Class 6
Zwierzyniec
My memories of the German occupation
So much, we went through so much at the hands of the cruel German monster. Unforgettable memories call up sad images filled with various horrors.
One night I was awakened by some kind of clatter and the shining of a light in my room. What was it? German cars making their way to the village of Pardysówka. What was going to happen? Was it some kind of manoeuver? My brother and I both climbed onto the sink above which was a small window and we saw vehicles filled with soldiers in the dark night. How many of those death-breathing reptiles there were – one, two, three, ten, twenty, and so on… They left. The vehicles soon came back empty, no soldiers. Could the soldiers have surrounded the village? We waited with baited breath. An ominous silence all around. What should we do? Run away? My parents decided to hold out there, because we had seen people killed while trying to escape the grip of the Germans. God’s will be done!
We heard shooting at daybreak. We went to the front of the house and what did we see? The torturers are bringing people from the next village: the old and the small, adults and children, dragged straight from their beds, undressed, terrified, tears in their eyes. They looked at the church they were approaching and, paying no attention to the German executioners, fell to their knees by the church wall, holding their hands up to God who looked upon their woe, concealed in His little church. With a sigh they cried out: “Have mercy on us, oh Lord! And you too, Holy Virgin!” They were driven on, but they hear shots behind them – people trying to hide were being caught.
The village burned! Oh! What a horrible sight: fire, lowing cattle, whinnying horses, shrieking people, crying children, howling dogs… It is difficult to describe everything about that terrible tragedy.
In the evening, the victors, having completed their work, return laden with the property of those poor unfortunate souls. After they return to the city, the Germans let those who were unable to work go home. Oh, with what terror, with what fear that little group ran to those ruins, to those strangled, burned and freshly-shot victims. That picture of pain, grief and harm done to Poles by the vile bandits in German uniforms will remain forever in our souls.
Oh, how many similar stories of German atrocities I could tell. Recalling them today shakes our feelings of deep sadness and mourning. But God justly settled the wrong done to our nation.