DR. SZYMON DATNER BIALYSTOK REGION IN RUINS (Editor’s note: Dr. Szymon Datner, the esteemed edu- cator, researcher and historian, the author of a number of important volumes about the Holocaust, devoted the postwar years to recreating in detail much of the grue- some saga of the destruction of East European Jewry. Dr. Datner, who was the first Bialystoker Jew to return to the city, in ruins after the war, and who became the Chairman of the first Jewish Reconstruction Committee in Bialystok, has earned a prominent place commemo- rating the glory that once was Bialystok. Following are excerpts from Dr. Datner’s 61 researched articles about the Bialystok ghetto, the suf- fering, resistance and extermination of its Jews.) Although the Nazis set a quota of 12,000 Jews to be deported to Pruzane, the Judenrat in Bialystok pro- duced only between 5,000 and 6,000. The reasons were that those not included were still valuable for slave labor, some who had been summoned to the deporta- tion center never showed up, and some on the list some- how managed to obtain papers and employment. The Nazis, thanks to the influence of the Judenrat, did not press the twelve thousand maximum. It was widely believed that the 5,000 deportees would never reach Pruzane alive. But several days after their departure from the Bialystok ghetto they sent word back that they had indeed arrived in Pruzane and were alive. This brought a wave of relief throughout the ghetto. Circumstances in Pruzane were even worse than in Bialystok. There a ghetto was also built and Pruzane’s Jews were forced to squeeze into it. The Bialystokers’ arrival increased the discomfort and the overcrowding. Nonetheless, the Pruzaner Jews welcomed their Bialy- stoker friends with open arms and with extraordinary grace. It soon became clear that Pruzane would need financial assistance from Bialystok to accommodate the exiles. An emissary from Pruzane visited the Judenrat in Bialystok each month to raise funds on behalf of its people in Pruzane until the end of November 1942, when Pruzane, along with other smaller communities, was totally destroyed by the Nazis. The evacuation to Pruzane led to tragic aftermaths. Those who failed to appear for deportation were forced to live underground. Their names were taken off the vital statistics list, which meant they were no longer entitled to receive food rations or other assistance from the Judenrat. They were forced to throw themselves on the mercy of family and friends. Those able to find work outside the ghetto managed to survive a while longer. The Bialystoker Memorial Book Another reverberation of the expulsion to Pruzane was that in the spring of 1942, some 1,500 Bialystoker Jews left Pruzane and sneaked back into the Bialystok ghetto. When the Nazis learned of this, they threatened mass reprisals, forcing the Judenrat to warn the evac- uees not to return. To some extent, these warnings decreased the incidence of illegal return but did not stop it altogether. On the other hand, the Germans did not continue to press the issue. What was most important to the ghetto inmates was that their kinfolk did arrive in Pruzane alive-and that regarding this matter, at least, the Nazis had not lied to them. Enslavement Before Final Liquidation The continued existence of the Bialystok ghetto and the Jews within it depended on the extent to which they were perceived as useful to the Third Reich. This was why most of the Jews in the ghetto voluntarily sought work of any type. Certainly the Pruzane evacua- tion was an additional incentive for people to find employment — to avoid expulsion from the ghetto. Another motivation was to prevent a repetition of the ferocity with which the Nazis had run through the streets of Bialystok prior to August 1941 when the ghetto was constructed, conscripting people for forced labor. If one was already gainfully employed, he could avoid this harsh treatment. Announcements and orders proclaimed by the Judenrat — as dictated by the Nazi command — clearly reflect how important the availability of slave labor was to the Germans, as well as punctuality, discipline and productivity. The following are excerpts from these orders: Order No. 126 — By order of the German authori- ties, all ghetto men aged eighteen to fifty-five must have a job. We command all men without exception in this age group who are not yet employed to appear at the Judenrat building tomorrow morning, October 16th, at 6:00 A.M. We warn anyone who fails to show up that he will suffer severe consequences, including evacuation from Bialystok. Order No. 328 — A reserve brigade of one hundred women is hereby created according to the following conditions: whichever woman must work on a certain day will receive a half kilo of bread per day and will be paid in cash at the going rate. Women who are not scheduled to work will remain in the reserve pool and will receive a certain sum per day. (These reserve brigades were the Judenrat’s answer to the constant need to fill labor quotas. The council’s 75