Józefów | Lublin Voivodeship

Józefów is a town located on the banks of the Niepryszka river 111 km south of Lublin. The first records about the Jewish community in Józefów go back to the early 18^th century. In the late 18^th century, the first synagogue and a Jewish cemetery were created. A Hebrew printing house was established in Józefów in 1820, becoming a leader of book printing in the region and exporting books abroad. Half of the local Jewish residents lived off printing and selling religious books in Hebrew. A few decades later, the printed house bankrupted. In 1865, there were 675 Jews, making up 78% of the entire population. There were many artisans, such as cobblers and tailors. However, the majority of Jews were involved in small-scale trade. The Zionist movement was very active in the town. After World War I, many Jewish political parties appeared. According to the 1921 census, 1,050 Jews lived in Józefów. On the eve of the German occupation, the Jewish community numbered approximately 1,700.

Józefów was occupied by Germans on September 17, 1939. Beforehand, during the few days of occupation by the Soviets, 300 to 1,000 Jews fled with the Red Army towards the east. Shortly after the occupation two labor camps for the Jews were established on the outskirts of the town. Some 600 Jews from Konin and more from smaller towns were deported there, which made the living conditions in Józefów insupportable and resulted with the typhus epidemic, especially among those who lived near the Market square. According to the report made by Judenrat, 2,147 Jews lived in Józefów in August 1941. The first execution of Jews was conducted by the Gestapo in May 1942 on 100-130 Jews in the streets and in a quarry. But, according to a local eyewitness interviewed by Yahad in Unum, the first victims of the Nazis were six Jews killed behind the chapel, in 1939 shortly after the beginning of the occupation. The biggest mass execution was conducted on July 13, 1942. All the Jews were first gathered at the Market square. Those trying to hidewere hunted and killed. As a result of the selection on the square, some 300 Jews, mostly young men, were transported to labor camp in Lublin, while others were taken on trucks to the forest, to Winiarczykowa Hill, near the road to Biłgoraj. On this day, 1,300 to 1,500 Jews were murdered by the Police Battalion 101. Only after a few days, locals were requisitioned by the police to bury the bodies. According to one of the requisitioned local interviewed by Yahad In Unum, it took them three days. With the help of the local witness, Yahad’s team could identify several mass graves in the forest where the bodies remain until today. Approximately 400 Jews managed to avoid the action in Józefów, but they continued to live in terrible fear, because Germans continued conducting such executions unexpectedly. Some tried to look for survival in nearby forests. According to the local witness, a couple of days after the July massacre, about 100 Jews were taken to a school yard and shot. This execution, as well as the site, remains undocumented until now. Another 70 Jews were executed as hostages in September 1942, in a quarry, after Judenrat failed to pay contributions demanded by the Germans. The final execution took place on November 3, 1942, when Jews were shot by a Schutzpolizei unit, and some others were deported to the Bełżec death camp. However, even after having declared the town Judenfrei, the Germans continued looking for the Jews who stayed in hiding. This fact was confirmed by local witnesses.