A postcard sent from the Będzin ghetto by Israel Cohen marked with the letter z

A postcard sent from the Będzin ghetto by Israel Cohen marked with the letter z

A postcard sent from the Będzin ghetto by jew named Israel Cohen on October 7, 1942 - marked with the letter Z - Zid - Jewish - the postcard sent after most of the Będzin Jews were sent to kill. Jewish materials from the Będzin ghetto are very rare!

The postcard was sent to the "Dear Bronka" - the sister of the sender, which describes the suffering, pain on his body, and his longing for him. He also tells of Jews who were sent to the "prison", and that there was no work in Bedzin. He adds that he was glad she left Bedzin in time, and asks her to update him on her condition. We did not find out what had happened to Israel Cohen, and if he survived the Holocaust.

The Nazis occupied Będzin [Bendsburg] with the outbreak of the World War, and murdered it more than 40 Jews. The city was spread to the Reich, but in fact the control of it was imposed on the Judenrat, and the Transports to Auschwitz began in April 1942, when the deportation was imposed on the Judenrat. On August 12, 1942, Selection was held in Bedzin Jewry, Which is called the "Great punkt". For three days the Jews were concentrated on the field without water and food and was processed in which 5,000 of the city Jews were sent to Auschwitz. The final concentration of Bedzin Jews was made in April-May 1943 as a ghetto - without a wall and without a fence - a Jewish fence caught outside the ghetto was killed (a sign in this spirit hung in the ghetto). On July 22, 1943, Bedzin Jews were concentrated in the marketing square in which hundreds of young people sent to labor camps and all the rest: women, children and elderly were sent to Auschwitz. Of the brutality perpetrated by the Germans, about 100 Jews were shot. At this time, a Jewish underground was operating in the city in bunkers equipped with weapons - most of which were also liquidated by the Germans. Eyewitnesses say that many of the deportees who knew the destination of the train jumped from the passenger train, and many Jewish bodies were lying for a long time along the track on the way to Auschwitz. The final assassination began on August 1, 1943 and lasted about two weeks, during which almost all the Jews were sent to Auschwitz.

Many Jewish finds from Bedzin did not survive as much as other cities and ghettos that were under German control.

See also Ghetto Fighters' House Archives, Record No. 35845.

[1] Postcard. Written on both sides. fold mark. Stains. Good condition.