Krystyna Brewko
Class 7
Public Primary School in Wąchock
District of Iłża
Wąchock, 20 November 1946
What do the mass graves tell us?
Long years of Nazi captivity will stay forever in our memory. They still inspire terror in our hearts, drawing the pictures of bloody murders.
Recollections of those ordeals, groans from behind bars and those streams of blood and tears. We were helpless, shackled to the yoke of bondage, above us bloody fist of a Germanic executioner. Violence did not break our soul, in our hearts there was a spark of hope for brighter tomorrow. The spirit of freedom did not sleep, the soul was overwhelmed by rebellion, to tear apart the shackles, to become free, relieve misery and get rid of humiliation, [those impulses] began to work. Numerous secret organizations were established, their slogan was the fight against Hitlerism.
The power of the enemy, however, was mighty. Now, with ever more cruelty, the murders and numerous arrests started. The walls of Auschwitz and Majdanek filled with thousands of Poles. Horrible and painful were partings from close relatives. The hearts of mothers and children were torn by pain and despair, that the ones they loved would never come back. The convicts, whose only fault was the fact, that they were Poles, crossed the thresholds of the graves. Several months of vegetation usually ended with death. It was a release [from] their ordeal. Prisoners in damp cells were ending their lives alone on their pallet beds. During their final hour their hearts were soaring for freedom and liberty, there were tears flowing down their pale visages. Graves containing thousands of corpses have risen. There was no cross on them, no stone plaques. The executioner desired to hide his crimes. Surround them with eternal mystery. There are also graves rising among the forests. Graves of those, who were fighting with their weapons in the forests and sacrificed their lives. Those young partisans were dying far away from their families. Their blood scarred the forest mosses, the wind was carrying the echoes of their goodbyes back home, to their families. Mothers were waiting, [believing] that [their children] would come back, that they were going to hold them close to their hearts again; then there were only longing hopes. They are never going to come back. The lonely graves tell about this horrible crime.
The dark forests are singing them songs. Those graves have risen abroad as well. One of them is Katyń. It is a recollection of the greatest crime, the scariest murders of innocent people. All of those graves are scattered across our land.
They tell us about bloody murders, about the days of Nazi captivity.