Zelechow, 1939

Zelechow, Poland
13 September 1939

The Nazis entered Zelechow on September 12, 1939. They immediately set fire to a number of buildings. The following day, the synagogue was torched and a member of the town council, Hayyim Palhendler, was trapped inside. (Pinkas Hakehillot) Godl Nachtajler recalls that the rest of the Jews were evacuated from the synagogue first:
"The Germans cast out everyone from the synagogue, leaving only one old Jew, in order to burn him later together with the synagogue."

Mendel Korcarz recalled that the fire took place on the second day of Rosh Hashana:
"On the second day of Rosh Hashana they set our big and beautiful synagogue on fire. A black smoke rose from the burning Torah scrolls straight to heaven. In the town of Zelechow there was darkness."
Once the synagogue was destroyed, the Jews had nowhere to pray on Yom Kippur. Again, Nachtajler recalls:
"On Yom Kippur they made minyanim in different houses and prayer quietly, wept quietly in their hearts for the Master of the Universe, for the great misfortune that has happened." 
 In 1942, the synagogue was the scene of another massacre, after young mothers were sent away. The one year old children were lined up against the eastern wall of the synagogue and shot. "The Germans later killed the not dead ones by hitting the little heads against the wall, grabbing them by their little legs."




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