Gorlice Ghetto

When the Germans occupied Gorlice in southeast Poland September 7, 1939, about 4,500 – 5,000 Jews lived in the town. Immediately the Jews were subjected to spontaneous pogroms and anti-Semitic laws were introduced that drastically deteriorated the living conditions of the Jews. Jewish men were also forced into slave labor. Sporadic executions also occurred. As of December 1939, all Jews over ten years of age were forced to wear a armband with a visible star of David as an identification mark. In mid-October 1941 the germans set up a ghetto in the town where all Jews were forced to move. Only those with special work permits were allowed to leave the ghetto. Overcrowding, lack of supplies such as medicine and food contributed to miserable living conditions. In mid-August 1942, the germans began to liquidate the ghetto. Jews who were either unproductive or superfluous was murdered. About 700 Jews were shot in Garbacz north of Gorlice. About 200 Jews were shot at various locations in Gorlice. In September the remaining Jews were sent to Belzec extermination camp where they were murdered in the gas chambers. A few were exempt from deportation and sent to labor camps.