Judenrat of Sanok
World War II Correspondence
Courtesy of Dr. Abraham Werner / Translated by William
Leibner
(Dr. Werner is the son of the author of the
letters below & received permission from the Polish Jewish Historical
Archives to publish these documents.)
The top document is written by the Judenrat of Sanok to Dr.Hilfstein in Krakow
(the latter was connected with the office of the J.S.S. that helped Jewish communities
throughout occupied Poland)
The letter is dated February 7th 1941.
This letter informs Dr. Hilfstein that there is a lack of Yiddish and Hebrew
educational materials for the organized school system. The letter furthermore
inquires as to who might be able to help the Sanok ghetto school acquire
Yiddish and Hebrew teaching materials for the first and second grade.
We will appreciate receiving an address where we can send our educational
request and get the necessary assistance for Jewish educational matter.
Impatiently awaiting your reply, yours. (Signed) Werner.
(The letter is a remarkable document of how some
Judenrats worked and worried for
their population. In spite of the hunger and
misery, they did not forget education.)
The second letter (image above) is the reply dated February 19th 1941 from
Krakow. The letter informs
the Judenrat of Sanok that they received the letter dated February 7th 1941 and have taken
the appropriate measures in this matter. The letter urges the Sanok office to contact Mr. Neuman
in Krakow near Kordecki St. between 8AM. And 2PM. Furthermore, we urge you to deal directly
with the named party.
(We do not know whether Sanok ever received the
materials, but to worry about education
during these days is indeed a remarkable deed and
deserves high praise.)
_________________________________________
Head
of the Judenrat
District of Sanok Sanok, 30th June
1940
Joint
Distribution Committee
District
office
Krakow
Dietlowska St. 85
We are not begging for the sake of asking for help, we are desperate due to our increased expenses that played havoc with our budget. We are providing free lunches to the indigenous Jews of the ghetto and also assist them financially on occasion but lately we also forced to provide 40 Jewish workers with meals or they will face starvation. These workers are forced laborers that the Germans requisitioned to perform heavy duty work in Bziance near Rymanow, Galicia. The work is extremely difficult and without supplementary food they will starve to death.
We are appealing to your office to increase our allocation so that we can continue to function and provide the vital service. We live with hope that you will not abandon us. You of course understand our situation and we hope that our allotment will be increased.
Attached is a signed financial
statement for the month of May 1940.
Fraternal greetings
Stamped
and signed by Werner
_________________________________________
The
Sanok Judenrat office sent the above letter of appeal dated July 29th 1940 to
the
Joint
Distribution Committee in Krakow ( The
USA was still not at war and therefore
the
Joint Distribution Committee continued to work).
I submitted all the accounts for the month of
June and in addition beg you to help us
due to the severe situation that developed in
our township.
We
have a public kitchen that provides free meals for the elderly . We also have many
refugees from Krakow that we must help.
Furthermore,
we must provide about 100 meals for people who the Germans grabbed for
forced
labor and do not feed properly.
All
these expenses are carried out by a city which consists of 75% new refugees. ญญ
Our
treasury is empty.
We
urge you to help us as soon as feasible. We hope that our appeal will not be
ignored.
(Signed)
Werner