Szadek is a town in
Zduńska Wola County
__NOTOC__
Zduńska Wola County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998 ...
,
Łódź Voivodeship
Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced .
Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, with 1,898 inhabitants (2020).
It is located in the
Sieradz Land
Sieradz Land (; Latin: ''Terra Siradiae'') is a historical region in central Poland, a part of Łęczyca-Sieradz Land ().
Its traditional capital is Sieradz, while other bigger cities are Piotrków Trybunalski (another historically important ...
.
History
The oldest known mention of the town comes from 1295, when it was part of fragmented
Piast
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great.
Branches of ...
-ruled
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. It was a county seat and
royal town of the Polish Crown, administratively located in the
Sieradz Voivodeship in the
Greater Poland Province.
In 1921, there were 535
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
out of the total 3,058 residents in Szadek. At that time, the Jewish population was concentrated mostly along Sieradzka Street, where they constituted almost 90% of inhabitants.
During the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, which started
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in September 1939, the town was captured by German forces. Under the
German occupation, Jews were robbed and subject to
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
without pay, some working in the community, others sent to labor camps, and
Poles
Pole or poles may refer to:
People
*Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland
* Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist
...
were subjected to
expulsions and deportations to forced labour. In 1940, the Germans expelled 102 Poles, who were then detained in a transit camp in
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
and either deported to forced labour in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
or deported in freight trains to the
General Government
The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland, while their homes were handed over to
German colonists as part of the ''
Lebensraum
(, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
'' policy. Also in 1940, five Poles from Szadek were murdered by the Soviets in the large
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...
.
In 1940, the 410 Jews remaining in the town were given three hours notice that they were to move to a
ghetto
A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
where they lived in poverty and with terrible hygienic conditions. On 14 August 1942, all of Szadek's Jewish community were deported to the
Chełmno extermination camp
Chełmno, or Kulmhof, was the first of Nazi Germany's extermination camps and was situated north of Łódź, near the village of Chełmno nad Nerem. Following the invasion of Poland in 1939, Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, Germany annexed ...
where they were immediately gassed.
There were fewer than twenty survivors from the Szadek Jewish committee. One Polish woman hid a Jewish woman, saving her life, and after the war was honored by Yad Vashem as
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...
. German occupation ended in 1945 and the town was restored to Poland.
References
External links
Official town website
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Łódź Voivodeship
Zduńska Wola County
Holocaust locations in Poland