Figure 1.--Wolbrom was a small town in southern Poland with a largely Jewish population. We believe this is a photograph of Wolbrom Jews taken soon after the German invasion (September 1939) and before the ghetto ws established. We do not know if just the men were ordered to assemble. They may be in the town square. All we know for sure is that it was a photograph taken by an unidentified German soldier. The Jews pictured, especially two of the boys, seem to have little inkling as to the Germans' intentions. I don't think they were facing German authorities, as in such as case the men would not have been allowed to sit or keep their hats on.

Wolbrom is a town in what is now south central Poland. It was the location of one of the oldest Jewish communities in Poland. At the time of World War II, about 60 percent of the population was Jewish. The Germans reached the town 4 days after invading Poland and launching World War II (September 5). Wolbrom became part of German occupied Poland--the General Government (October 1939). This was the area used by the Germans to deport Jewish and Christian Poles from the areas annexed to the Reich. The Germans then set up a Judenrat and chose Yehiel Engelrad to head it. The Germans began to deport Jews to Wolbrom (mid-1940). Some 3,000 Jews were deported from nearby Krakow. Governor General Frank who set up his headquarters in Krakow was intent on making the city Jew Free. There were no facilities or provisions in the town to accomodate the refugees. The Germans were already restricting food and other supplie for the existing population. As a result conditions detriorated for the Jews leaving in cramped conditions. The Judenrat did what they could in the face of impossible conditions. The Judenrat distributed available food at a 'symbolic' price to provide some sustance for people living on starvation rations. The Judenrat set up a sanitation department staffed with two doctors and a pharmacist. The Germans closed what had become a getto (Autumn 1941). It contained 8,000 people crammed togethe in dreaful conditions. The Germans conducted a terrifying Aktion as part of Aktion Reinhard (September 5, 1942). In just 1 day a community dating back centuries was obliterated. German SS and Ukranians began killing some 600 mostly elderly Jews in place. Most of the rest of the Ghetto was transpoted to the Belzac dath camp where they were murdered upon arrival. An unknown number of Jews who were judged 'fit for work' were sent to Plaszow and other slave labor camps. The Germans allowed a fews hundred Jews to remained in Wolbrom, primarily the families of the Judenrat and the Jewish police. They were ordred to sort the property of the murdered and deported population. They were confined in the Study Hall surrounding the hospital. Only 2 months after the first Aktion and with the valuables sorted, the remaining Jews were marched to a nearby forest and shot.

Created: 5:20 AM 5/30/2014
Last updated: 5:20 AM 5/30/2014