Questionnaire
on camps
Township: the town of Chmielnik
Commune: Chmielnik
District: Stopnica
Voivodeship: Kielce
1. Name of the camp:
Jewish ghetto in Chmielnik.
2. Location of the camp:
The town of Chmielnik.
3. Size of the camp:
The whole town of Chmielnik, with the exception of the streets adjacent to the fields.
4. Date of establishment of the camp:
The first half of 1941.
5. Date of closure of the camp:
March 1943.
6. Were the prisoners only Poles, only Jews from Poland, or Poles and Jews from Poland?
There were only Jews from Chmielnik and other Polish towns in the camp.
7. Were there any foreigners in the camp? If ‘yes’, then provide their nationality and number (were they Jews from abroad?).
There were no foreigners.
8. Provide the average number of prisoners in the camp.
In October 1942, there were approximately 13,000 people in the camp, i.e. the ghetto.
9. How many prisoners passed through the camp throughout its period of existence?
Approximately 13,250 people.
10. What happened with the prisoners upon liquidation of the camp?
From 6 October 1942 to March 1943 all people were deported in an unknown direction; some were killed.
11. Did the prisoners work in the camp? (types of work performed, types of workshops)
The prisoners performed various jobs both in and outside the camp; they toiled mostly at roadworks. There weren’t any workshops.
12. Did the prisoners work outside the camp? If ‘yes’, then what types of work did they perform and where?
The prisoners did roadworks outside the camp.
13. How were the prisoners fed?
The entire Jewish populace had to rely on their own means. The Germans didn’t provide any food.
14. Was there an infirmary or a hospital in the camp?
Yes.
15. Where there any epidemics in the camp? If ‘yes’, then what kind?
Typhoid fever.
16. Are there any data pertaining to the death rate in the camp?
There are no data.
17. Were executions held at or outside the camp? How were the victims executed?
During the period of its operation, some 350 Jews were shot in the ghetto.
18. Were the corpses destroyed? If ‘yes’, then how and where?
The corpses were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Chmielnik, and some were buried in the old Roman Catholic cemetery.
19. Was there a crematorium in the camp?
No.
20. Was the burial site of the deceased and the murdered victims determined (provide the location)?
The corpses of the murdered were buried: approx. 250 people were buried in the Jewish cemetery, and approx. 100 people in the Roman Catholic cemetery.
21. Current condition of the camp – what was destroyed? What is located on the site of the camp?
Presently there is no trace of the ghetto as such. There are only many dilapidated and empty houses which were formerly inhabited by Jews.
22. Has any material evidence survived from the camp (documents, belongings of the murdered victims, etc.)? If ‘yes’, then what type of articles are these, where are they located, have they been secured?
No material evidence survived.
23. Are the surnames and, possibly, addresses of the people who had been imprisoned in the camp known (please provide the surnames and/or addresses)?
Only the following are known: Szyja Sztajnfeld, Abram-Jesek Kaufman – Chmielnik; Szulim-Icek Lewensztajn, Jakub Kaufman – Łódź, Dr. Nusyn Balanowski – Kielce. It is difficult to establish personal data of the remaining 13,250 people.
24. Are the surnames of the Germans, the camp commander and other functionaries known (provide their surnames and ranks)?
Leutnant Haas, Friede – the first was killed, the second died; the surnames of the others are unknown.
On 29 October 1945, the contents of the above questionnaire were officially confirmed by the mayor of the town of Chmielnik, Stefan Dąbski, with the Municipal Court in Chmielnik.