1 August 1943 | Liquidation of the Będzin Ghetto

Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, Occupied Poland

On 1 August 1943, the final blow fell on the Będzin Ghetto.

Once home to a vibrant Jewish community — with synagogues, schools, and businesses — Będzin had become, under Nazi occupation, a place of misery, hunger, and fear. The ghetto was established in 1942, and by the summer of 1943, the last remaining Jews were crammed into overcrowded quarters, already knowing what had happened in other towns before them.

That morning, German SS units, assisted by Ukrainian auxiliaries, began the liquidation of the ghetto. Houses were stormed, people dragged from cellars and attics, children torn from hiding places. The Jews of Będzin — around 10,000 men, women, and children — were forced into cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Upon arrival:

997 men and 1,140 women were selected for forced labor and registered as prisoners.

The remaining thousands — mostly children, the elderly, mothers with babies — were sent directly to the gas chambers.

It was one of the last major deportations from Poland’s ghettos and marked the near-complete destruction of Jewish life in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie.

In Memory of the Jews of Będzin

Deported: 1 August 1943

To: Auschwitz-Birkenau

Selected for labor: 997 men and 1,140 women

Murdered upon arrival: Thousands — children, elders, and families together

Their names were not recorded. Their voices were silenced. But they were not forgotten.