Remember Jewish Wysokie (near Zakrzew and Bychawa, Lublin)
Pronunciation: Vye-sock-ee Loo-belsk-ee
HISTORY OF JEWISH WYSOKIE
Wysokie is a town located 24 km. south of Lublin and has a current population of 600 people. It is not the same as either Wysokie Mazowieckie or Wysockie Litewski / Wysokie Litewski.
Jews have resided in Wysokie (Lublin) since at least 1536. In 1787 there were 255 people in Wysokie, including 63 Jews. In 1886, there were 5,841 citizens in town, including 352 Jews (6%). In 1921, Wysokie had 2,187 citizens, including 352 Jews (16%). The 1939 population of Jews was 350 to 550.
In 1930s Poland, there was an increase in anti-semitic incidents; in Wysokie, Jewish citizens faced an economic boycott. Some Poles with nationalist beliefs promoted "Don't buy from the Jews" slogans.
Wysokie had between 350 and 550 Jews in 1939. Jewish communities nearby included: Gielczew (unknown Jewish population), Nowy Dwor (20 Jews), Stara Wies (50 Jews), Studzianki (45 Jews), Zakrzew (50 Jews) and Zdzilowice (100 Jews). The Jews from these towns and villages were all murdered in the Holocaust.
STARA WIES AND ZDIZILOWICE
Between Zakrzew and Bychawa, directly south of the town of Bychawa, was Stara Wieś. This locale is north and east of Wysokie. According to The Lasting Memory Foundation and local resident Tadeusz Chrzanowski, the village of Stara Wieś was inhabited by 10 Jewish families before the Holocaust. In August of 1926, Berek Zylber and Szmul Diament were members of the voluntary fire brigade in Stara Wieś that was managed by Wojciech Mróz. Jewish residents remembered include Sana Zylbert (shoemaker) and family; Hersh Korn (shoemaker), wife and 4 children; Godel Zalc and family; Chemja (unknown surname) and family; the Rozenszer family, who moved to Żółkiewka. In September of 1940, around 50 Jews were relocated to Stara Wieś. Beginning in March of 1941, these Jews along with Jews native to the village were systematically murdered. In the fall of 1941, the remaining Jews in this location were marched to the Zolkiewka ghetto and were eventually murdered at Sobibor.
According to The Lasting Memory Foundation, approximately 100 Jews were living in Zdziłowice. They engaged in small-scale trades like tailoring, shoe repair, and commerce. Many of the Jewish residents owned small shops. The names of some of the Jewish families who resided in Zdziłowice before 1939 have been preserved: Ajnwajner, Aptekarz, Berman, Bilerman, Brikman, Fabrykant, Fleiszer, Friedman, Fuchs (Fuks), Goldhochman, Klajnkaufman, Obermeister, Waldman, Weber and Zilber. On September 7, 1942, German forces encircled Zdziłowice and herded the inhabitants onto a central square. They separated the Jews from the others, and shortly thereafter, marched them several hundred meters away and executed the Jewish residents by firing squad.
On the way to the square, Mala Weber shouted to her daughter, Fajga: "Run!" Sixteen-year-old Fajga managed to reach Kraśnik, where she went into hiding with a local family. Two months later, when the final phase of the deportation of Jews from Kraśnik to Bełżec began, Fajga Weber fled into the Knieja Forest near Batorz. From there, together with a group of Jews, she made her way eastward, where they joined the partisan resistance and survived until liberation. After the war, she emigrated to Israel. We wish to honor the Christian residents of the village of Zdziłowice, many of whom were helping to hide Jews prior to this incident in 1942. As a consequence for their anti-Nazi stance, 120 Poles were also loaded onto transports and deported to Majdanek, and later to the camp in Pustków, where 43 of them were murdered.
WYSOKIE DURING THE HOLOCAUST
Very little is known about Jews from Wysokie during the Holocaust. Before the Holocaust, anti-semitism was a consistent problem for Jews living in Wysokie. In March, 1941, 320 Jews from Lublin were deported to Wysokie.
In the spring of 1942, Nazis formed a forced labor camp in Wysokie. Soon after, around 200 Jews were transported there from Turobin and hundreds of Jews from surrounding towns were also sent to it.
In March 1942, local Jews were transported by the Nazis to Izbica; from there, they were sent to the extermination camp at Belzec. In April, 1942, 500 Jews from the Wysokie ghetto were dispatched to Turobin. From there, they were sent to their deaths at the Sobibor gas chambers. In mid-May 1942, 200 more Jews from Wysockie ghetto were dispatched to the Sobibor extermination camp.
In autumn of 1942 (either October or November), the camp in Wysokie was liquidated and all remaining Jews were sent to Izbica ghetto; from Izbica, they were sent to extermination camps (probably Belzec, though possibly Sobibor). In all, 500 Jews from Wysokie and 250 or more from nearby locales were murdered via the Wysokie ghetto. This final deportation marked the end of Jewish community in Wysokie.
NO TRACES OF JEWISH LIFE EXIST
The former Jewish cemetery in Wysokie was located near Czysta Street, southwest of the town square. It is currently used as a pasture and is unmarked, without any grave markers or memorials. The precise location of the Jewish cemetery is not evident.
The Wysokie synagogue was also destroyed and no material traces of it, including where it was located, remain.
Please review the site content below. Zachor - We Remember.
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Join theWysokie group on Facebook!
Town of Wysokie:
- Bychawa Yizkor Book (Translation)
Genealogy:
- Jewish Records Indexing Poland - Bychawa
- Jewish Vital Records in the Polish State Archives
Remember Your Family:
- Central Judaica Database - Museum of History of Polish Jews
- Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors on Facebook
- Guide to the YIVO Archives
- Holocaust News/Events from Generations of the Shoah Int'l
- Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database
- JewishGen Family Finder
- JewishGen Holocaust Database
- JRI-Poland: Search for Your Family
- Museum of History of Polish Jews Introduction
- Yad Vashem: Search for Your Family
- Yad Vashem: Submit Names of Your Family Members
- Yad Vashem Requests Photos of Shoah Survivors and Families
CONTACTS
U.S.: LublinJewish@gmail.com
