Cooperation of Poles with the Jewish Camp Resistance Movement in the Province of the General Government: The Case of SS-Arbeitslager “Krasnik” in the Lublin District

Abstract

In the years 1942–1944, in the center of the city of Kraśnik in the Lublin district, there was an SS labor camp for Jews, commonly known as the “Synagogue”. Although it housed only 160 to 300 prisoners, it stood out from the hundreds of similar labor camps established in the General Government at this time. It was characterized by a high level of inmate survival, a “liberal” regime, and the fact that it survived until July 1944, although no armaments production was carried out there. Despite this, the prisoners, led by former functionaries of the Jewish Order Service from the Krasnik ghetto, strengthened by a group of deported insurgents from the Warsaw ghetto, established a numerous underground organization there. Its purpose was to smuggle various items into and out of the camp, obtain weapons, organize escapes, and put up armed resistance to the occupier when the camp was liquidated. This was intended to be achieved by through connectors with external organizations, which were both the prisoners themselves and local Poles. Particularly dangerous tasks were performed by Poland woman named Szmit. The article focuses on her identification, description of her social environment, motivation, and the circumstances of her death. Furthermore, the article presents the preparations of the camp resistance movement to cause an uprising in the “Synagogue”, a phenomenon previously unknown to historians.