Lvov Ghetto Broadside

Tan poster with three columns of text, one in German, the other Ukranian, and the last Polish. There is a diagonal red line across the entirety of the poster. Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: An announcement printed in three languages-German, Polish, and Ukrainian- organizing the Lvov Ghetto (Lemberg in German), referred to as a “Jewish residential area” in the city of Lemberg. This would entail “clearing out of Jews” on streets throughout August and listing each street and the day it is to be cleared of Jews. Dr. Ullrich who endorses this broadside is the Chief of Police (Schutzpolizei) of Lvov. Lvov had been absorbed into the German- administered General Government after the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the USSR. A ghetto was established for Jews in 1941, its inhabitants used for slave labor or transported to the extermination center at Belzec -one of the so-called Aktion Reinhard camps. This broadside addresses what has been referred to as the “Great Aktion”, occurring in August 1942. In anticipation of Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler’s arrival, as many as 55,000 Jews were systematically and methodically removed from their homes, taken to Janowska transit camp or deported to Belzec extermination camp. Preparations were made by the Gestapo, the German and Ukrainian police, and specially trained SS brigades called Vernichtung Kommandos (extermination commandos) to fulfill Himmler’s wish of murdering half the Jews of Poland within one year. In preparation for deportation, entire city blocks were emptied, the Jewish victims removed, the sick, elderly, women and children sent to their deaths at Belzec. Many were simply shot in place. Healthy men were used for slave labor. The murder of Jews through successive selections continued after the “Great Aktion” through June 1943. Those Jews not capable of working were dispatched to Belzec, the others were sent to Janowska. There were so few Jews left that the ghetto was redefined as a work camp. Those Jews were eventually liquidated as well. During the period of the German occupation of Lvov more than 250,000 Jews were murdered.https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/2838/thumbnail.jp