Abraham Peller Testimony (doc. 301/1649)
Original, manuscript, 2 pages 210 x 295 mm, 1 page 210 x 140 mm, Polish language.
Born at Mszanka (the Gorlice county) in 1894
Residing at Biecz, near Jasło [recorded by] [Róża] Bauminger
Actions in Biecz
In the early days of the occupation it was quiet in our town. But on January 3, 1942, the excesses began. The Germans raided several Jewish homes and shot 8
people who happened to fall into their hands. The names of these people are: two Heller brothers, Bornstein from Łódź, Gilowa from Łódź, a wife of a tailor and
mother of three children, Chaim Itzinger with his daughter
Regina, and Izak Cześniower. It was the so-called town
quota
. Similar acts of homicide took place in the nearby towns: in Gorlice, and others. Some
Polish
woman from Jasło informed that Dr Zucker of
Jasło had been a
commissar during the times of the Soviets. He and his wife were shot on
the spot, and their daughters were taken
to Biecz. They were
ordered to get out of the car and were shot
near my house. My son ran to fetch a
doctor because one of the girls was still alive,
but her state was hopeless, and she died
half an hour later. Ignacy Fornalik,
commandant of the Polish police, informed the police
that some Jews had tried to save a girl who had been
sentenced to death, and on February 16, 1942,
Polish
policemen
arrested these boys and their families. My son and I were arrested, too. They blackmailed us to swindle us out of money, and they got a
pretty large sum. Spielman was freed
immediately, I was to be released in the evening, and the boys at night. But in
the meantime the Gestapo arrived, and they ordered to have Spielman and his entire family brought back,
and apart from them also Hinda Schnaps
with her two sons and my entire
family of seven. All of us were handcuffed in pairs, and at 7 pm everybody was
shot. I was at the very rear, and looked at the death
of my family. Then they shot
Spielman, who was handcuffed with me. He
tumbled down, all covered with blood,
I learnt from eye-witnesses that on February 18, 100 Jews were taken from Biecz. They were kept in prison for 4 days, their money was confiscated, and after 4 days 69 of them were shot (the Schützer, Gewürz, Kleinman and Wagschaller families). It turned out that the Polish police was responsible for organising this action, and when they got a phone call from the Gestapo from Jasło, they had already killed 31 people. The Polish police blackmailed the Jews and they swindled 250 thousand zlotys out of them, saying that if they didn’t pay, another similar action would be carried out. A few months later the Germans took and shot 14 other Jews. Allegedly, the charge against them was was that their brothers were communists. The names of some of the victims are: Schneider, a family of five, Kurz, Jakóbowicz, and Wagschal with his wife.
In August 1942 a liquidation action took place. 170 people were shot on the spot and buried at the Jewish cemetery. 700 people were loaded onto cattle cars and transported to Bełżec. Those who managed to hide were hunted down by the Polish police and turned over to the Gestapo.
[signed by] Abraham Peller