steal the merchandise for themselves. The ghetto would eventually be liquidated on September 22 through October 8, 1942, while Wendler was adjusting to his role in the Kraków District. Duties and Operations (Aktionen) in Kraków District (1942-1943) Prior to Operation Barbarossa, the General Government was divided into four districts, one of which was named after the Polish urban center of Kraków. From its inception until January the 31st, 1942, the Kraków District was overseen by Otto Wächter, who reported to Governor-General Hans Frank. After Operation Barbarossa had begun, however, a fifth district was created, Galicia, to which Wächter was transferred. Consequently, Wendler, at that time an SS Major General, was made Governor. Wendler, a longtime Nazi party member who had also been active in the SD, had an established rapport with ranking Nazi officials, most notably his brother-in-law Heinrich Himmler. This, in addition to his formal education in jurisprudence and political science and his experience as a lawyer and mayor made him an unsurprising choice for Governor of the district. Like his predecessor, Wendler reported to Hans Frank and aided in fulfilling the Governor-General's intentions, which primarily focused on the implementation of Aryanization policies. A major effect of these policies in the Kraków District was the creation of ghettos; this was primarily due to the urban environment of the city of Kraków, the capital of the General Government. Between October 1941 and February 1942, 25 ghettos were integrated into the district, in addition to several already in existence. German data from 1940 suggests that there were over 200,000 Jews in the District, however, it is likely this is an underestimate that neglects to include large numbers of refugees who came from other areas of Poland in 1939 as the result of German occupation. In addition to reporting to the Governor-General, District General Wendler oversaw the SS and Police Leader (SSPF), the preeminent police official of the District. The SSPF, and naturally, the Security Police and Gestapo, were Wendler's primary instruments of enforcement in the ghettos of the Kraków District. As the result of policies designed to keep Jews in the ghetto and non-Jews out (in 1942), basic necessities became hard to come by, causing a black market to occur between the isolated Jews and nearby villagers. Subsequently, cruel enforcement and violence by the SSPF's Security Police and the Gestapo became more common. Many of these heinous instances were referred to