21 Elul

September 8, 1498- Death of Tomas de Torquemada, leader of the dreaded Spanish Inquisition and organizer of the Jewish expulsion from Spain.

1939- German forces occupied the town of Piotrkow [Kujawski] (16 miles south of Lodz) where the Jewish population was estimated at 18,000. The first ghetto in Poland was later established there.