Class 7
Radzyń
My wartime experiences
The experiences of the German occupation were sad and tragic. The enemy destroyed thousands of Polish people in prisons and camps, butchering them in a horrible way.
Finally, the moment came when they had to leave Polish lands. It was a dreadful time. They plundered wherever they could. When they were fleeing, they came to our house in the night and went to the barn without a word to anyone. They tore off the doors and took the horse and cart. As they were leaving Radzyń, all of the most beautiful houses went up in flames, as did the ancient castle.
The night after the Germans had run off was terrible. Planes flew over and lit up Radzyń and the whole surrounding area just as the people were going to bed. I was already asleep when I heard a great boom and an impact. I woke up and it was as bright as a sunny day. We all got dressed and barely made it out of the town with our lives.
Airmen shot at us from machine guns when the planes flew over very low. We went into one house outside the town, but it wasn’t safe there either. We went outside and a plane flew over and lit up the town again. I was lying in the potato field behind the barn and there was a lamp hanging above me. I thought my life was over because a bomb always dropped wherever [a pilot] shone his light. The danger passed after a moment, the plane flew away and I went somewhere safer.
It only stopped in the morning. I went home, but I found only charcoal and ashes. Everything had been burned; we couldn’t save anything, only what we had on us. It was a very difficult time after that bombardment; there was nothing to eat or wear.