December During the Holocaust

1939

On Christmas Eve, 1939 the Germans set the synagogue in Siedice, Poland aflame.  As well as the synagogue, they burned the Torah, an adjoining Jewish study house, and Jewish community offices.  After the fire, the Germans had the Polish police prepare a report blaming the Jewish community for the fire.  Of the 12,000 Jews in Siedice, only 2000 survived the war, with the remainder being shot by the Germans or their Ukrainian counterparts.

1941

Jews were deported from Muenster, Germany to the Riga Ghetto, Latvia.  From a population of nearly 550, emigration had cut the Jewish population to 100 by 1941.  It is believed that only 24 Muenster Jews survived the concentration camps.

Latvia policemen arrested all the Jews of Liepaia, Latvia and took them to jail.  Those with work permits were released.  The others were taken north of Leipaia to Skede and the dunes overlooking the Baltic Sea.  Stripped first to their underwear and then completely naked, they were shot by Latvian SD guard and Germans under the command of SS leader Fritz Dietrich.  From December 15-17 some 2800 Jews were shot, the majority being women and/or children.

1943

Westerbork, Netherlands housed a transit camp that saw some 100,000 Jews pass through it to be sent for extermination or concentration camps.  There was a core of Jews considered “regulars,” who performed various jobs.  Part of this group included a youth movement that attempted to carry on various Jewish activities, and in December of 1941 that included a Hanukkah Celebration.

1945

As part of the Beriha, a quarter of a million Jews were placed in Displaced Persons (DP) camps in Germany, Austria and Italy.  Many of these individuals were instrumental in the War of Independence in Israel in 1948.  One of the major DP camps was Bergen-Beisen, a former concentration camp.  In existence from 1945-51, the camp created a lively social, cultural and political environment.

1947

December of 1947 found the opening of the Jewish National Fund’s Bazaar in Poking Pine City Displaced Person Camp in the Bamberg District of Germany.  At its height it housed over 7500 Jewish survivors and featured theatres and sports clubs.