Rosh Hashana in Frysztak, 1939

Frysztak, Poland
Rosh Hashana, 1939

Frysztak was occupied by German troops on 8 September, 1939. A week later, on the second day of Rosh Hashana, the Germans surrounded the synagogue, killed some of the worshipers, and burned the Torahs. (Kehilalinks, Virtual Shtetl) "They burst into the worship places and killed a few congregants, set on fire the holy books and took with them four or five Jews." (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities)

Leon Gersten, who grew up in Frysztak, recalls the event:

"We all laid down on the floor and started praying Shema Yisrael. After killing a few Jews, they let us out - that was our first introduction to the Germans." (matzav.com)

Although none of the sources I have seen mention the names of the victims, I did discover one on the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names: Leibush Arie Pantzer, who was 16 at the time. His parents were Mordechai Pantzer and Chana Klotz. On the witness sheet his brother submitted, it says that "the Germans open-fired on the worshipers in the synagogue on Rosh Hashana."

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