Chmielnik is a town in Poland, northeast of Krakow. A Judenrat was formed shortly after the German occupation in September, 1939, and the ghetto was created in the spring of 1941 and liquidated in November 1942. In all, about 13,000 Jews from Chmielnik and surrounding towns lived in the ghetto. Most of the ghetto population worked in highway construction and repair. In October 1942 about 8,000 persons were deported to Treblinka. The rest of the inhabitants were transferred to Stopnica, and from there to Treblinka.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of two postcards. The first is a postcard from Chmielnik to the Judenrat in Litzmanstadt postmarked July 16, 1941. The second is a registered postcard with 60 g additional postage dated May 30, 1942 from Chmielnik to Lisbon, Portugal. The card also contains Censor marks and a Lisbon arrival postmark dated June 11, 1942. Card thanks the addressee for sardines and asks for used clothes. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards" in the left frame to return.
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD-Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Spector, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust (2001), P. 253-54
Copyright © 2003 Edward Victor