Six photographs of Jews in the Tarnów Ghetto during the Holocaust. [Tarnów, ca. 1941].
The photographs depict the streets of the ghetto, Jews wearing armbands and shops marked with Stars of David. A handwritten German caption on verso of four of the photographs reads: "Mai 41, Tarnov, Judenviertel" [May 1941, Tarnów, the Jewish Quarter]. The two remaining photographs are also captioned in handwriting, on verso.
Before World War II, about 25,000 Jews lived in Tarnów (comprising approx. half of the town's total population). With the outbreak of the war in September 1939 thousands of Jewish refugees from Western Poland arrived in the city, but it was only a matter of days before it was occupied by the Germans. From the first day of the occupation, the Germans began persecuting the Jews, confiscating their property and drafting them for forced labor. They also burned down most of the town's synagogues. In the following years, the persecution of the Jews increased and in March 1941, the establishment of the ghetto was announced. Three months later, in June, Jews from all around the area were transported to the ghetto; their number reached approx. 40,000 people.
On September 3, 1943, the ghetto was surrounded and its final extermination began. Approx. 7000 Jews were sent to their death in Auschwitz and 3000 were sent to the Płaszów forced labor camp. In late 1943, the city was announced "Judenrein" (free of Jews).
6 photographs, approx. 8.5X6.5 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes.