Regina Jaroszewicz
Class 6
Wisznice, Włodawa district, Lublin voivodeship
23 June 1946
Memories of the German occupation
In 1939, the war broke out, and the Germans invaded Poland. They walked smiling, promising us mountains of gold; however, the Poles did not listen to them. They knew that the Germans were a vengeful nation.
I was in Zakopane at that time. All the men were conscripted into the army. The Germans took over everything, every place. Even the cable car, which was managed by a Pole before the war, a very honest man, was now managed by some German, a very vindictive man. He made your skin crawl whenever you looked at him. People hated him, like all the other Germans.
After coming to Wisznice in 1941, my mum enrolled me in school. Since our school is a two-story building, the Germans took it from us. They took all our Polish books and magazines; they did not allow us to learn history or geography.
In 1944 in Wisznice, the Germans ordered all the people from the surrounding villages to gather. When everyone arrived, one German stood on a platform and gave a great speech, which I don’t remember. When he was done, three cars arrived. There were ten Poles in each car, all of them innocent. They told them to get out and stand next to the wall. They tied their hands and blindfolded them, and then they were shot to death. People looked at the sight in horror, [feeling] hatred towards the Germans.
The Germans wanted to rule over the whole world, and they thought they would manage to do it. They invaded and conquered all the Western countries. Now this great army turned towards the East, like Napoleon once did. When they reached the Volga, they [were forced to] retreat. They ran away in panic, leaving everything behind. Eventually, on 22 July 1944, we were freed from German oppression by our allies from the east and the Polish army.
When the front line was drawing near, we went to the colony of Kreczki, and I could see everything from there. I saw planes circling over Biała Podlaska, bombing the city. I heard the explosions of bombs in Biała and shells going off in the forest. I saw Wisznice and Horodyszcze burning one evening. Every day I could see the glows of burning villages in the distance, set on fire by the Germans. The eternal enemy of Poles destroyed and burned Polish villages and cities. I was afraid, and when I saw the burning villages, I told myself: “It’s all for the good of the Homeland.”
Once, when I went to my neighbor’s house – it was 22 July 1944 – I saw a soldier on horseback approaching our house, followed by large number of troops. I quickly ran home to see what he wanted. He was a Russian soldier, and he wanted mum to give him something to eat. Mum gave him food, and he said that the Germans were far away and that we should not be afraid any more. After these words, spoken in his language, he left.
Everyone went to see what the situation in Wisznice was like. Now we are free. We also got new lands in the west, up to the Oder and Nissa [Nysa]. We can now learn all subjects, because we are free, and I hope the Germans perish forevermore.