Mirosława Bałdyn
Class 6
Elementary School No. 10 in Kielce
My recollections of German crimes
The harsh years of the occupation have passed. Today we are left with places that witnessed German crimes. Memories of execution scenes are like ghosts before our eyes and make us shudder with horror. I will describe one such scene.
It was on 24 October at 4 p.m. Several cars filled with gendarmes stopped in front of Saint Adalbert’s Church. Soon the whole street was full of green uniforms. The Germans began to lead beaten and battered young people out of one car. This was an execution!
Soon the execution site was surrounded by ranks of gendarmes. The words of command were followed by a salvo!
A priest was blessing the victims through a window of a flat, and praying for them, because they were dying a heroic death for their Homeland. They were Poles, they loved their land, they served it faithfully and were dying without the last sacraments. These execution sites gave strength to those who took the place of the deceased.
The bodies of the murdered martyrs were laid in a common grave behind the church. The execution site was decorated with wreaths and flowers by our compatriots, who prayed for them. The Lord heard the prayers of the persecuted Poles. The days of fearing for one’s life and of horrific captivity were over. We have been granted freedom, and the bodies of the murdered have been transferred to the Heroes’ Cemetery.
Let them rest in peace in the Polish soil!