"On Auschwitz" (26): Deportations of Poles from the Zamość region to Auschwitz

After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. Heinrich
Himmler gave the order to create a "German settlement area"
around the occupied Polish town of Zamość. The population of that
region was to be expelled and replaced by German settlers.


The area was chosen for its agricultural character. It consisted
of five towns and 696 villages.


The displaced population was sent to transit camps, where they
were subjected to racial screening. Those who, according to
German criteria, were not "racially valuable" were planned to be
deported to concentration camps.


A total 1,301 people, including at least 162 children were
deported to Auschwitz in three transports


Dr Wanda Witek-Malicka of the Auschwitz Memorial Research Centre
talks about the ethnic cleansing carried out by the Germans in
the Zamość region and the fate of the inhabitants of this region
deported to Auschwitz.


—


In the picture: a family photo of Jan and Aniela Malec (Jan - the
younger man sitting in the middle). Their children were taken
away from them in the Zamość camp. Jan and Aniela were deported
to Auschwitz, where they both died in a short time (Jan in March
and Aniela in April 1943), orphaning four daughters aged 4-13.
The girls were deported from the Zamość camp to Siedlce, where
they survived the war.

See also our online lesson about this topic:
https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/dep_zam_PL/