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Irving Shapiro Notes (The 2 tragic dates)

 

The 2 tragic dates.

Whe I write this Mezritch looks to me is far away in my memory as a huge slother house and the blood from our dear onen got mixed up with the water from the river which run through the center of town. Mezriteh was designated as a gattering place of Jews from neighboring towns and they name that juden stadt. Jews town.

The reason for the concentration was to be "easier to take care of them in greater numbers."

The first date thatn comes to mine in August 25 witch happens to be my oldest daughters birthday1 1942 when they which happens to be the day of the first big action. My mother also was among the 10,000 Jews sitting at the market place awaiting the deportation to The dead camp Tremblinka2 .

 

It was a pity to see most of the people dragging with them their possesion in hope they may need them where they are going - to be resettled to an other town. Over 10,000 Jews were send to Tremblinka taking with them their possesion and their children. Not all were so lucky as tho take the kids with them the gestapo was wondering around shooting [deleted]the young ones or terring them apart in their mothers arms. The same day thousand were shot at the market place thank to the jewish police and the jewish council. Lots of Jews were locked in the big synagoge. The police use to come in and take out those who could pay off and exchange them with the ones that could not.

 

The people were kept there for days without food or water. A lots of them [deleted] tryed to jump out the windows to the hands of german guard and were shot instantly. Most of the gard were Ukrainien helpin the gestapo. But at the end they paid with their lives for what they have done.

The other sad date was the 18th of July 1943 3 when the rest of the Jews lef in the ghetto were taken out. the older ones, woomen and children were shot and the rest taken to concentration camp. at that . time Mezritch was declared Juden frey -(Free of Jews.)

 

Annotations

1. Tatiana Shapiro, Clara and Irving Shapiro's eldest daughter was born in a displaced perons camp in Neustadt, Germany August 25, 1946. Her story can be found at Tatina Shapiro's Story [back]
2. Historian Christopher R. Browning also references August of 1942 as the time period when a minimum 10,000 Jews were deported from Miedzyrzec to Treblinka. Browning, C. R. Ordinary men : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993. [back]
3. On July 17, 1943 the last of 200 Jews in Miedzyrzec were either shot by the Security Police or escaped the ghetto. This was considered the seventh and final action in Miedzyrzec. Browning, C. R. Ordinary men : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993. [back]