The “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre in Lublin is a local government cultural institution. It works towards the preservation of cultural heritage and education. Its function is tied to the symbolic and historical meaning of the Centre’s location in the Grodzka Gate, which used to divide Lublin into its respective Christian and Jewish quarters, as well as to Lublin as a meeting place of cultures, traditions and religions.

Part of the Centre are the House of Words and the Lublin Underground Trail.

The “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre in Lublin is a local government cultural institution. It works towards the preservation of cultural heritage and education. Its function is tied to the symbolic and historical meaning of the Centre’s location in the Grodzka Gate, which used to divide Lublin into its respective Christian and Jewish quarters, as well as to Lublin as a meeting place of cultures, traditions and religions.

Part of the Centre are the House of Words and the Lublin Underground Trail.

The Umschlagplatz of Lublin

The Umschlagplatz of Lublin

The Lublin Umschlagplatz (formerly also known as the Lublin Death Square) is a name given to the site from which human transports with Lublin Jews were sent by the German Security Police to the death camp in Bełżec in March and April 1942.

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The liquidation of the ghetto in Majdan Tatarski

The liquidation of the ghetto in Majdan Tatarski

At the beginning of November 1942, the officers of the German Security Service (SD) and Security Police (SiPo) in Lublin commenced with the general liquidation of the residual ghetto in the suburban district of Majdan Tatarski. In the course of the operation all the various members of the Judenrat were murdered, including its chairman, Marek Alten. The Jewish informer, Szama Grajer, as well as the commandant of the Jewish police forces, Mendel (Moniek) Goldfarb, were also executed. The remaining Jews were taken to KL Lublin (Majdanek Concentration Camp) where they all perished in the gas chambers. The Nazis continued to plunder and destroy the remainder of the liquidated ghetto for several weeks.

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The Ghetto in Majdan Tatarski

The Ghetto in Majdan Tatarski

The Lublin residual ghetto was established in the second half of April 1942 in the working-class district of Majdan Tatarski situated on the south-eastern outskirts of the city. Several thousand Jews, who thanks to their “privileged” status survived the liquidation of the ghetto in Podzamcze, were transferred to this relatively small area. The new Jewish housing zone was called the “Musterghetto” (“master ghetto”) by the German authorities. However, overpopulation and living conditions here were dramatic. The annihilation of the district was carried out in stages, marked by successive selections. The final liquidation of the ghetto took place at the beginning of November 1942 when 200 people were murdered on its premises and those who remained alive were sent to the camp at Majdanek (KL Lublin).

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The Ghetto in Podzamcze – boundaries and area

The Ghetto in Podzamcze – boundaries and area

The first months of 1941 brought a tightening of German policy regarding Jews in the whole General Government territory. The advancing process of ghettoization in that period had claimed many towns and cities, among them Kraków, Radom, Częstochowa and Kielce. It was a period when the city of Lublin also witnessed the creation of its own ghetto. The small number of Jews who could reside outside its boundaries were those in possession of special permits or dispatched to working places. The privileged few included city hall and the Judenrat clerks, doctors, as well as chosen craftsmen who did specific jobs commissioned by the Germans. In the months to come, the living conditions of the majority of Jewish citizens deteriorated significantly, leading to the outbreak of typhoid fever and resulting in an increased death toll. Many of the ghetto inhabitants lived on the verge of utter desitution while the Judenrat, facing constantly diminishing money and food supplies, could not help prevent the intensifying pauperization. Despite the dramatically severe conditions, the Lublin Jews were not left dying in the streets, as was the case in the Warsaw ghetto. The situation had not improved, however, until the beginning of 1942, when the ghetto was divided.

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The Ghetto in Podzamcze – the displacement action

The Ghetto in Podzamcze – the displacement action

On the 16th of March 1942 the German security forces commenced with the liquidation of the ghetto in the Podzamcze District of Lublin, simultaneously undertaking a programme of genocide which, in the months to come, was designed to embrace the entire General Government (GG) and was aimed at nothing less than the biological extermination of the Jewish population, coupled with the plunder of Jewish property. It was part of “the Final Solution to the Jewish Question” formulated by the Third Reich.

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Work Camp for Jews at 7 Lipowa Street in Lublin

The work camp at 7 Lipowa Street was established at the beginning of December 1939 on the initiative of the SS and Police Commander for the Lublin District, Odilo Globocnik. The Lipowa work camp had the longest history in the entire Lublin area. At first, only civil workers were employed on its premises; however, from the turn of 1940/1941 Polish Army soldiers of Jewish descent were forced to work there. During “Aktion Erntefest” (“Harvest Festival”) carried out on the 3rd of November 1943 all of the Jewish prisoners held at KL Lublin (Majdanek Concentration Camp) were murdered. In January 1944 the camp became a new branch of KL Lublin, employing several hundred non-Jewish prisoners. It functioned until July 1944.

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The Orphanage at 11 Grodzka Street

The Orphanage at 11 Grodzka Street

The Nursery for Orphans and the Elderly was established in 1862 by the Jewish Community with the purpose of caring for orphans in need and elderly people. It was situated in the Old Town at 11 Grodzka Street. The institution operated under this address until 24 March 1942, when German forces brought it to a close with the mass murder of both child and elderly residents.

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Majdanek – German concentration camp in Lublin

Majdanek – German concentration camp in Lublin

Creation of the Majdanek camp was connected to the plans of germanization of eastern Europe. According to them Majdanek was supposed to be a source of workforce. It was designed for people of various nationalities but the most numerous group of inmates were Jews. Majdanek camp was very different from the camps in Bełżec and Sobibór.

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The Flugplatz labour camp

The Flugplatz labour camp

The work camp established in the area of the pre-war Lublin airport, under the corresponding name of Flugplatz, was one of the biggest work camps in the Lublin District. It operated between 1942 and 1943. Prisoners held there included mainly Jewish women and men from various countries, as well as a group of Polish women. During Operation Reinhard it served the function of a selection square for the arriving human transports. It was also used for sorting and storing goods taken from Jews in the death camps of Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka.

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Operation „Reinhard” in Lublin

Operation „Reinhard” in Lublin

Operation "Reinhard" was one of the most horrifying events in the history of mankind. There was no single institution which would plan and control the action. The whole Nazi administration was involved in the process. Its each element was necessary for the operation. Good workflow organization allowed the Nazis to eliminate 2 million Jews in 1.5 year. They were murdered in "death factories" in a large-scale, "industrial" process. During Operation "Reinhard", no less than 700 thousand Jews were killed.

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Chewra Nosim Synagogue on 10, Lubartowska Street in Lublin

Chewra Nosim Synagogue on 10, Lubartowska Street in Lublin

The only preserved pre-war synagogue in Lublin is the Chewra Nosim synagogue. It is located in the 19th century apartment house no. 10 on Lubartowska Street. In 1987 Symcha Wajs’ initiative led to Izba Pamięci Żydów Lubelskich (Hall of Remembrance of the Lublin Jews) being established here. Nowadays, it is home to the Lublin branch of Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne Żydów w Polsce (TSKŻ - Social and Cultural Fellowship of Jews in Poland).

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Yeshiva (Rabbinical Academy) in Lublin

Yeshiva (Rabbinical Academy) in Lublin

Yeshiva - Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva (Jeszywas Chachmej Lublin) was a Talmudical (Rabbinical) Academy. The building of yeshiva was designed by Agenor Smoluchowski in 1924. It was adapted to fulfill the role of yeshiva in 1928.

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Former Jewish hospital on 83, Lubartowska St. in Lublin

Former Jewish hospital on 83, Lubartowska St. in Lublin

Construction of the Jewish hospital was financed by local Jewish Community. Building was designed by Marian Jarzyński. Hospital began to function in 1886. Initially, 56 patients were treated here. In 1930s, three dwelling houses, a stable, a mortuary and a basement also belonged to the hospital.

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Architecture of the former Jewish quarter in Lublin

Architecture of the former Jewish quarter in Lublin

Hardly any remnants of the Jewish quarter, once situated around the castle, have been preserved. Beginnings of Jewish settlement in Lublin date back to the 15th century. The first buildings were constructed in the closest vicinity of the castle hill. Those were low wooden buildings. Gradual sprawling of the Podzamcze district, frequent fires and damage caused by wars and raids prompted intense construction activity in that area.

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Maharshal synagogue in Lublin (defunct)

Maharshal synagogue in Lublin (defunct)

The Maharshal synagogue, also called The Great Synagogue, was pride and glory of the Jews of Lublin. Its construction had begun in 1567. Located at the foot of the castle hill, it was the biggest Jewish building in Lublin. Nowadays, Tysiąclecia Avenue runs along the site.

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March ‘68 – memories of Lublin emigrants

March ‘68 – memories of Lublin emigrants

On the eve of the March 1968 anti-Semitic campaign, there were about 450 people of Jewish origin living in Lublin and the Lublin region. Around 120 of them left the region in the years 1968-1972.

How did people of Jewish origin who lived in Lublin at that time perceive the events referred to as 'March ‘68'? How did their farewell to their forefathers’ country look? What are their memories of that life-changing experience years later? What do they think about the decision made 45 years ago?

This text is an attempt to answer these and a number of other questions. The similarity of experiences makes many memories combine into a multifaceted collective story of the events that took place many years ago. The accounts quoted in this text come from the Archive of the Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre Centre’s Oral History Programme.

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Jewish life in Lublin after 1944

Jewish life in Lublin after 1944

After the liberation in July 1944 Jewish social life in Lublin was gradually reviving, which resulted mostly from the activity of Jewish Committee, that was trying to bring the Jewish life back to the city.

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