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1 Killing site(s)
Stanisław J., born in 1932: "I was born and raised in Sowliny, which today is part of Limanowa. Before the war, many Jews lived in Limanowa. Most were engaged in trade and craftsmanship, and they mainly lived around the market square. I remember some of my closest Jewish neighbors, such as Rygiel Haft and Samuel, who lived in a building right next to the old train station. The Jewish children also went to school with me, though I no longer recall their names. They were with me in first grade and even second grade at the very beginning of the German occupation, but from 1941 onward their parents no longer allowed them to attend school.
During the occupation, all Jews were required to wear armbands with the Star of David. In time, the Germans established a ghetto in the town, covering about 10 hectares and enclosed with barbed wire. We avoided going near the ghetto, as it was guarded by Germans and everyone feared them, especially because they kept fierce dogs. The greatest terror came from the notorious executioner of Limanowa, the German gendarme Baumack, who killed Jews for pleasure. He was about 30 to 40 years old, and he was the one who carried out most of the shootings of Jews in our town.". (Witness N°211P, interviewed in Limanowa, on Septembre 07, 2013)
“[…] Between the actions in Stary Sącz and Grybów, and those in Limanowa and Mszana Dolna, Heinrich Hamann briefly interrupted the executions. For this reason, the Aktion in Limanowa took place on August 18, 1942.
The Limanowa Judenrat was aware of the planned massacre. On orders from the Gestapo, members of the Polish Baudienst (labor service) dug a pit in the forest the day before the Aktion. The site was located about 2 km south of Limanowa, past Stara Wieś, in a clearing within a fir forest near the Mordarka stream. The pit, narrower than those previously dug in Grybów or Stary Sącz, was positioned so that it was hidden from the main road. According to Gestapo experience, narrower pits were preferred, as stacking bodies in wide pits proved difficult. The execution site could only be reached by descending a steep embankment, crossing the Mordarka stream, and climbing another embankment.
At 6 a.m. on August 18, Hamann, Domanski, Labitzke, Rouenhoff, Siedling, Weller, and other Gestapo men met in Limanowa with Böhning and Lindert. The Jewish population had already been assembled by families at the livestock market square. A labor commando of 40 to 50 Jews, previously assigned to road construction for the Vianova factory, had also been gathered.
Hamann selected a group of 100 individuals from a name list, distributed “Arbeitskarte” (work cards) to them, ordered them to hand over their valuables, and sent them to the labor camp in Sowliny. Next, the sick, disabled, and elderly were separated from the others.
A Jewish witness who had been forced to work for the gendarmerie in Limanowa until August 18, 1942, recounted that he remained in the larger group of 600–800 Jews who were still able to walk, despite suffering from a severe foot condition. Hoping to avoid the long march, he asked to be assigned to the group of 100–150 Jews spared for work and was allowed to join them.
After the able-bodied Jews placed their house keys in a basket, Hamann ordered them to march toward the closed ghetto on Kazimierz Street in Nowy Sącz. Only once this column was out of sight—so that the two groups would not meet—did the Gestapo turn to the other group of sick, disabled, and elderly Jews. These victims were loaded onto two trucks and transported to the execution site about 2 km away. Domanski followed behind in a separate vehicle.
On arrival, the trucks halted under the guard of gendarmes. The victims were forced out and driven along the steep path across the Mordarka stream. Many stumbled or fell, despite supporting each other. An elderly Jewish woman, disemboweled and bleeding, fell into the water; no one intervened. Gestapo men beat and abused those unable to move quickly enough. At the site itself, about 15–20 meters from the pit, the Jews were forced to undress.
In groups of four or five, the victims were ordered to lie down at the edge of the pit with their faces to the ground. They were then shot by the Gestapo, following the same method as in the previous executions in Grybów and Stary Sącz.
Two forced participants, Urban and Mügge, remained with Hamann near the site for part of the Aktion. Urban later testified that he pleaded with Hamann to spare a Jewish tailor with four children whom he knew personally. Hamann mocked him, replying, “We’ll see what we can do.” He then ordered the tailor, already stripped and covered in blood, to climb into the pit and arrange the bodies of the other victims. After completing this task, the tailor himself was shot."
[Trial of Heinrich HAMANN – Bochum, July 22, 1966 Chief of the Gestapo for the Nowy Sącz District; Executions of the Jews of Limanowa; Summary of File B162-1379]
Crimes Against the Jewish Population in Limanowa
· September 1941: 36 Jews, including men, women, and children, were shot by the Germans in retaliation for the Jewish community’s failure to pay a fine. The victims were buried in the Jewish cemetery, then later exhumed and moved to a mass grave in Nowy Sącz. The names of the victims were not identified.
· July 10, 1942: Gendarmes shot 10 Jews from the Limanowa ghetto, including Feiner Eisik and his two daughters from Koszary, and Strumpf, a butcher. The bodies were buried in the Jewish cemetery.
· July 12, 1942: In retaliation for the escape of two sisters named Edner, gendarmes murdered 9 Jews from the ghetto. The victims included Blechówna, Lustbardówna, Rosenbaum, and Schwarzbrandówna. Their bodies were also buried in the Jewish cemetery.
· July 1942: During the ghetto liquidation, an unspecified number of people were shot. The bodies were buried in a mass grave in the Jewish cemetery.
· August 18, 1942: The Limanowa ghetto was liquidated. During the "Liquidation Action" in Stara Wieś, on the outskirts of Limanowa, 187 men and women were murdered. The victims included the restaurateur Samueli and his wife, Leib Nichtborger and his wife, the tailor Rosenbuth, Birkenbaum and his wife, and Aron Stern. The bodies were buried at the crime scene on Wojciech Mąka’s land.
· August 29, 1942: A Jewish man named Lieb Berhang (born in 1873) was shot. His body was buried in the Jewish cemetery.
· September 1942: A Jewish woman named Anna Birkenbaum (born in 1870) was shot. Her body was buried in the Jewish cemetery.
[Source : Rejestr miejsc i faktów zbrodni z byłego województwa krakowskiego (Warszawa, 1975) oraz Ankiety Głównej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Polsce; IPN BU 2448/454]
The Jewish presence in Limanowa dates back to the mid-17th century, with the community gradually becoming a key element of the town’s life. In the 19th century, following the settlement of influential families such as the Goldfingers and the Blaugrunds, Jews played a particularly important role in the region’s economic development. Over time, they came to dominate retail, crafts, innkeeping, and distilling, leaving a major imprint on the local economy.
Before World War I and during the interwar period, Jews formed the most numerous ethnic group in Limanowa. According to the 1921 census, of the town’s 2,143 residents, 905 were Jewish—about 40% of the population.
The Jewish community in Limanowa was not monolithic. Roughly half were Orthodox Hasidic Jews, while others were more assimilated into Polish society. The latter group, often wealthier and better educated, identified as Poles of Jewish descent and participated in public life, including service on the town council.
Despite their religious and cultural differences, the Jews of Limanowa built and maintained their own institutions. The town had three prayer houses and several cheders (religious schools). With a few exceptions, children from both groups attended public schools together, fostering a measure of integration. Still, the majority of the community remained largely separate, interacting with their Christian neighbors primarily through business.
In the decades that followed, younger generations increasingly emigrated, mirroring wider European trends. As a result, the Jewish population of Limanowa gradually declined. By 1931, 1,002 Jews lived in the town. Nevertheless, on the eve of the Second World War, Limanowa’s identity was still deeply tied to the culture, presence, and contributions of its Jewish community.
German forces occupied Limanowa on September 10, 1939, and, from October 26, 1939, the town was incorporated into the Kraków District of the General Government. Heinrich Hamann became the head of both the Gestapo and the Border Police Commissariat (GPK) of Nowy Sącz, while Baumack served as chief of the German gendarmerie in Limanowa, making them the principal perpetrators of crimes against Jews in the region. Persecution began immediately: six Jews were arrested and executed shortly after the occupation in the nearby village of Stara Wieś.
In March 1940, Limanowa briefly served as a refugee camp for 500 Jews from Łódź, but the camp was closed a month later and the refugees were dispersed to other towns. By April 1942, Limanowa’s Jewish population had risen to 1,402 people, including 602 refugees from surrounding areas.
On April 20, 1942, Hamann arrived in Limanowa to personally oversee the execution of Sola Shnitzer, head of the Judenrat, along with other Jewish community leaders who had resisted his directives. Shortly afterwards, members of the Poalei Zion movement, a left-wing Zionist group, were also arrested and shot. A local witness interviewed by Yahad, Stanisław J. (born 1932), recalled that before the ghetto was established, Baumack shot 32 Jews in the streets of Limanowa. Their bodies were later buried in the Jewish cemetery.
On June 4, 1942, a sealed ghetto was established in the Kamieniec area of Limanowa, along the Mordarka Stream, and a series of executions followed. Archival sources and witness testimony confirm that the Jewish cemetery in Limanowa—located about 650 meters northeast of the market square—became a frequent killing site during the war.
Between July 10 and 16, 1942, more than 50 ghetto residents were shot by Gestapo officers from Nowy Sącz and local gendarmes, reportedly for failing to pay imposed financial levies. Stanisław recalled witnessing one such execution while grazing cows nearby: six young Jewish women, aged 20 to 30, were brought to the cemetery. Two Jewish men were forced to dig a pit. Hiding in the bushes, he saw the women executed one after another—each shot in the neck by Baumack. The two men were then made to bury the bodies.
On August 18, 1942, the Limanowa ghetto was liquidated. Around 100 Jews deemed fit for work were sent to a labor camp in nearby Sowliny. Approximately 200 others—primarily the sick and elderly—were taken to a forest near Stara Wieś, where they were shot by Gestapo and SS men. Their bodies were buried in a pit that had been dug the previous day by Polish laborers from the Baudienst (Construction Service). The remaining 800 Jews were forced to march roughly 26 km to the ghetto in Nowy Sącz, from where they were deported to the Bełżec killing center at the end of August 1942. Later, on November 5, 1942, the Sowliny labor camp (Julag) was dissolved, and the 150 prisoners still held there were executed in a nearby forest.
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