80: Kielce Pogrom

 (Plaque on Planty 7 Street in Kielce, Poland dedicated by Lech Wałęsa in 1990.)

80 years ago today (July 4, 1946) the Kielce Pogrom (Polish: Pogrom kielecki) took place in Kielce, Poland.

Before World War 2 Kielce had a Jewish Population of 24,000 Men, Women and Children.

Kielce had two Synagogues, a Beth Midrash House of Learning (studying the Torah), a Mikveh Bath, a Jewish Cemetery, a Jewish Orphanage ,a Jewish Retirement Home, three Jewish Elementary Schools, two Jewish High Schools, a Talmudic College, 2 Jewish Sports Clubs and a large Tarbut Library with 10,000 Volumes.

Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and occupied Kielce on September 4^th.

On March 31, 1941 the Germans established the Kielce Ghetto (Polish: getto w Kielcach and German: Ghetto Kielce) forcing all the Jews in the City to move there.

Disease, Starvation and Shootings killed 4,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children inside the Ghetto from March 1941-August 1942.

The Germans deported many Jews from other parts of German-Occupied Poland and Europe (including 7,500 Jews from Vienna) to the Kielce Ghetto in 1942 straining the Ghetto Population even more.

From August 20-24, 1942 the Germans carried out an Aktion (Action) where 1,200 Jewish Men, Women and Children (mostly the Elderly, the Sick and Babies) were brought to Okrzei Street and shot by the Germans.

The Germans then deported 21,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children to the Treblinka Death Camp where they were murdered in the Gas Chambers within 2 hours of arriving.

On May 23, 1943 the Germans brought 45 Jewish Children (aged 15 months to 15 years old) that had managed to hide during the August 1942 Aktion to the  Pakosz Jewish Cemetery and killed them.

On January 15, 1945 the Soviet Red Army liberated Kielce.

Of the 24,000 Jews that lived in Kielce before the Holocaust only 200 survived the War and returned to the City.

On July 3, 1946, 8 year old Henryk Błaszczyk (a Catholic Pole) told his Father that he had been kidnapped by the Jews and held at for two days at 7 Planty Street (the Building where 200 Holocaust Survivors were living.)

Henryk and his Father (Walenty) told the Police that a Stranger gave Henryk a package on the street and asked him to take it to a house.

 For this favor, he allegedly offered Henryk 20 Zlotys. This man was supposed to show Henryk the way.

After reaching the place, they were supposed to take Henryk's package and lock him in the basement, where there were already several other Children.

Henryk said he somehow managed to flee the basement and return home.

Despite the many holes in Henryk’s story the Polish Police publicized the Kidnapping throughout the City.

100 Soldiers and 5 Officers from the many Polish Communist Government Branches (the Polish People’s Army, the Internal Security Corps., the Main Directorate of Information of the Polish People’s Army, the Ministry of Public Security, etc.) went to the Building on 7 Planty Street where the Kidnapping supposedly happened in investigate.

They broke in and searched the grounds only to find no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Not wanting to look weak to the many Civilians who also heard the rumors and flocked to the Building the Soldiers and Officers started stealing the few valuables the Holocaust Survivors had during the Soldiers’ stealing one of them shot their gun.

That led to all the other Soldiers and Officers shooting off their weapons on the innocent Jews inside the Building.

Several Catholic Priests (including Father Jan Danielewicz and Father Roman Zelek) outside the Building tried to enter to help the Victims, but where stopped by the Polish Communist Authorities.

After the initial murders inside the Building, the surviving Jews were forced outside where the Polish Civilians (including 1,000 Workers from the nearby Ludwików Steel Mill) beat and stoned many of them to death.

No Soviet Communist Official, no Polish Communist Government Official, no Polish Military Officer, no Polish Police Officer stepped-in to stop the violence happening right before their eyes.

The Pogrom ended at 3 pm when new Troops and Officials from Warsaw arrived and restored order.

The wounded Jews were sent to the Hospitals where Polish Civilians again tried to beat them to death.

Trains passing through Kielce were stopped and any Jews found (by Polish Civilians) were forced off the train and murdered.

2 Jews were killed this way during the Pogrom and another 28 were murdered in similar attacks over the next several months.

42 Jewish Men, Women and Children were murdered and another 40 were wounded during the Kielce Pogrom.

Nine of the Jews were shot to death, two killed by Bayonets and the rest were beaten or stoned to death.

Some of the  Jews killed during the Pogrom were: Abraham Adler, Izrael Ajzenberg, Eliasz Alpirt, Izrael Boruch, Chaim Baszysta, Beer Frydman, Dawid Fajnkuchen, Bajla Gertner, Bajla Gurszyc, Pola Gutwurcel, Lejzor Harendorf, Seweryn Kahane, Szmul Karp, Herszel Kersz, Szaja Kersz, Kos, Mendel Mikułkowski, Mojżesz Morawiec, Dawid Pluto, Icchak Preis, Estera Proszowska, Rabindorf, Szlama Rejzman, Izrael Rączka, Duczko Samborski, Frunia Siniarowska, Jechiele Sokołowski, Rachela Sonberg, Apolonia Sowińska, Mojżesz Sztunke, Fania Szumacher, Szumilewicz, Naftali Teitelbaum, Abram Weintraub, Wundeler, Zoberman and Zofia Zylberberg.

All were recent Holocaust Survivors.

On July 8, 1946 a Mass Funeral was held for the Victims.

After the Pogrom the Soviet Communist Government and the Polish Communist Government blamed the violence on the Anti-Communist Poles (especially those who had been trained in London during World War 2 to fight the Nazis.)

When no one in Poland or in the West believed this explanation the Soviet and Polish Communist Governments changed their story and had a Public Trial.

A total of 10 Trials were held regarding the Kielce Pogrom.

39 People were convicted (including Polish Civilians, Polish Police Officers, Soldiers of the Polish Army and Officers of the Polish Army.)

9 Polish Civilians were sentenced to death by Firing Squad.

The Polish Police Officers, Soldiers of the Polish Army and Officers of the Polish Army that were found guilty received light sentences.

The Kielce Pogrom happened 1 year and 2 months after World War 2 ended and Nazi Germany was defeated and so is not part of the Holocaust.

Due to these Pogroms and the Soviet Occupation of Poland 150,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children fled Poland for the West up until 1948.

People seem to think that Poland wasn’t Anti-Semitic (Anti-Jewish) until the Germans invaded in 1939,

Poland was part of the Pale of Settlement that Jews were required to live in by the Russian Czar from 1791 until 1917.

Russian Troops (along with Polish Civilians) regularly carried out Pogroms against the Jews during that time.

Things did not change when Poland became Independent in 1918.

The Polish Government created “Ghetto Benches” in 1935 that limited the number of Jews allowed into Polish Universities.

Jews that were allowed into the Universities had to carry a special ID Card stating they were part of the Ghetto Bench Quota and were to be segregated from Non-Jewish Students.

Traditional Polish Professions (Doctors, Lawyers, etc.) were also restricted to Non-Jews.

In 1938, the Polish Government revoked Polish Citizenship from tens-of-thousands Polish Jews who had lived outside the Country for an extended period of time.

When the Germans deported 17,000 Polish Jews from Nazi Germany to Poland in October 1938, the Polish Government refused to accept them and forced them to live in “No Man’s Land” between the borders.

It was only when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 that the Jews were “allowed” into Poland where most were murdered during the Holocaust.

In 1968 Poland’s Communist Government started an official Government Propaganda Campaign against the Jews.

Attacks against the 40,000 Officially-Registered Polish Jews began.

14,000 Polish Jews were allowed to leave Communist Poland at that time by giving up their Polish Citizenship and never being allowed back in Poland.

Once Communism ended in Poland in 1990 things began to improve for the few Jews left in Poland.

In 1990, the First Memorial to the Kielce Pogrom was erected in Kielce.

In 1998 60 year old Henryk Błaszczyk finally openly admitted that he was never kidnapped by anyone.