Leszno | Greater Poland Voivodeship

Destruction of Jews and non-Jews in Leszno

1 Sitio(s) de ejecución

Tipo de lugar antes:

Vicinity of the parish cemetery

Memoriales:

Yes

Período de ocupación:

1939-1944

Número de víctimas:

Several hundred

Archivos polacos

"A labor camp Stammlager der Deutschen Arbeitsfront, established in April 1941 and liquidated in August 1943. It was housed in barracks on Narutowicza Street. The camp held Poles and Jews of Polish origin, with an average population of 300 people and a total of around 500 passing through it. Prisoners worked on railway track construction. 10 people died. There were instances of the Nazis hanging prisoners inside the camp and executing them by firing squad outside of it. During its liquidation, some prisoners were released, while the rest were transported to Silesia." [AGK, ASG, sygn. 55, k. 174; Kolekcja “Z”, sygn. 45, sygn. 106. AP Poznan, rozsyp, teczka 11, s. 21-22. OK P, II Ds 31/68, II Ds 3/73.]

Nota histórica

Leszno is a town located in western Poland, situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, approximately 80 km (50 mi) south of Poznań. The presence of Jewish people in Leszno dates back to the first half of the 16th century, with the earliest historical records referencing their settlement in 1507 and 1534, prior to the town's official founding. Formal permission to settle permanently was granted after 1598, but the true turning point came in 1626 when the town's owners, Rafał VII and Bogusław Leszczyński, issued an official privilege. This document codified the economic rights of Jewish residents and allocated a dedicated quarter northwest of the market square for their residence, while also granting permission to build a synagogue and establish a cemetery.

Due to rapid growth, the Leszno Jewish community rose to become one of the most prominent in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the late 17th century, renowned for both its religious life and commercial vitality. Local merchants established extensive trade networks stretching to Russia, Turkey, and Persia. Jewish residents played a pivotal role in the town's economic and civic life, holding seats in municipal governance and actively participating in local social and cultural organizations. Major Jewish banks and trading houses occupied central locations throughout the town, while the synagogue, renovated in 1905, stood as a testament to an uninterrupted heritage spanning centuries.

In the mid-19th century, however, the emigration of Leszno's Jews to inner Germany and the United States began to intensify over the years. During the Interwar period, the community experienced a sharp decline. After the city was incorporated into Poland in 1921, only about 160 followers of Judaism remained, staying at this level until 1939.

Holocausto por balas en cifras

Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Leszno was occupied by German forces and annexed directly into the Third Reich. Reverting to its Germanized name, Lissa, the town was incorporated into the newly formed administrative region of Reichsgau Wartheland (the "Warthegau").

After taking control of the town, the German authorities confiscated all property belonging to the local Jewish population. In the autumn of 1939, several families, including the Diamants, Kretschmers, Kalmuses, Pachters, Kibels, and Litwaks, decided to leave voluntarily for the General Government. In December 1939, German authorities deported the remaining Jewish residents to the General Government, relocating them to Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Sokołów Podlaski, and Sarnaki. The fate of most deportees remains unknown, though the vast majority perished in ghettos and killing centers, with only a small number surviving the Holocaust.

In April 1941, a forced labor camp (Stammlager der Deutschen Arbeitsfront) was established by the Germans on present-day Narutowicza Street. Supervised by the SS and managed under the Łódź Ghetto administration, the camp consisted of electrified wooden barracks housing Poles and Jews mostly from the Łódź, Warka, and Łęczyca ghettos. Prisoners were forced into road and railway construction for the Głogów-based firm Julius Schallhorn, as well as municipal waterworks labor. Surviving archival records detail severe conditions, including unusable footwear and hundreds of medical consults logged by a local physician.

While archival sources estimate that around 500 prisoners passed through the camp, averaging 300 inmates at any single time, and note that at least 10 people died alongside occurring hangings and shootings, survivor testimonies suggest much higher prisoner numbers, pointing to nearly 500 Jewish men and approximately 1,000 Poles forced into labor. The camp was liquidated in August 1943, and prisoners were transferred to Auschwitz, Jaworzno, and Katowice. During the 1945 evacuation, many were moved deeper into Germany, including Waldheim, where they were eventually liberated.

Although no eyewitnesses could be interviewed during the Yahad-investigation in Leszno, researchers identified the location of the former camp, the synagogue, and the mass burial site of victims of Nazism. The burial site consists of three pits. The pit on the left contains the remains of 20 residents of Leszno and surrounding areas who were murdered on October 21, 1939, at Kościuszko Square. The middle pit holds the remains of Jewish citizens exhumed from near the parish cemetery. The pit on the right commemorates 339 people murdered in the Rydzyna forests between 1939 and 1944, whose remains were reinterred at this location in 1957.

Jewishgen

Pueblos cercanos

• Sokołów Podlaski
• Tomaszów Mazowiecki

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