“A young boy attacked us once and started shooting; we didn’t even run any more.” Murders committed on Jews from the village of Strzegom by AK and BCh members
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2017), pages: 265-280
Publication date: 2017-12-06
Abstract
A group of more than 30 Jews was hiding in a dugout in a forest near Strzegom, a small village on the edge of a forest in the Świętokrzyskie Province. Attacked and robbed by the villagers who were members of the Home Army and Peasants’ Battalions, the Jews continued to hide in the forest in smaller groups. The same group of partisans that had attacked the Jews in the dugout continued to capture and murder them, including women and children. There were eight survivors: children and adolescents plus one adult. The article reconstructs the six-month period of hiding basing on a touching testimony of one of the surviving girls, Dora Zoberman, who gave it at the age of eleven, materials from the post war August Decree trials, and recent conversations with the survivors and Strzegom inhabitants. It also reconstructs the actions of the judiciary with regard to the crimes committed against the Jews. Sentenced to death, the murderers were pardoned and released after 1956. One of them received compensation in the 1990s for having been repressed because of his pro-independence activity.
Keywords
Jews, murders, Home Army, Peasants’ Battalions, testimonies of survivors, August Decree trials, rehabilitation trials
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Other articles by the same auhtor(s)
- Anna Bikont, “Both Mr. Poteraj and I Are Dreaming of a Description of These Shameful Events.” The Murder Committed by an AK Detachment on Jews Hiding at a Swamp Near the Village of Podosie in the Łomża Area , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 18 (2022)
- Anna Bikont, “Once a Young Boy Attacked Us and Shot, But We Didn’t Flee.” Murders committed by AK and BCh members on Jews from the village of Strzegom , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 10 (2014)
- Anna Bikont, Our Polish Gold Rush: Paweł Piotr Reszka, Płuczki [Anna Bikont] , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 17 (2021)
- Anna Bikont, “Why, There Was No Need to Burn the House, It Was Enough to Escort the Jews out and Kill Them.” , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 7 (2011)
- Anna Bikont, "Regarding the murder of my family...". , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 19 (2023)
- Anna Bikont, “They did not need to burn the house. They could have led the Jews out and killed them off” , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
Similar Articles
- Nawojka Cieślińska-Lobkowicz, Magdalena Tarnowska, Artyści żydowscy w Warszawie 1939–1945; Ocalałe/Salvaged. Kolekcja malarstwa, rysunku i rzeźby ze zbiorów Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Nawojka Cieślińska-Lobkowicz, World War II Tragedy Memorial Museum , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 13 (2017)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.