Memorial book Szydłowiec

A memorial book for the Jewish community of Szydłowiec (near Radom). Pp. 339-687, "Khurbn", contains articles and memoirs dealing with the fate of the Jews in the Holocaust. In September 1939 the Germans occupied the town and established an open ghetto for its 8,000 Jewish inhabitants. They composed 87% of the population. Due to the Judenrat's good relations with the German authorities, conditions in Szydłowiec were relatively good at first, and 7,000 Jews from elsewhere moved in. The situation deteriorated in December 1941, when the ghetto was closed. With the liquidation of the ghetto in September 1942, most of Szydłowiec's Jews were deported to Treblinka. Some 150 were left behind to clean up, but in October most of this work force and others who had come out of hiding were sent to Skarżysko and from there to Treblinka. In December 1942 Szydłowiec was declared one of four "new" ghettos, established by the Gestapo to attract Jews who were in hiding. The ghetto's new inmates numbered 5,000; among them were some local Jews. After a few weeks this ghetto was also liquidated and its inhabitants deported to Treblinka. Of Szydłowiec's Jews, only ca. 300 survived the Shoah. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)