The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

The Life and Fall of Wlodowa

The Memorial Book of Wlodawa


The third Action

8 days before this action Nitschke ordered to the Jews of the villages Hansk, Dwizcna, Lita, Zeizik, Zilzik, Sochowi and the camps where the Jews were living to present themselves in town. On Thursday October 22, 1942, it was raining heavily the Germans pursued the Jews of the environments of Wlodowa, many stayed outside in the rain because there was not enough room for all.

On October 24th, marked the bloody Shabbat. On this black Shabbat of the Jews of Wlodowa, Nitschke commanded all the Jews who had assembled in the town to appear at the sports field. The town was crowded with Security police, military police and the Ukrainian police. The supervisor of the construction works the German Falkenberg, was ordered over the telephone not to send to work the 2000 Jews at his disposition, but to bring them in orderly queques to the sports field. Nitscke brutally selected 18 men and sent them to his courtyard. All the rest was transported to Sobibor. In this action more than 10,000 people found their death. Afterwards the 18 men were once more transferred to Falkenberg. Of these people the following remained alive: Avigdor Ledermann, Leibl Rosanka, Elieser Melzer, Moshe Knopfmacher, Motel Rabinowitz, Motel Silberstein, Shalom Mirmelstein, Shimon Ledermannm Ephraim Kreis, Eisik Rotherberg, Selig Roitblat, Jechaskel Hubermann, Ephraim Fishmann, Shmuel Stoll, Abraham Schechtmann and others living now in other countries whose names I do not remember.

After this action several hundred Jews were left. Part of them was hiding and another part lived in the ghetto. Nitschke demanded the construction of a labour camp applying to the Jews to come to the Labour camp and promising that nothing bad would happen to them. The Jews crept out of their holes and returned to the labour camp.

The fourth Action

The appeasement lasted a fortnight and the Jews of Wlodowa were slightly released from their fear of death. And suddenly on November 7th, 1942 the ghetto was again besieged and again an action took place. This time Nitschke was accompanied by his assistant Schwab and his dog. He examined the labour cards (permits) and those who did not please him were picked out and sent to the sportfield and from there to Sobibor.

Three days after the transport SD-men and the Ukrainian killers wandered about shouting everyone they found.

The town, like after every action, resembled a battlefield. The rest of the Jews who had remained in the camp of Falkenberg were made to bury the corpses.

After this massacre placards were posted announcing that the Jews were again allowed to move about unmolested. Wlodow was declared a "Judenstadt"-town of Jews. Thus he allured the Jews hiding in the villages, bunkers and forests to come to the ghetto.

After this action Nitschke took the tailor Mauklish and his daughter who worked for him to the forest killing them there, together with Eli Gesundheit and the mason artist who also worked for him.

By his order the trees of the Jewish cemetry were cut off, the gravestones pulled out and the streets paved with them. Nearly 20,000 Jews of Wlodowa lie on the conscience of Nischke. He himself shot hundreds.

We, the undersigned who miraculously survived, apply to the public German prosecutor to arrest the murderer Nischke and his assistants and to bring them to trial. Each one of us is ready to testify to the massacres of Nischke.

1. Leibl Rosanka, 2. Jechaskel Hubermann, 3. Motel Rabinowitz, 4. Shimon Ledermann, 5. Jechiel Gronhois, 6. David Zinn, 7. Moshe Knopfmacher, 8. Elieser Melzer, 9. Avigdor Ledermann, 10. Sara Amalinski, 11. Motel Silberstein (dead?!), 14. Pnina Knopfmacher, 15. Simcha Cohen, 16. Shlomo Lemberger, 17. Abraham Chavina, 18. Lion Lubowski, 19. Greta Rotstein (from Militz), 20. Jehoshua Glanzmann, 21. Jossl Cohen.


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