Sławków

Sławków
Sławków

50°18' N, 19°24' E

1. Sławków is a precious and small Jewish community that is no more...
By Zila Catriel

The memorial by the bridge over the Przemsza River in the city is the only mention of the beginning of the end of the Jews in the city upon the arrival of the Germans in September 1939. I arrived in this lively Jewish town form Katowice, my home city, with my parents two weeks before the war broke out. We deliberated that if a war broke out we would be with our fellow Jews together rather than alone, and if it didn't break out it would be a summer vacation we were used to having every year until then. The Jews of Sławków lived mainly around the village square and its premises. Most of them made their living through commerce or hand crafts. Most employment was at the factory of the Shein Brothers, which was a nails' factory renown in Poland and outside of it. On 1 September 1939 the Germans broke through the Polish border and a massive population escape started towards the east and center of Poland, especially that of Jews.

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2.The Yad Vashem Encyclopedia of the Ghettos during the Holocaust

Sławków

Place before the war: A village in the Olkusz County, Kielce County, Poland
Place during the war: Upper Silesia
650 Jews lived in the village at the outbreak of the Second World War -about a 1/6 of its population. Many of the young people of the village emigrated from it prior to the war, mainly to South America. They made their living through small industry, especially the garment industry and a few factories like the local metal firm. They were assisted by the Joint and a charity fund. There were also branches of Zionist parties and kibbutz training. There was a branch of Agudat Yisrael and most children of the community studied in private Hedders.

To continue reading (in Hebrew), Click here for the Encyclopedia of the Ghettos in the Yad Vashem site

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