Messages on the Wall of the Kowel Synagogue, 1942

Kowel, Ukraine
1942

An article about the Jews of Kowel on the Yad Vashem website states that:

"During the months of August and September 1942, thousands of Jews were herded into the synagogue in the town of Kowel, Poland, where they were imprisoned until their execution. In their fear and desperation, many of them wrote on the walls of the synagogue using whatever they could - unsharpened pencils, pens and even their own fingernails." The article then lists several examples:

"Reuven Atlas, know that your wife Gina and your son Imush perished here. Our child wept bitterly. He did not want to die. Go to war and avenge the blood of your wife and your only son. We are dying although we did no wrong. - Gina Atlas"

"You who come after us - Remember! The innocent blood of our young people will be spilled here in an hour's time. Blood clean as the waters of the Kinneret. We demand vengeance! Cruel vengeance! - Yehuda Schechter."

The Jews imprisoned in the synagogue had been caught by the Nazis while trying to escape the town. Most of the town's Jews were shot near Bakohv. This group, however, was kept in the synagogue without food or water. It is unclear how many died in the synagogue and how many were executed outside.




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