בונמס זיידע האט געשריבן:
לפי מה ששממעתי מא"א ע"ה ולבחל"ח אמי מורתי זז"ג בשיבה טובה דאס ענגלישע האב איך גענימען פון JEWISH GEN In the summer of 1939, Jewish men from Debrecen were drafted into the Munkaszolgalat (Hungarian labor battalions) and sent to the Ukraine, where many died in the minefields. By 1940, there were about 12,000 Jews living in the town. In the fall of 1941, Jews of Galician or Polish origin were expelled, many murdered upon reaching Kamenets-Podolski (Ukraine), reducing further the Jewish population to 9,142. In 1942, more Jews were drafted into the Munkaszolgalat and sent to the Ukraine
א"א כאטש ער איז געווען אן אפגעדינטער סאלדאט איז במשך די תקופה איטליכע מאל אריינגעריפען געווארען צו צוואנגס ארבייט איבערלאזענדיג דאס געשעפטעל אויף אמי מורתי' זז"ג לאיט"א ווען ער איז אריין געיריפען צים לעצטען מאל ג'דענק איך נישט ווען די רוסען האבען זיי "באפרייט" פון די אונגארישע שליחי השטן ערגעץ אין אוקריין האבען זיי אים ג'האלטען אלס PRISONER OF WARביז כסליו תש"ה פארשטייטסט זיך אן קיין ידיעות פון די משפחה German forces entered Debrecen on 20 March 1944 Adar 25 and quickly ordered the disbanding of the existing Jewish leadership ad forcing it to reorganize as the Zsido Tanacs (Jewish Council), under the leadership of Rabbi Pal (Meir) WEISZ. A Jewish police force was set up under a former army captain, Bela LUSZTBAUM. On the last day of March, a decree called for Jews to wear the yellow Star of David prominently on their clothing.
Early in April, Jewish-owned automobiles were confiscated and Jewish-owned telephones disconnected. On 8 April (during Passover), a handful of Jewish leaders were taken hostage by the authorities and imprisoned at nearby Hajduszentgyorgy. Eventually, three hundred Jewish notables from the Debrecen area were confined therein. On 21 April ,Nissan 28, 5704 Jewish-owned stores were forcibly closed.
אמי מורתי דערציילט אז מען האט יענעם מוצאי פסח אוועקג'לייגט די כלים מיט בכיות On 28 April 1944 Iyar 5, 5704 , the order to set up a ghetto was issued by the mayor, Sandor KOLCSEY. On 9 May Iyar 16, 5704 , the boundaries of the ghetto, which was to be established on the western side of the city, were established. It had two parts, known as the "large" and the "small" ghetto, which were divided by Hatvan Street. The Jews of the city were forced to build the wall enclosing the ghetto, which stood 8.9 feet (2.7 m) high. On 15 May 1944 Iyar 22, 5704, the ghetto was declared finished and the process of forcing the Jews into it began. Local Hungarian police guarded the ghetto, whereas the Jewish police were charged with keeping order within its walls and handing over those Jews whom the authorities wished to interrogate. Each Jew was allocated 43 square feet (4 sq m) of space, which meant that most rooms contained at least one entire family and often more. On 7 June Sivan 16, 5704 , all traffic in and out of the ghetto was prohibited, including that of Jews leaving the ghetto for work. Two weeks later, on 21 June 1944, Hungarian gendarmes entered the ghetto and transferred the Jews to the nearby Serly brickyards. There they joined the Jews from the neighboring, totalling 13,084 Jews. At the brickyards, the Jews were stripped of their remaining valuables. A small group was sent to Hajduszentgyorgy, from where they were deported beginning on 26 June 1944.
During the period of ghettoization and deportation, news of the so-called Kasztner train reached Debrecen via messengers from the Zionist youth movement who posed as gentiles. They told the leader of the Orthodox community,Horav Shlomo Zvi STRASSER, that anyone from Debrecen could be included in the designated quota for the city. During the deportations, ten families - including those of Rabbi WEISZ, Rabbi STRASSER (אויך זיין אייניקעל ובעלה הגה"צ ר משה שטערן ז"צל דומ"ץ און נאך די מלחמה אב"ד) and Zionist leaders - were taken to the Columbus Street camp in Budapest. Soon thereafter they embarked on the Kasztner train, which eventually brought them to freedom in Switzerland.
הגה"צ ר משה שטערן ז"צל האט מיר דערציילט אז אין פעסטער געטא איז ער געווען אין איין דירה מיט מיין זיידע און האבען ציזאם ג'לערנט אין דעם איינעם גמרא וואס זיי האבען ג'האט דוכט זיך אז הגה"צ ר משה שטערן ז"צל איז נישט אנג'קימען קיין שוויץ זקני זצ"ל איז אויס ג'גאנגען פון הונגער און פעסטער געטא 2 וואכען פאר דעם "באפרייען" דורך די רוסען The first two trains, with 6,841 relatively fortunate passengers, were sent to Strasshof, Austria, where they were dispersed and put to work in agricultural and other activities for Organization Todt.
ובכללם אמי מורתי שתחי ואחי הגדול נ"י א 6 יעריג אינגעל און נאך איטליכע קרובות און א פעטער זיי זענען אנגעקימען און א פאבריק ווי רובם זענן געבליבען בחייםאויך הרה"ח ר לעמיל לאנדא ומשפחתו זענען ג'ווען אויף איינעם פון די 2 באנען קיין עסטרייךMost of the other Jews from Debrecen were deported to Auschwitz, where they arrived on 3 July 1944. About half of the Debrecen contingent of the Strasshof group survived the war. Among those killed in the Strasshof group were 233 Debrecen Jews, supposedly on their way to Theresienstadt; they were, in fact, shot by the SS in Bratislava in May 1945.
Debrecen was liberated by the Soviet Army on 20 October 1944 and became the administrative center of the antifascist provisional government.
As the Germans attempted to evacuate the Austrian camps in the wake of the approaching Soviet Army, many Jews were murdered, although some 4,000 of the Jews from Debrecen survived the war.
די פאבריק ווי אמי מורתי שתחי ואחי הגדול נ"י זענען געווען האבען די רוסען "באפרייט" צווייטען טאג חוה"מ פסח תש"ה שביעי של פסח האבען זיי ארויסגעלאזט אויפען וועג אהיים 2 וואכען זענעו זיי געווען און שאפראן ווי עס איז שוין א שטיקעל אידישע קאמיטע אויף שבועות איז זי שוין אין די אלטע דירה אין דעברעצין Those survivors who returned to Debrecen after the war formed the largest Jewish community in the region, numbering 4,640 in 1946. In 1970, that number dwindled to about 1,200 Jews with two synagogues in use (one of which was constructed in 1909-10). About 400 survivors eventually settled in Israel.