provided the ghetto inhabitants with meager rations, and in order to increase the quantity of food in the ghetto the Judenrat encouraged the inhabitants grow their own food on plots of land it owned. These plots were called “Judenrat gardens”.
Between September 18 and October 28, 1941 the Judenrat, under German orders, transferred 4500 inhabitants of the ghetto to the town of Pruzhany. Those sent were the sick, unskilled and unemployed. Most of them, except a few who made it back to Bialystok, were killed when the Pruzhany ghetto was liquidated in January 1943.
The Judenrat created institutions to aid the ghetto population which included: soup kitchens, two hospitals, an outpatient clinic, a gynecological clinic, pharmacies, a first aid organization, two schools and a law court. A Jewish Police force was also set up.
Jewish youth movements were re-established after ceasing activities under Soviet occupation. A group of Ha Shomer-Hatsair activists came to Bialystok from Vilna to create a united front for all the youth movements in the ghetto. Shortly before the liquidation of the ghetto in July 1943, the movements united with Mordechai Tannenbaum as its leader and Daniel Moszkowicz, as deputy commander.
Tannenbaum also initiated the establishment of a secret archive in the ghetto which operated until April 1943. The documents were hidden on the Polish side of Bialystok and were saved. The Judenrat was also active in supplying documents to the archive.
From Febuary 5-12, 1943, an Aktion was carried out in the ghetto. Two thousand Jews were shot on the spot and ten thousand were deported to Treblinka.
On the night of August 15-16, 1943 the ghetto was surrounded by German soldiers and the SS, and assisted by Ukrainian auxilliaries. The factories in the Ghetto were put under guard. The Judenrat was ordered the previous night to have the Jews to report for immediate evacuation. Barasz tried in vain to have the order rescinded.
As the Jews awoke on August 16, they found the orders to evacuate immediately. As they were making their way to the assembly point the underground rose in revolt. The time was 10:00 am. The main aim of the attack was to breach German lines, creating a gap which would allow fighters to escape to the forest. Leaflets were passed out urging the population not to report for deportation.
The fighting in the ghetto continued for 5 days, from August 16 to 20. The fighters had only a few arms at their disposal, and over 300 a day fell in battle. At the height of the fighting a German force entered the ghetto with armored cars and tanks. A group of fighters retreated to a bunker to continue fighting from there, but it was surrounded by the Germans and all 72 fighters in the bunker (with one exception) were shot. On the last day of the fighting the last defense positions fell. The leaders of the uprising Moszkowicz and Tannenbaum, retreated to the last stronghold. It is not confirmed how they died, it appears however to be suicide.
Deportations began on August 18 and continued for 3 days. Most of the Ghetto inhabitants were deported to : Treblinka, Majdanek, Poniatowa camp, Blizyn camp, and Auschwitz. 1200 children were deported to Thereisienstadt, and later to Auschwitz.
A small Ghetto was left containing 2000 Jews. They were also deported three weeks later to Majdanek where they were murdered. Amongst the deportees was Barasz.
By the summer of 1943, after the uprising approximately 150 fighters from Bialystok had joined the partisans. A number of young Jewish women, who had remained in Bialystok posing as Aryans had acted as couriers, maintained contact with these partisan units.
Approximately 200 Jews from Bialystok survived the German camps, and several dozen were saved by hiding on the “Aryan side” of the city. 60 fighters who had escaped to to the forests and joined the partisans also survived. Bialystok was liberated in August 1944 by the Soviets.
