The History of the Piotrków Trybunalski Jewish Community

In 1939, the Jewish population of Piotrków Trybunalski, the capital of the county of Piotrków in the province of Łódź, numbered some 10,000 Jews – approximately one fifth of the total population of the city. The Jewish community was characterized by dynamic political activity and a vibrant religious and cultural life.

In October 1939, almost a month after the German occupation, a ghetto was established in Piotrków Trybunalski; this was the first ghetto created by the Nazis in Poland. In October 1942 most of the Jews of the ghetto, among them many refugees from outside the city, were deported to Treblinka and murdered. Some two thousand Jews who worked in factories near the ghetto were withheld from this deportation, only to be murdered later on. A few hundred Jews were sent as forced laborers to Germany, where they were put to work in concentration camps and factories.

Piotrków was liberated by the Red Army in January 1945.

Today, the city has no Jewish community.

The Jewish Community in Piotrków Trybunalski until the 20th Century

Piotrków Trybunalski, an administrative capital in the province of Łódź, was most likely established in the 13th century. The Jewish community in the city was founded later, and can be dated back to the 16th century.

A street in Piotrków Trybunalski before the Holocaust

The Jewish Community of Piotrków Trybunalski before the Holocaust

In December 1915, during World War I, Piotrków Trybunalski was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Army, and the city’s economy was badly damaged as a result. After the war, the city was included within the territory of the Second Polish Republic.

The German Occupation and the Establishment of the Ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski

On 5 September 1939 the Germans occupied Piotrków Trybunalski. At that time there were 10,000 Jews living in the city. During the first two days of the occupation, the Germans murdered dozens of the city’s Jews, who had been placed under curfew and allowed to walk in the streets for only two hours a day. Sale of food to Jews was forbidden, even by Jewish-owned businesses, and the restriction was enforced by German soldiers who were assisted by Polish informers. The theft of Jewish-owned property also began with the occupation, and was aided by Polish informers and the local...

Seven children from the Piotrków Trybunalski ghetto

The Ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski

In October 1939, the Germans announced the creation of a ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski, and by January 1940 all the Jews of the city had moved into the ghetto area. It may be that the reason for establishing a ghetto at such an early date was that the city had been heavily damaged by bombing, and the Germans wanted to make room for Polish refugees in the city, as well as for Jews who had been expelled from of former Polish territories that had been annexed by the Reich. In addition, it is clear that local German residents of the city (“Volksdeutsche”) wanted to take over whatever...

The postwar burial of Holocaust victims from Piotrków Trybunalski who were murdered in Rakow.

Deportations from the Ghetto and the Destruction of the Jewish Community in Piotrków Trybunalski

In the second half of 1941 the ghetto was more stringently isolated and the persecution of the Jews escalated. In July of 1941 several Judenrat members were arrested, including the chairman, Zalman Tannenberg, together with a number of the ghetto’s administrative staff and members of the Bund. In September some of them were deported from Piotrków Trybunalski and apparently murdered following the discovery of their underground activities. Following these murders a second Judenrat was appointed, with Dr. Shimon Warschawski appointed as its head.

The History of the Piotrków Trybunalski Jewish Community

The Jewish Community in Piotrków Trybunalski until the 20th Century

The Jewish Community of Piotrków Trybunalski before the Holocaust

The German Occupation and the Establishment of the Ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski

The Ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski

Deportations from the Ghetto and the Destruction of the Jewish Community in Piotrków Trybunalski

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