Zdzisława Reczyńska
Class 6
Elementary School no. 4 in Starachowice
Iłża district
Starachowice, 19 November 1946
Memories of German crimes
On 1 September 1939, the war began. Our eternal enemy, Germany, crossed the borders of our beloved homeland. After occupying our capital and taking control of the entire territory of Poland, the occupier took over and started a bloody war with the civilian population. Regardless of the ideal of humanity, he stepped on the commandments of love of neighbor. People had to be afraid of every word of the cruel invader. Mass round-ups, arrests and terrible murders began. All patriots were arrested and deported to Auschwitz and Majdanek. Indescribable murders took place there. The prisoners had to do very hard work, sometimes even being starved. They ate swede soup. Every day there were interrogations during which Poles were beaten terribly. Hot iron was placed on their bodies. They were kicked and beaten. Some had to be carried out of the interrogation rooms. Little babies were torn from the hands of crying mothers and smashed against rocks or trees. Cars full of frozen people without cover were taken to the camps by the Germans. Everyone who loved their homeland was oppressed by the enemy. In the forests, terrible groans of people torn apart by grenades were heard. Groups of people stood over pits, waiting to be killed. Others buried the bodies of people who had already been killed. The hands and feet of murdered people hung on the trees. In all cities, the occupiers built gallows and organized people’s groupings. There was no human in the whole of the country who would not feel the terrible German slavery. There was terrible mourning throughout the country. It was only in 1945 that the Germans were defeated. Having terribly destroyed Poland, they left it. After the war was over and the enemy retreated throughout Poland – from the shores of the Baltic Sea to the snowy peaks of the Tatra Mountains – the happiness was visible. Although our homeland is so terribly destroyed, we want to rebuild it as soon as possible. The once mighty enemy lies at our feet.