Poniatowa
Encyclopedia
Poniatowa p is a town in southeastern Poland
, in Opole Lubelskie County
, in Lublin Voivodship, with 10,500 inhabitants (2006).
Poniatowski family, which drew its name from this village - though by the time this family got to prominence its members were living elsewhere.
The Bullock
("Ciołek" in Polish
) which appears on the town's coat of arms recalls the one on the Poniatowski arms.
The first buildings of the town were put up in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II
and the German conquest of Poland. During the German occupation of Poland in World War II, the factory was used to support the Nazi war effort.
, about 15,000 Polish Jews were brought to the camp where, for the next six months, the adults were employed as forced labour in war production factories owned by German entrepreneur Walter Toebbens. On November 4th, 1943, during Operation Harvest Festival (Aktion Erntefest), a pre-emptive action ordered by the Reich Security Main Office after the inmates had begun stockpiling weapons and made contact with communist partisans operating in the surrounding forests, the Poniatowa labor camp was liquidated and all of the Jewish inmates were shot. Dr. Georg Konrad Morgen
, a judge-advocate in the legal branch of the SS, witnessed the mass execution, and later testified in an affidavit at the Nuremberg trials
:
"it was the usual, tested procedure....The day before the action, the Jews themselves, men, women, and adolescents all working with shovels, prepared several 100 metre-long trenches in zig-zag pattern, each trench about 1 m. wide and 1 m. deep. Early next morning a company of unarmed Ukrainian police trainees arrived who formed only a security cordon and had nothing more to do with it, while a single Order Police officer holding a small-calibre weapon waited at the far end of each trench, accompanied by two or three others to charge magazines and take turns carrying out the executions. So the entire operation was carried out by only a very few police. Meanwhile the camp inmates - 6,000 Jews and 9,500 Jewesses - left their quarters and assembled voluntarily at the near end of the trenches. Here they handed over their personal effects - money, documents, wristwatches, and so forth - while the women and girls removed their jewellery. Husbands and wives, mothers and daughters made their farewells and waited quietly; none were mistreated before execution. When their time came, the inmates undressed and began to enter the trenches, both sexes completely naked and running one behind another in orderly, infinite lines. The men went first, into one trench, and later the nude women had their own separate trenches; children accompanied their mothers. Coming to the dead, naked body of the one who preceeded, each inmate knelt at the corpse's feet and then lay face down upon in order to be shot in the back of neck. All passed silently and methodically through the trenches, so the executions went very quickly."
The Germans left Poniatowa in July, 1944 fleeing the approaching Soviet Red Army.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in Opole Lubelskie County
Opole Lubelskie County
Opole Lubelskie County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the town of Opole Lubelskie, which lies ...
, in Lublin Voivodship, with 10,500 inhabitants (2006).
Historical antecedents
A village named Poniatowa had existed near the site of the present town for about 750 years. It was the original home of the aristocraticPoniatowski family, which drew its name from this village - though by the time this family got to prominence its members were living elsewhere.
The Bullock
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
("Ciołek" in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) which appears on the town's coat of arms recalls the one on the Poniatowski arms.
20th century foundation
The present town of Poniatowa was founded in the late 1930s, to house workers of a new telecommunications equipment factory, construction of which began in 1937. The factory was to be a part of the Central Industrial Region, and was to supply equipment to the Polish army.The first buildings of the town were put up in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the German conquest of Poland. During the German occupation of Poland in World War II, the factory was used to support the Nazi war effort.
Nazi concentration camps
In the latter half of 1941, the Germans established a camp for Soviet POWs on the factory grounds. By mid-1942, about 20,000 Soviet prisoners had perished there. In April 1943, during the liquidation of the Warsaw GhettoWarsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, about 15,000 Polish Jews were brought to the camp where, for the next six months, the adults were employed as forced labour in war production factories owned by German entrepreneur Walter Toebbens. On November 4th, 1943, during Operation Harvest Festival (Aktion Erntefest), a pre-emptive action ordered by the Reich Security Main Office after the inmates had begun stockpiling weapons and made contact with communist partisans operating in the surrounding forests, the Poniatowa labor camp was liquidated and all of the Jewish inmates were shot. Dr. Georg Konrad Morgen
Georg Konrad Morgen
Georg Konrad Morgen was an SS judge and lawyer who investigated crimes committed in Nazi concentration camps.-Life:...
, a judge-advocate in the legal branch of the SS, witnessed the mass execution, and later testified in an affidavit at the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
:
"it was the usual, tested procedure....The day before the action, the Jews themselves, men, women, and adolescents all working with shovels, prepared several 100 metre-long trenches in zig-zag pattern, each trench about 1 m. wide and 1 m. deep. Early next morning a company of unarmed Ukrainian police trainees arrived who formed only a security cordon and had nothing more to do with it, while a single Order Police officer holding a small-calibre weapon waited at the far end of each trench, accompanied by two or three others to charge magazines and take turns carrying out the executions. So the entire operation was carried out by only a very few police. Meanwhile the camp inmates - 6,000 Jews and 9,500 Jewesses - left their quarters and assembled voluntarily at the near end of the trenches. Here they handed over their personal effects - money, documents, wristwatches, and so forth - while the women and girls removed their jewellery. Husbands and wives, mothers and daughters made their farewells and waited quietly; none were mistreated before execution. When their time came, the inmates undressed and began to enter the trenches, both sexes completely naked and running one behind another in orderly, infinite lines. The men went first, into one trench, and later the nude women had their own separate trenches; children accompanied their mothers. Coming to the dead, naked body of the one who preceeded, each inmate knelt at the corpse's feet and then lay face down upon in order to be shot in the back of neck. All passed silently and methodically through the trenches, so the executions went very quickly."
The Germans left Poniatowa in July, 1944 fleeing the approaching Soviet Red Army.