On July 22, 1942, the Warsaw Ghetto's darkest chapter began with "The Great Action," A secret operation under Operation Reinhard led by Odilo Globocnik, which became central to the Holocaust of Polish Jewry.
Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were beaten and driven to the Umschlagplatz, a dispatch plaza within the ghetto, then transported by freight train to the Treblinka extermination camp. The largest deportations occurred on Tisha B'Av (July 23) and Yom Kippur (September 21) of 1942.
On the eighth of Av, 1942, SS forces raided the Judenrat headquarters, arrested most occupants, and informed remaining members that deportations for "resettlement in the East" Had been decided. The Judenrat was ordered to organize the removals, with approximately 6,000 Jews required daily at the Umschlagplatz. The ghetto initially believed the transfers would bring better conditions, and German incentives of three kilograms of bread and one kilogram of jam encouraged compliance.
As deportations continued, the reality became apparent: trains were bound for destruction at Treblinka. Residents attempted escape, with crowds seeking factory work permits believed to offer protection. Adam Czerniaków, the Judenrat's head, took his own life at the deportation's start. His successors cooperated with Germans, hoping to save themselves and relatives, but ultimately, more than a quarter million Jews were sent to deaths at Treblinka that summer.
The timing of the largest deportations on the two most sacred days of the Hebrew calendar was not accidental. Rather than stemming from logistical considerations, it reflected deliberate, planned intent. By choosing Tisha B'Av, commemorating destruction of the Temples and exile, and Yom Kippur, the day of judgment and forgiveness, the systematic targeting intensified the psychological assault on those being deported.
This pattern of enemies using Jewish holidays as weapons repeats throughout history: the 1290 expulsion of Jews from England on Tisha B'Av, the 1492 Spanish expulsion deadline set for Tisha B'Av, Egypt and Syria's 1973 war launched on Yom Kippur, the 2002 Passover seder attack in Netanya, and the October 7, 2023 attacks on Simchat Torah.