In the Polish small-town of Warta, the majority of the inhabitants were once Jewish. Almost all of them were murdered in the Holocaust. Today, the Jewish cemetery is a reminder of their eradicated culture.
Warta, presumably autumn 1939, The Rabbi’s son Hersz Laskowski is humiliated by men in German uniforms, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warszawa
Warta, 2019, Cemetery with the monument of the ten men hanged in 1942, Stowarzyszenie im. Ireneusza Ślipka na rzecz dialogu polsko-żydowskiego
The town of Warta, situated on the river of the same name about 50 km west of Łódź in central Poland, had its heyday in the Middle Ages. Before the First World War the town belonged to the Russian Empire. Warta remained economically insignificant even after the First World War. Slightly more than half of the almost 5,000 inhabitants were Jews, most of whom lived off the crafts and trades.
Warta was close to Poland's western border, so that the town was captured by the Wehrmacht only a few days after the German attack. Large parts of the town as well as the synagogue were destroyed during the fighting. From the very beginning, Jews especially suffered under the occupation: Already in the first days German soldiers harassed Jews and cut off their sidecurls. Well-known photos, probably taken during these days, show the humiliation of rabbi Eliasz Laskowski and his son Hersz.
The town was soon assigned to the »Reichsgau Wartheland« and integrated into the German Reich. Jews had to conduct forced labour, make special payments and wear a »Judenstern« (yellow star badge) for identification.
In February 1940, the German authorities set up a ghetto in Warta to which all Jews had to move. These houses there were virtually uninhabitable. From 1941 many Jews were deported to forced labour camps. Only a few were allowed to work in the ghetto, so living conditions continued to deteriorate. On April 14, 1942 ten Jewish men from the ghetto were publicly hanged near the ruins of the synagogue. Among those murdered were Eliasz and Hersz Laskowski. The ghetto was finally dissolved on July 24 and 25, 1942. About 400 Jews considered fit for work were transferred to the Łódź Ghetto. All others were first imprisoned in a church. Three days later they were taken to the nearby extermination camp Chełmno where they were murdered with engine exhaust fumes.
Warta was close to Poland's western border, so that the town was captured by the Wehrmacht only a few days after the German attack. Large parts of the town as well as the synagogue were destroyed during the fighting. From the very beginning, Jews especially suffered under the occupation: Already in the first days German soldiers harassed Jews and cut off their sidecurls. Well-known photos, probably taken during these days, show the humiliation of rabbi Eliasz Laskowski and his son Hersz.
The town was soon assigned to the »Reichsgau Wartheland« and integrated into the German Reich. Jews had to conduct forced labour, make special payments and wear a »Judenstern« (yellow star badge) for identification.
In February 1940, the German authorities set up a ghetto in Warta to which all Jews had to move. These houses there were virtually uninhabitable. From 1941 many Jews were deported to forced labour camps. Only a few were allowed to work in the ghetto, so living conditions continued to deteriorate. On April 14, 1942 ten Jewish men from the ghetto were publicly hanged near the ruins of the synagogue. Among those murdered were Eliasz and Hersz Laskowski. The ghetto was finally dissolved on July 24 and 25, 1942. About 400 Jews considered fit for work were transferred to the Łódź Ghetto. All others were first imprisoned in a church. Three days later they were taken to the nearby extermination camp Chełmno where they were murdered with engine exhaust fumes.
Warta, presumably autumn 1939, The Rabbi’s son Hersz Laskowski is humiliated by men in German uniforms, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warszawa
Warta, 2019, Cemetery with the monument of the ten men hanged in 1942, Stowarzyszenie im. Ireneusza Ślipka na rzecz dialogu polsko-żydowskiego
Prior to WWII an estimated 2,000 Jews lived in Warta. Most of them died because of the miserable living conditions in the ghetto, perished in forced labour camps or were murdered in the Chełmno extermination camp. Only a few Jews from Warta survived the Holocaust.
Warta, o.D., Die Synagoge von Warta, gemeinfrei
Warta, 2012, Today the post office building stands on the site of the destroyed synagogue, Arkadiusz Fochtman
After the war only a few Jews returned to Warta. On December 13, 1945 local ethnic Poles murdered two Jews in broad daylight, whereupon all Jews left the town the next day. Since then no Jews have lived in Warta.
For decades nobody took care of the still existing traces of former Jewish life. The area of the old Jewish cemetery, completely destroyed during the German occupation, was built on. In the 1980s, a single citizen, Ireneusz Ślipek (1935-2006), began to maintain the abandoned new Jewish cemetery. He brought Jewish gravestones back to the cemetery and tried to reassemble broken gravestones. Until his death he re-erected a total of more than 1,000 gravestones. Today, an association bearing Ślipek’s name takes care of the preservation of the cemetery. There are also the graves of the two Jews who were murdered in December 1945, but also a memorial stone for the ten Jewish men hanged in April 1942. On the outer wall of the post office building, which was built on the site of the former synagogue, a plaque remembers the ten Jewish men hanged there in 1942.
For decades nobody took care of the still existing traces of former Jewish life. The area of the old Jewish cemetery, completely destroyed during the German occupation, was built on. In the 1980s, a single citizen, Ireneusz Ślipek (1935-2006), began to maintain the abandoned new Jewish cemetery. He brought Jewish gravestones back to the cemetery and tried to reassemble broken gravestones. Until his death he re-erected a total of more than 1,000 gravestones. Today, an association bearing Ślipek’s name takes care of the preservation of the cemetery. There are also the graves of the two Jews who were murdered in December 1945, but also a memorial stone for the ten Jewish men hanged in April 1942. On the outer wall of the post office building, which was built on the site of the former synagogue, a plaque remembers the ten Jewish men hanged there in 1942.
Warta, 2020, On the Jewish cemetery, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
Warta, 2020, Gravestone for the two Jewish men murdered in 1945, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
Warta, 2020, Entrance gate of the Jewish cemetery, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
Warta, 2020, Memorial stone for murdered Jews, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
Warta, 2020, The Jewish cemetery seen from the outside, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
Warta, 2020, Jewish cemetery, sieradz-praga.pl, Łukasz Piotrowski
- Name
- Nowy cmentarz żydowski w Warcie
- Address
-
ul. Sadowa/ul. Kazimierza Deczyńskiego
98-290 Warta - Phone
- +48 (0)602 248 913
- stowarzyszenieireneuszaslipka@gmail.com