Warta, Poland


Warta is a town in Sieradz County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,303 inhabitants. It is situated on the Warta River.
Before World War II about 50 percent of the town's population was Jewish. When the Germans invaded, they immediately brutalized this population, kidnapping them for forced labor, robbing them of their possessions, and in early 1940, forcing them into a ghetto, leaving behind their furniture and other possessions for locals and Germans to take. In spring 1942, several Jews, including the rabbi, were hung, allegedly for sending bread to Jews who had been sent to forced labor camps. In August 1942, all Jews were rounded up and held in a church for three days with nothing to eat. Some died from hunger and thirst, others were shot there. Afterwards, around 1000 were sent to the Chelmno killing camp where they were immediately gassed. Another few hundred were sent to the Lodz ghetto. Perhaps more than 50 Warta Jews of the 2000 who lived there before the war survived. A few came back after the war, but two were killed by Polish nationalists after the war ended, and the others left the town.

Gallery