the fact it was the Jewish Sabbath—the Germans ordered the Jews to clean the streets for the entire day. They treated them brutally by cutting or tearing off their beards, cursing them, and beating them. In mid-October, a police force was formed in Szczebrzeszyn—composed of 60 men—and was instructed to persecute the Jewish population of the city. Several hundred Jews from Kalisz and Wloclawek were re-settled in Szczebrzeszyn. The Judenrat was forced to provide several dozen men for work in Zamość each day. According to a Polish doctor in the town, Zygmunt Klukowski: "The Jewish laborers are sent to Bortatycze and Bialobrzeg outside of Zamosc. The work consists of digging ditches in order to drain the swamps there. They must work standing in the water. They sleep in barracks that are incredibly dirty. They must make this trip (to the labor camp) every day, and if they make the slightest mistake, they are beaten with clubs. The Jewish slave laborers are covered with lice. They are mostly boys, 17–20 years old." On November 10, 1942, Klukowski wrote: "In principle, all the Jews in the settlements of the Bilgoraj district, to which Szczebreszyn belongs, have been killed. The only ones remaining are those in the forests, valleys, etc." In total, there were six separate transports from Szczebrzeszyn to Bełżec extermination camp between May and November 1942—totaling more than 5,500 Jewish men, women and children to their immediate deaths. Hundreds of other Jews were murdered in Szczebrzeszyn, hunted down by police and Polish civilians and then murdered. One Polish couple did shelter a Jewish family and were named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem after the war. The once vibrant Jewish community of Szczebrzeszyn ceased to exist. After the Zamość Uprising In July the Polish resistance carried out the country-wide Operation Tempest, and in the Zamość region the town of Szczebrzeszyn and Zamość itself were freed by the partisans. In literature The name Szczebrzeszyn is infamous for being very difficult to pronounce for non-native speakers. Polish poet, Jan Brzechwa used the town's name in his poem entitled Chrząszcz. The line with Szczebrzeszyn goes like this: W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie (pronunciation) This roughly translates to: "In [the town of] Szczebrzeszyn a beetle sounds in the reed". The phrase has been incorporated in everyday language as an epitome of Polish tongue twisters, and is often presented by natives to foreign learners