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The typhus epidemic that broke out in the ghetto was not something new for the Jews. Only its scope was the greatest ever.

The first typhus epidemic broke out in the Lackie camp at the beginning of 1942. Three doctors worked in this camp: Dr. Jolek, Dr. Holenderski and Dr. Cigelman. They had an order from the camp managing committee not to permit the epidemic to spread. Warzog threatened that otherwise he would set fire to the entire ghetto with all its inhabitants. However, the doctors were not given any means in addition to the order with which to be able to protect the camp from an epidemic. Hunger and dirt brought catastrophe. The typhus epidemic broke out. The epidemic immediately covered a wide area. The doctors were overtaken by panic. They trembled for the fate of the entire camp. Dr. Jolek turned to the city hospital and to the Judenrat for help. He received an order to inform the camp managing committee about the epidemic. As the doctors Holenderski and Cigelman were already among the victims of the epidemic, it fell on Dr. Jolek to go to the murderers with the notice. This was considered certain death. Dr Holenderski asked Dr. Jolek to hide and he, Dr. Holenderski, would take on the mission. He, who no longer had anyone, wanted to make the sacrifice for a man who still had a wife and a child. However, Dr. Jolek did not agree to this. He said goodbye to his family and his acquaintances and went to the bandits to report about the epidemic. He had unexpected luck. Warzog, the murderer, had gone away and he was represented by someone who still possessed a spark of humanity. He listened to the doctor in despair and promised him help in order to end the epidemic more quickly. (It is certain that this person was afraid that Warzog would hold him responsible for the epidemic and, therefore, he behaved well.) The sick were permitted to leave the camp. The sick were taken to the city where a large Jewish hospital was located. However, the hospital could not take in all of the sick, so two more houses were provided for this purpose. Dr. Jolek, who alone remained at his post, worked day and night. His work was very difficult. The people in the camp saw in the epidemic the only way that would get them out of the accursed camp. Healthy people lay with the sick, infecting themselves and thus with great effort reached [their goal] of being taken out of the ghetto. This was a hazardous way because many died immediately after leaving the gates of the camp. However, this did not frighten anyone. It then was clear to Jews that they had nothing to lose. Thanks to the heroism of the medical

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Dr. Shlomo Jolek The only doctor who served the sick ghetto Jews with self-sacrifice during the typhus epidemic and who survived the war

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personnel and, particularly of Dr. Jolek, [and] thanks to the practical aid given by the Judenrat at that time the epidemic was fought successfully.

The typhus epidemic that broke out in the ghetto was worse. It spread at a rapid rate. The hospital immediately on the first day was overflowing with the sick. There was a lack of beds; [the sick] lay on the ground. There was a lack of space, so they lay in the corridors. The doctors Hreczanik, Jolek, Reichard, Zwerdling, Szalit, Thun, Flaszner went from room to room and brought help to the needy. It was said of the doctors Jolek and Reichard, that they would leave money for the patients to buy medicines. Berish Lifschutz, who worked in the apothecary outside the ghetto, helped in any way that he could to serve. He would take the most valuable and best medicines from the apothecary and give them to the ghetto. But this did not help much. It [the epidemic] led to the entire ghetto being transformed into one large hospital. There was no house skipped by the epidemic. The sick lay together with the healthy. It was difficult to protect a healthy child, who was located in one room with his sick mother, from coming in contact with her. The opposite was the same. One was a witness to the course of the illness; one was a witness to death and one could not help. The number of victims reached to 500 souls. The doctors were powerless. However, they did not leave the ghetto and provided help until the epidemic reached them personally and they were forced to leave their posts. The Zloczow medical workers are inscribed in the history of our city in golden letters and we, the survivors, will always remember them with gratitude. They brought help to our sisters and brothers at the most tragic moments of their lives. They courageously fought the typhus epidemic, which was one the great enemies of the ghetto Jew.

The only doctor who distinguished himself during that year and who survives to this day is Dr. Sh. Jolek. He left for the forest and became active as a doctor in various partisan groups several weeks before the liquidation of the camps. Since the liberation, he has worked in the Deggendorf [displaced persons] camp as hospital director.

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The typhus epidemic consumed a considerable number of victims and ceased. The ghetto residents looked at the future with anxiety. They felt as if in a cage and they waited for the inevitable to happen. Anyone who had the opportunity to live outside the ghetto was among the fortunate. The belief arose that was later confirmed that the workshops located outside the ghetto that were valued by the Germans would temporarily not suffer the fate of those in the ghetto. People began to ask to be taken into the workshops, even into the camps. The supervisors understood how to make use of the situation and, therefore, took advantage. The Jews iin Gebeck's firm felt safest. Gebeck, himself a German, showed compassion to the Jews and would help them in any way he could. When the situation grew even more strained, Gebeck agreed that the workers from the Schweiger firm and their wives would be quartered with him in the camp and thus protected them from danger. Dovid Zimand, the Jewish supervisor of the camp, feeling that he would not be able to take any money from the above mentioned workers, used his entire influence with the Germans to annul this [Gebeck's] decision. He succeeded. The people remained in the ghetto and later the majority of them paid with their lives. Lonek Cwerling, whose name requires no commentary, had the main word in all of the other workshops. Those who had money could count on his help. These events occurred a short time later. Shortly after the typhus epidemic, on the 2^nd of April 1943, the last and most frightening chapter in the history of Zloczow Jewry occurred – the liquidation of the ghetto.

Engel, the well-known murderer and liquidator in the Galicia district, who was the representative of Katzman, the Lemberg and Tarnopol Gestapo [commander], came to the liquidation.

The ghetto was surrounded on the night of the 1^st into the 2^nd of April, as the Jews slept calmly, not sensing that danger was so near. Thus, the murderers made sure that no mouse could leave from there. All who were in the ghetto that night had to die. There were many from the camps and workshops who, by chance, were spending the night with their families in the ghetto and, therefore, they paid with their lives. In the morning the murderers

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accompanied by Jewish militia men went from house to house, drove the victims out of their beds and everyone, from young to old, was driven to the collection point which was located at the so called Green Market. The hunt was large. The victims were not given any time to dress. The mood of the masses on the 2^nd of April was more apathetic, in contradiction to the panic that reigned during the pogrom and aktsias [deportations]. Few believed in the sweet promises of the Germans; they knew that this was the end – and yet they acted calmly…

The experiences of the last year so exhausted the people that they [no longer cared]. It was rare that someone started crying. Very few shouted. It was rare that someone asked for mercy. If they were afraid, it was not of death, but of the manner of death because no one could imagine what kind of death the Germans had thought up this time. The people stood for a long in the square and waited. It was a wet April day. It rained. The children clung to their mothers; old and sick people looked for support for their weary bodies and did not find any.

New people were brought from time to time. Those who already were here were resigned; those who had been at home still searched for an opportunity to hide to avoid a terrible fate. The German business leaders undertook trying to save their Jewish workers because they did not feel capable of running the enterprises but they were refused. The only one who succeeded in saving eight people was Schweiger. The men already were in place, but they did not want to leave without their wives. They decided to resign from the unit and to die with their wives. The Germans knew how to fool them, promising that the wives would be freed later. The men believed them and left the place. However, they never saw their wives again. B. Rosen and Mann also were given the opportunity to save themselves on the condition that they leave their wives. However, they did not accept this and went to their death with their wives.

Yoyl Lifszuc's wife acted with great dignity. She threw herself with her weak hands at an armed German who was leading her to death. A similar episode was told about Ewa Tinter-Rajcher, the teacher.

The murderers proposed to Dr. Majblum, the chairman of the Judenrat, the signing of a document that typhus was rampant at present in the ghetto, so the liquidation was necessary. Dr. Majblum refused to sign the document. Engel, the murderer, used every means: from sweet words and promises to threats and arguments with a riding crop. However, Dr. Majblum's decision was firm and he did not sign the document. Engel, seeing that [his plan] would not be carried out, murdered Dr. Majblum himself. (It must be remembered here that Dr. Majblum was the only [member] of the Judenrat who refused to take part in the aktsias.)

The marketplace was full of people. The Germans placed a basket into which the victims had to toss their money, watches, rings and other such items that they had with them. The Jewish militiamen saw to it that the order would be precisely carried out. The militiaman, Yosl Landau, was particularly brutal. He

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tore the rings from fingers with such brutality that blood began to flow from a number of victims. Trucks pulled up to the square. They began to load in the people. Up to 40 people on each truck. The trucks left in the direction of Yelekhovitse [Yelikhovichi]. The village of Yelekhovitse is four kilometers from Zloczow and is surrounded by forests. In the past it served as summer homes for the surrounding population.

During the month of April 1943 Yelekhovitse was the burial place for the Zloczow Jews. For two weeks the Russian prisoners dug three large pits in Yelekhovitse. The population saw them going to work every day with shovels. However, no one realized that they were going to dig graves for the remaining Jews. The trucks drove right up to the pits in Yelekhovitse. The victims were brought to the pits, forced to undress and to enter the pits. They had to stand in rows, close behind each other and, when the pit was filled so that the victims no longer could move, machine guns began to shoot at their heads. No one observed whether or not everyone had been shot. Therefore, it is no surprise that many people were buried alive. The peasants from the village said that the earth over the graves moved for several days after the executions and blood spurted out. The dirt surrounding the graves was dug around in order to lessen the pressure from within the ground. The trucks worked without a break. People were taken to Yelekhovitse; bloodied clothing returned from Yelekhovitse. People in the workshops could see those closest to them taken to their death and could not help in any way.

The only witnesses who were present at the terrible Yelekhovitse massacre and survived were the dentist, I. Halpern, and Laya Cwerling-Frenkel. Warzog made a “joke” of the former, who was the camp dentist in Sasow. He asked him to take part in each procedure that the victims went through and, at the last minute, gave him a gift of his life. Laya Cwerling-Frenkel courageously escaped naked from the pit. She ran right into the forest. They shot after her but with luck the bullets did not reach her. Peasants of her acquaintance clothed her and hid her until the liberation. Another girl also escaped – the Czortkower [from Chortkiv]. However, her fate is not known.

The liquidation lasted two days. However, the Germans did not succeed in exterminating all of the Jews during those two days. A large number hid in the attics and in the cellars. However, the murderers were persistent. They searched each house separately and not futilely. They found new hiding places every day. The people were gathered and when a large transport was gathered together, they were taken to Yelekhovitse. They would have to wait three or four days. They were not given even a drop of water during this time. The murderers did not make allowances for any disorder. Hilel Safran had the opportunity to watch his parents and his entire family struggling with hunger and waiting for death. His 10-year old nephew, A. Szpicer, called to him in tears: “Uncle, a little water!” – and he could not help.

Among others murdered during the days of the liquidation was Hersh Guttman, the prose writer. He did not submit to the liquidation,

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but when he was caught hiding women and children, he was taken away to the Yelekhovitse execution spot with them.

When the number of Jews caught began to decrease, the Germans decided not to take them to Yelekhovitse anymore. They would take them to the market near a wall and shoot them naked in front of the still surviving Jews.

The last victims would be shot at the cemetery. They had to dig their own pits and lie down in them.

The ghetto was destroyed; 6,000 Jews were murdered; only a small handful of Jews remained alive in the workshops and in the camps.

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A father says Kaddish[5] for his eight-year old son One of the three mass graves in the Yelekhovitse forest, where 6,000 Jews lie.

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All of the hopes and illusions of the survivors were liquidated along with the 6,000 Jews. No one wanted to rely any longer on the justice of the Germans. The idea was ripe for the creation of a partisan organization and to escape to the forest. Two groups were organized: one under the leadership of F. Nachimowicz and the second under the leadership of H. Safran. F. Nachimowicz was an artist. He labored in the workshops. After the liquidation, the clothing of the annihilated ghetto Jews was washed and ironed in the workshops. Valuable items and money were found in some of the clothing. Weapons were obtained with the found money. When everything was ready, Nachimowicz and a group of 30 people entered the forest. They dug a bunker in the forest and the group was supposed to focus on life in the bunker. The entire plan was naïve and a fantasy and the initiators lacked experience and a knowledge of organization. After eight days, a peasant accidently knocked against the bunker. Sh. Frajman wanted to kill the peasant. Nachimowicz opposed this. He began a discussion with the peasant. The peasant, as all peasants, said that he was a friend of the Jews, praised the initiative of the group and promised them help. Nachimowicz believed him and was very pleased that he had succeeded in meeting such a good Christian. They released the peasant, but in any case, they began to dig a new bunker. They did not have to wait long. The peasant went straight to the Gestapo. The site [of the bunker] was surrounded. There actually were few people in the bunker. The majority were busy building the new bunker. Shooting started. However, the small group was powerless against the overwhelming number of members of the Gestapo. Despite this, they defended themselves to the last man. The last was S. Frajman. The murderers had to pay dearly for his life. They succeeded in shooting him in the end and thus invaded the bunker. However, their surprise was great when they saw how few “partisans” they had fought against and that the leader, Nachimowicz, was not among the dead. Warzog, the shturmfurer [assault leader – a Nazi paramilitary rank], who himself went to the forest, left a note to Nachimowicz in the bunker in which he guaranteed his safety if he returned to the camp. Nachimowicz, who was a weak type, lost his courage and returned. Warzog kept his word and Nachimowicz was given his life. The group was liquidated. Nachimowicz was taken to Lemburg to the Janow camp during the liquidation of the Lackie camp. He fell into the hands of the Gestapo during an unsuccessful attempt to escape.

[Page 38]

Warzog, who was the commandant of Janow at that time, took bitter revenge on him. He [Nachimowicz] was tied to a pole and wild dogs were set on him. The dogs tore him apart and ate him alive.

The second group that was organized at the same time under the leadership of H. Safran had a wider and more serious membership. After the liquidation of the ghetto, engineer Hilel Safran had the idea to organize a partisan group. However, the situation was not yet ready enough and it was difficult to find people who would accept and be interested in the matter. Safran worked as an engineer at the German firm “Radebuele.” His work gave him the opportunity to always move everywhere freely. After the liquidation of the ghetto, he decided to realize his idea at any price. Bialystocki and Moskowicz, the Warsaw engineers who worked with him, approved of his plan and promised to help. Safran stayed in contact with individual people from all of the workshops and from the surrounding camps. The people's task consisted of gathering trustworthy and combative people around themselves. The work evolved. The idea was warmly accepted and had a particularly good appeal among the young. They undertook the acquisition of weapons and ammunition. F. Rozen, G. Spodek and S. Grynberg received the task, sneaked into the armory and removed ammunition from it. Old Soviet ammunition was located in the armory to which the Germans gave no significance and, therefore, had abandoned. However, it was difficult for a camp person to enter [the armory] because the armory was located far outside the city. However, the three young men did not consider any difficulties and risked their lives. Under the cover of night, they sneaked into the armory and removed a considerable amount of weapons and grenades from it. They buried these objects in a forest not far from the armory. It remained for them to carry them into the city. H. Safran took this task upon himself because he could move around freely. Every day he went into the forest with his briefcase, dug up a few grenades and smuggled them into the city. Once he had the misfortune to meet Warzog, the hauptsturmfuhrer [Nazi paramilitary rank equivalent to captain]. He was accompanied by his beloved, the wife of a Czech engineer who had a good attitude toward Jews. Warzog immediately noticed that there were no papers in the briefcase, but something heavy. He stopped Safran and asked him what he was carrying in the bag. With luck, the woman noticed Safran's uncertain answer and decided to help him. She did not leave Warzog any time to discover the contents of the bag and quickly drew him away. Safran was saved. Izio Silber succeeded in making contact with a Christian who provided weapons for money. The weapons and ammunition were brought into the Radebeule building and hidden in clothing warehouses. Only a few people knew about this place. A committee of five people was created. Safran was at the head of the committee. A group of 50 men was organized that first had to take everything into the forest. New groups were supposed to be systematically organized. The fate of Nachimowicz's group became known in the middle [of the organizing]. This had a demoralizing effect and disrupted the plan. The people were controlled by despair and fearfulness. They gave up on

[Page 39]

this way out and they looked to save themselves with less risky means. However, Safran did not lose his courage and continued the work. He looked for contact with the Polish partisans. An officer with the Polish underground movement promised everything and betrayed Safran at the last minute. Safran made contact with the Ukrainian partisans. However, the people who were sent (two groups of six men) were attacked and murdered by them [the Ukrainian partisans].

It was decided that they would rely on their own strength to enter the forest. They chose the place and the date. Everything was prepared and exactly calculated. The auto that would take out the tools for the workers to the highway at 11 o'clock in the morning needed to take the weapons from the warehouse and take them to the forest that was near the highway. The driver was one of them [the group]. Everything was so well decided and planned that there could be no suspicion. A young man from Lemberg, who no one knew, worked in the block in which the warehouse was located. However, he did not have a good reputation and, therefore, the entire plan was kept secret from him. However, he had watched every step and it was clear that the man could cause harm. Safran was warned about him and, simultaneously, there were people who wanted to make this individual harmless. But Safran was against this. It was his opinion that the killing of a little German spy would arouse the watchfulness of the Germans and everything would be lost. This was a tragic error. This individual brought [information] about everyone to the Gestapo. The S.S. members unexpectedly organized a hunt for the committee members on the day on which the escape was supposed to take place. They succeeded in catching and arresting all five. The Gestapo demanded of the arrestees that they give a full list of their people. They refused. The murderers promised to give them their lives, but futilely, it did not help. They decided to die and not hand over anyone. They were locked in a cellar. Their comrades came to their aid. G. Horowicz succeeded in passing a tool to cut through the bars. However, Moshe Cukerkandl, the former Judenrat member mixed in and undid the entire plan. He always had had great success in extracting Jews from the Gestapo and promised that he would save these people. He assured them that he already had negotiated with the murderers and they had promised to free them. It is difficult to ascertain whether Cukerkandl was the one fooled by the Gestapo or if he deceived the victims. However, on the other hand, the arrestees were not inclined to escape because they were afraid that their escape would move the murderers to take revenge against the remaining Jews. They did not want to be the cause of a new slaughter and, therefore, they convinced their comrades that they believed the German promise. The next day, the arrestees were taken to the marketplace to a wall that was soaked through with Jewish blood. Two engineers, Bialystocki and Moskowicz, broke loose and escaped. The S.S. members shot at them. Hilel Safran, the third one calmly went to the wall and stood next to it. The murderers ordered him to take off his clothes; as an answer Safran threw himself on the rottenfuhrer [Nazi paramilitary rank, section leader] Sommer and threw him to the ground and, with a complete feeling of vengeful hate that had collected in him, began to strangle him. The struggle between the devouring murderer and the physically

[Page 40]

weak H. Safran took place in the blink of an eye and, when the latter succeeded in grabbing Sommer's revolver, a Ukrainian militia man shot H. Safran. H. Safran breathed out his soul. He left orphaned a wife and a small child.

The tragic death of the leader undid all the plans of the pugnacious Zloczow young. Only one way out remained: to save oneself with one's fists.

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Hilel Safran (1911-1943) The heroic son of Zloczow Jewry

A separate chapter in the history of the Zloczow Jews was the bunkers. The Jews saw in the bunkers the only possibility of saving themselves. However, the first bunkers were barely disguised and, therefore, easily discovered. Plans were worked out for underground bunkers. However, they required a great deal of work. In order for the bunker to be of value, it had to be deep and had to have a connection to the sewer system. Otherwise, there was no air and no water. The dirt that was turned out during the digging had to be taken out with pails and immediately concealed. The work had to be done at night because otherwise they could be observed. They guarded themselves even from the neighbors. During the liquidation, the Germans let in gas through the sewer pipes so that the Jews would have to leave their hiding places.

The bunker in W. Cukerhandl's house was one of the longest lasting. Despite the fact that it was not underground, it was well disguised and it was discovered only by chance. A Gestapo agent and his dog passed by; the dog smelled something and began tugging [the agent] toward the spot where the bunker was located. The Gestapo agent followed him. He understood that someone was hidden there. The Jews shot from the bunker and wounded the German. The commandant was alerted. The militia arrived with machine guns. They surrounded the block; the machine guns were placed on the surrounding roofs. The Jews in the bunker decided to defend themselves. They had in their possession one weapon and a small amount of ammunition. The struggle was hopeless and yet they decided to carry on to the last cartridge. A large number of the besieged Jews had poison. They took the poison, not wanting to fall into the hands of the Germans. However, the doses were very small and the victims did not die, but struggled in terrible pain. They made an end to their suffering with the last remaining bullets. The survivors started a chase over attics and roofs and the Germans followed them. Only three people from the entire group successfully saved themselves from death: Merkac, Krautstick and Sigal; everyone else was murdered. The Germans also left a few dead during the struggle with the heroic group.

The largest bunker that held out until the liberation was the Sztrazler bunker, in which 22 people were saved. Wilo Freiman was found in the bunker in addition to the 22 survivors. Wilo Freiman was murdered in this bunker. Which of the 22 people and under what conditions the murder was carried out has not been cleared up to this day. A large number of Jews, who had money

[Page 44]

and acquaintances, hid with peasants. However, most of the peasants cheated the money from the Jews and then murdered them. A small percentage of the Zloczow Jews obtained Aryan documents and thus saved their lives.

Those who did not have any money and yet yearned for life went into the forest. Because of the anti-Semitic feelings of the Ukrainian partisans (the so called Banderowces [members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists led by Stepan Bandera]), very few successfully survived. The majority were murdered in the forest or died of hunger.

The liquidation of all of the camps took place on the 23^rd of August, 1942. The aktsia was carried out without delay, as brutally as all of the earlier aktsias. The liquidator was the well-known murderer of Jews, [Josef] Grzymek. He took the place of Warzog who at that time was nominated as the commandant of the Janow camp in Lemberg. During this liquidation, a group of prisoners in the Lackie camp staged a resistance. However, the resistance was immediately broken by the overwhelming strength of the Germans.

The poet, Arie Szrenzel (author of the book of poems, Der Kas [The Anger]) was murdered on the 20^th of Tammuz 5703 [23 July 1943]. Arie Szrenzel worked in the workshops. The heavy physical labor interrupted his literary activity. He perished during the liquidation of the camps.

A small group of well-qualified workers was taken to Lemberg to the Janow camp that was liquidated on the 20^th of November 1943. The gifted painter and caricaturist, Mendl Reif (known from the satirical journal, Szpilki [Pins]), was among other Zloczow Jews in the Janow camp who perished.

The city was liberated from the German occupation on the 13^th of July 1944. However, the liberation came too late for the Jews. In the city where Jewish cultured had blossomed for many generations, in the city in which every street, every house, every stone had breathed with specific small town yidishkayt [Jewish way of life], in Zloczow, the Jewish city, there were no longer Jews.

The small handful of surviving Jews who, on the first days [after the liberation] found themselves drawn to Zloczow, “their Zloczow,” were disappointed and immediately ran from there. It was no longer the city about which they had dreamed and for which they longed. The old houses of prayer were no longer there, nor were the Jews who would find consolation in them; the “An-ski” club with its literary evenings was no longer there, no Jewish library and there were no more readers of Jewish books. The Yiddish and Hebrew schools were no longer there and no children who needed them. The city was dead; Jewish Zloczow had disappeared.

What remained? The center of the city was burned out, empty brick buildings in the former ghetto. In the middle of the former cemetery, were several headstones of the Zloczow tzadikim [righteous ones], behind which was found the headstone of the great tzadik and gifted man, Ohr Chaim.

The ghetto walls reminded one of death and ruin; the remaining headstones told of the power and about the timelessness of Jewish culture and of Jewish spirit.

For those who were not in Zloczow after the Holocaust and for those who did not see the headstone, it echoes as only a distant legend; those who were there know that this is not a legend, but the truth.

The Germans obliterated the Zloczow cemetery. All of the headstones were removed and the earth was smoothed over. An ohel [structure built over the grave of a prominent person] stood in the middle of

[Page 45]

the cemetery and the grave and the headstone of the great Ohr Chaim was in the ohel. The surprise of the Germans was great when they noticed the stones with which the ohel had been constructed and the headstone did not surrender to the sharp iron. The Germans unsuccessfully used every means. The stones were only slightly damaged but they remained in place. They returned several times to this headstone, but each time they saw that the headstone would not move from its place. Ohr Chaim's headstone and those of other tzadikim remained standing.

The countless Zloczow legends were joined by one more and this was the last one. It is difficult to say what will happen to the few Jewish headstones on the extensive Zloczow field [cemetery] in a city where there no longer are any Jews. However, they will be a symbol to the survivors, which the remnant of Zloczow Jewry will never forget. The headstones will not be forgotten nor will thousands of Zloczow Jews who died with pride al Kiddush haShem [as martys, in the sanctification of God's name] and in sanctification of the [Jewish] people. Hilel Safran, Ch. J. Horn and hundreds of other simple men of the people who during the horrible years demonstrated [an ability] to rise above their personal interest, wrote themselves with golden letters into the history of the Jewish people

The names of the traitors and of all the timid people, who dealt with Jewish souls and handed their over to the devils, are covered with eternal shame.

Among the survivors are found people with doubtful reputations. The commandant of the ghetto militia, Steinwurcl, is alive; J, Landau, M. Alsztok, Karger, J. Chotiner, Halpern, W. Kirszen, Keller and Kin are alive. Shameful accusations are presented against many of those listed. It is not in my competence to judge how many of the accusations are correct and how far the responsibility of the accused reaches. It is a serious and complicated problem and it [must] be considered with the greatest impartiality.

It is the task of all of the people listed to stand before a Jewish communal tribunal. Only such a tribunal can have the right to condemn them or to rehabilitate them.

At the same time, it is particularly the task of all surviving Zloczow Jews to compel all of those who, out of compassion, do not want to place them before a tribunal to do so.

In Europe or in America, in Eretz-Yisroel or in Santa Domingo, wherever they are found, they need to be drawn to their responsibility. Whoever is innocent should be rehabilitated; the guilty need to be punished.

End

[Unnumbered Page 46]

The wall at which the executions took place after the liquidation of the ghettoThis house belonged to Wolf Rozen and stood between the green market and Ormjanska Street Photo Grinzajd

This is how Zlocozow looks todayOn the photo: The ruins of the ohel [structure over the grave of a prominent person] and the remaining headstones of the Zloczow tzadikim

Translator's Footnote

1. Memorial prayer Return

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