Czestochowa, Poland is located about 124 miles southwest of
Warsaw.Warsaw.The Germans invaded Poland September 1, 1939, and entered Czestochowa two days later. Persecution of its 28,500 Jews began immediately.
A
ghetto was established on April 9, 1941, and sealed off on August 23, 1941. Jews from other cities such as
Lodz,Lodz, Plock, and
Krakow,Krakow, were sent to the Czestochowa
ghetto,ghetto, which eventually held more than 48,000 Jews.
In January, 1943, the Zydowska Organizacja Bojoma (Jewish Fighting Organization) offered armed resistance to a German
Aktion. Out of 300 participants, 251 were killed and the remainder were deported to Radomsko and then to
Treblinka.Treblinka. In retaliation, 127 Jewish intelligentsia and 250 children and elderly people were murdered by the Germans.
When the Soviet army liberated Czestochowa, only 5,000 Jews were left in the area.
Source:Leichter, Sinai. "Czestochowa."
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Ed. Israel Gutman. 4 vols. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1990.