PRUZHANY YZKOR BOOK
1983
GERMAN DOCUMENTATION ON THE LIQUIDATION
OF THE PRUZANA GHETTO IN AUSCHWITZ
Collected by A. Harshalom (Friedberg) from three sources:
A. Auschwitz copybooks published by Polish State
Museum in Auschwitz.
B. Investigation file of Gestapo and SS leaders who
were active in Pruzhany Ghetto.
C. Verdict of trial held in Germany of Nazi crimes who were active in
East Prussia Pruzany Ghetto was annexed to this district).
The trial took place in the district court of Bielefeld and the verdict
was handed down on April 14, 1967. The chief judge was Dr. Witte, the other judges Hoppe and Dr. Gaebert and a jury. The accused in the trial were
Dr. Altenloch, and Messrs Heimbach, Errelis and
Dibus.
According to the facts, there were 9,161 Jews
sent to Auschwitz in four transports from Lineve railway station, or
Oranczyce in Polish. Every train consisted of 30
freight wagons, which left on January 29-31, 1943 and February 1, 1943. The first transport arrived at Auschwitz on January
30, 1943, the second and third on January 31 and the fourth on February 2,
1943. The transports were organized by SS
Kriminalober Assistant Wilhelm and SS Rottenfurer
Muth, who was not charged but appeared as a witness in the trial. Wilhelm was also not accused in the trial and
maybe had not yet been found.
The first transport of
Pruzana Jews arrived at Auschwitz on January 30, 1943 and entered the camp: 327 men received the numbers 97825-98151; 275 women, numbers 32604, 32884-33157.
The second transport of
Pruzana Jews arrived at Auschwitz on January 31: 249 men received the numbers 98516-98764; 32 women, numbers 33326- 33357.
The third transport of Pruzana Jews arrived on January 31, 1943: 313 men received the numbers
98778-99087, 99110-99112; 180 women received the numbers 33358-33537.
The fourth transport arrived on February 2, 1943: 294 men received the numbers 99211-99504;
105 women, numbers 33928-34032. The total: 1,183 men and 592 women.
The details about the evacuation of the Pruzana ghetto were assembled
from the minutes of the trial held in Germany in
the years 1964 and 1967 when SS leaders in charge of the
area of Poland annexed to East Prussia were tried. Pruzana was a district in the Bialystock region.
Bialystock region was annexed to the civilian administration of East Prussia. The Oberpresident
and Gauleiter of East Prussia Koch was also appointed commander
of the Bialystock region and was directly subordinate to Hitler. These arrangements went into force on August 15, 1941.
Koch appointed Magunia, the president of the
East Prussian Artisans Bureau as his
deputy and as civilian commissar of the
Bialystock region. On February 2,
1941, Magunia was appointed as chief commissar of the Kiev region. He appointed Dr. Brikx, the acting Landrat
of Tilsit, as his replacement until the area
was cleared of Jews in the summer of 1944.
This civil administration set up on August 1, 1941 was identical to the
civil administration in the districts of E.
Prussia. The Bialystock region was divided into the Lomza,
Bielsk, Wolkowysk, Grodno, Grajewo, Sokolka, Bialystock town and Bialystock-area. At first, there was also a Pruzana district, but it was later linked with
Bielsk. Every district had a commissar, who was Nickolaus in Pruzana (August 1-October 31, 1941). After that, the town
was annexed to the Bielsk district.
The Pruzana Jews arrived at Auschwitz:
|
30/1/43 |
- 327 |
men |
275 |
Women |
|
31/1/43 |
- 249 |
|
32 |
Women |
|
2/2/43 |
- 313 |
|
180 |
Women |
|
31/1/43 |
- 294 |
|
105 |
Women |
|
Total |
1183 |
|
592 |
|