Page 33 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Jesteśmy drzewami wiecznymi.

Dzień 21 lutego [1942] pozostanie na długo w pamięci
mieszkańcom getta. W dniu tym odbyła się
po raz pierwszy publiczna egzekucja.
– Kronika getta łódzkiego –

The 21st of February [1942] will remain in the memory
of the ghetto inhabitants for a long time.
On that day, the first public execution was carried out.
– The Chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto –

To instil fear in the inhabitants of the ghetto and discourage them from resisting,
the German occupation authorities carried out public executions in the Bazarny
Square (today, Plac Piastowski). People who resisted during displacement or
who were caught attempting to escape from the ghetto were hanged on the
specially erected gallows. The first execution took place on 21 February 1942.
The condemned man was Maks Hertz, deported to the ghetto from Cologne,
who had managed to get out of the ghetto, but was caught at the railway
station when trying to buy a ticket. Over 8,000 people were forced to watch
the execution. Among them, there were mainly Jews deported from the Reich
and Hertz’s wife and nine-year-old daughter. In the photo: the gallows in
Bazarny Square.

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