Skalat, 1942

Skalat
1942

At the end of August, 1942, the Nazis began deporting the Jews of Skalat. They began with the weakest segments of the population - orphans and the elderly. 600 Jews were brought to the local synagogue, where they were kept overnight. During this time, some of them were killed. The next morning, when it was time to transport the Jews to the extermination camp in Belzec, the dead bodies were thrown onto the truck along with the living. (Virtual Shtetl)
Testimony from that evening corroborates this. A woman, Mrs. Weissbrod, who had taken the place of her elderly mother in the synagogue reported that "The shul was crowded, suffocating. Screams! Sobs! The old people sigh, cough, clamor and faint. All that time in the heat without even a drop of water. A few of the aged and sick, lacking stamina, had already died." She continues that when the Nazis arrived to load the victims onto trucks, "When all the victims had been loaded aboard the trucks, one of the militiamen asked what should be done with the corpses that had been left in the shul. 'Pack them in with the rest of them' came the reply." (Skalat Yizkor Book)

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