Trzebinia, Chrzanów District, Kraków Region, Poland
On the eve of WWII, about 1,500 Jews lived in Trzebinia (Yiddish: Chebin), a community bubbling with Chassidic life and Torah learning, Zionism and a pioneering spirit, political parties and youth movements.
On 29 May 1942 (13 Sivan 5702), the deportation of the Jews of Trzebinia began. That day, SS and German police forces surrounded the ghetto, and a selection was carried out. The young and healthy were sent to work in factories in the nearby town of Chrzanów and forced labor camps within the Reich borders. A week later, those who remained were sent to Auschwitz, where they were murdered in the gas chambers on their arrival.
Just 19 kilometers from Auschwitz… we knew about Auschwitz, but we didn’t know then, in our time, that they burnt people there, that it was a crematorium... they said there was a camp there… but nobody knew… it was so close, and so far...
Pinchas Tzimerman
After the war, only 270 Jews from Trzebinia remained alive. This is the story of the community of Trzebinia.
Before the Holocaust
During the Holocaust
