Helena Makaruk
Class Vb
Wisznice, Włodawa district
23 June 1946
My wartime experience
In 1944, the Germans shot the Jews and took them to camps, where they were killed and thrown into ovens where fire was burning.
One day, the Germans brought two cars full of Jews to the river and started to shoot them. When the first group was shot to death, the Germans ran to Dubica to catch people and force them to bury the murdered Jews. My daddy buried those Jews too. On the second day, Jews were shot in the ghetto near Mr. Gierczyński’s place. Those who hid in the toilet were shot. The Germans were running as if they were possessed by evil spirits. People had to burn Jewish clothes and when the clothes started to burn, the peat also caught fire, and it burned for two more weeks.
It was a beautiful day. The Germans ordered people to take everything Jewish and sell it to people. People went and bought various tables, wardrobes, duvets and pillows. My daddy bought a closet.
When the front was drawing near, my uncle and other young men took ammunition and went to the forest. On that day two Soviet soldiers came to Parchomniuk on horseback and wanted some sausages. Parchomniuk gave them sausage, because his wife was not home, as she was in a store, but they wanted more and shot him in the arm, and they started running towards Dubica. Soon, Irka Parchomniuk ran to the store to get her mum. When her mum came home, she fainted. Then other Soviet soldiers came and asked what had happened and said that if they caught those other men, they would shoot them dead.