Judenlager Tremessen,or forced labor camp for Jewish women in Trzemeszno (1942-1943)
Knowledge of the forced labor camp for Jewish women in Trzemeszno, which existed for several months during the occupation, has so far been scarce. In recent years, its existence was mentioned by Dr. Anna Ziółkowska in her book Obozy pracy przymusowej dla Żydów w Wielkopolsce w latach okupacji hitlerowskiej (1941-1943) [Forced Labor Camps for Jews in Greater Poland in the Years of Nazi Occupation (1941-1943)][1]A. Ziółkowska, Obozy pracy przymusowej dla Żydów w Wielkopolsce w latach okupacji hitlerowskiej (1941-1943) [Forced Labor Camps for Jews in Greater Poland in the Years of Nazi Occupation (1941-1943)] Appendix 1, p. 255.
and by Dr. Tomasz Kawski in his article Społeczność żydowska na pograniczu kujawsko- wielkopolskim w XX wieku [The Jewish Community around the Kujawy-Greater Poland Border in the 20th Century][2] T. Kawski, Społeczność żydowska na pograniczu kujawsko- wielkopolskim w XX wieku [The Jewish Community around the Kujawy-Greater Poland Borderland in the 20th Century], [in:] Z dziejów pogranicza kujawsko-wielkopolskiego [From the History of the Kujawy-Greater Poland Borderland]ed. D. Karczewski, Strzelno 2007, p. 187..
They mention in their publications another labor camp in Trzemeszno – for men of Jewish origin – existing at the same time as for women, and with a similar purpose – to perform municipal works. However, I have not managed to find any documents or testimonies confirming its existence.
A year ago, a local history enthusiast, Zygmunt Nowaczyk, published an article on his Trzemeszno24.info portal, shedding some light on the history of the forced labor camp for Jewish women in Trzemeszno[3] Z. Nowaczyk, Żydówki były więzione w „Łazarzu” [Jewish Women Were Imprisoned in ‘Lazarus’”], dated 26.01.2023; accessed online: https://trzemeszno24.info/zydowki-byly-wiezione-w-lazarzu/. Thanks to him and another history buff[4] My sincere thanks to Marian Przybylski and Zygmunt Nowaczyk for their assistance in reaching the documents from the State Archives in Lodz. , I learned of the existence of extremely valuable documents – correspondence between the ghetto supervisors in Lodz and the German authorities in Inowroclaw and the administrators of the labor camps to which Jews from the Lodz ghetto were sent[5]State Archives in Lodz, IDs 39/221/0/5.1.10/29692, 39/221/0/5.1.10/29687, 39/221/0/5.1.10/29694.. They are a rich source of knowledge about the functioning of forced labor camps in the Inowroclaw district in 1942-1943. They contain, among other pieces, lists of prisoners by name, and information about their deaths. I, in my article, will present only a small snippet of this material – the portion related to Judenlager Tremessen, expanded by the accounts of the oldest residents of Trzemeszno.
Officially, the forced labor camp in Trzemeszno began operating on November 29, 1942, but in a letter dated August 25, 1943, the mayor of Trzemeszno corrects the starting date of the financial reckoning for female prisoners’ labor by writing to the ghetto board in Lodz that “The Jewish labor force was not placed in the Jewish camp in Trzemeszno until December 3, 1942.”[6]State Archives in Lodz, IDs 39/221/0/5.1.10/29687..
40 Jewish women were sent here directly from Lager Frohdorf located in today's Radojewice near Inowroclaw. Both camps were among the many forced labor camps to which the Germans sent residents of the Lodz ghetto, as part of the great Reich highway construction project. From the accounts of Trzemeszno residents, we know that the women sent were young and engaged in municipal work in the town. The documents describe their “type of employment” as Anpflanzungen – planting, which would agree with the recollection of a resident of the nearby village of Orchowo, Anna Dragan, of Jewish women planting trees along the road in that village.
The women were housed in the post-convent buildings of the so-called St. Lazarus Hospital, which originally served as a poorhouse in the late 18th century. Renata Linette's 1961 conservation study of Trzemeszno[7]R. Linette, Trzemeszno (woj. bydgoskie). Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne opracowane na zlecenie Prezydium Wojewódzkiej Rady Narodowej Wydziału Architektury i Nadzoru Budowlanego w Bydgoszczy, … Czytaj dalej included a photograph from 1941 in which the complex of buildings was captured by a person named Graubner (photo 1). Perhaps the photograph was part of preparations for the establishment of a camp at the site. The renovated buildings are still standing today.
The few living witnesses of that time recall the camp's inmates as follows:
“On September 11, 1939, we had to move out of our house near the train station. Luckily, our grandmother lived in Dąbrowskiego Street. And we moved there into one room. It was later divided into a kitchen-and-room, because after all, there was no space. Father still took in a neighbor, a railroad worker, who lived on the other side. And there I saw how the gendarmes led such young Jewish women. They said they were Jewish women. They drove them in rags, just like... it’s hard to even say. These older boys would jump towards them, give them bread or something. People were crying in the windows. We didn't know where they were being led. And they were going to the church [St. Lazarus Hospital – A.K.]. Several times I saw them being led. We that we were behind the glass pane, because we were not allowed to go into the street. Frightening. Sometimes those Germans yelled.”[8]Transcript of a conversation between A. Kostuch and L. Welniak in A. Kostuch's private archive. (Lucjan Welniak, born January 1939).
“I remember the Jewish women being led out... It was incredibly cold then... Mom gave us [Mrs. Mirosława and her brother Stefan – A.K.] wrapped sandwiches and also such felt shoes, something warm for them. We would go up to them and give this. I don't know how we managed to do that.”[9]Transcript of a conversation between A. Kostuch and M. Majewska in the private archive of A. Kostuch.