„Chronicles of Terror”. Base of testimonies of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor

Mass executions of the residents of Radom were carried out by the Germans primarily in the vicinity of the city: in Firlej, the Kosowski Forest, and Jedlnia-Letnisko. In the photograph: officials of the Radom Regional Council in the years of the Second Polish Republic. Photograph: National Digital Archives.

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Numerous sports clubs were set up in the Eastern Borderlands during the inter-war period. The existence of many came to an end with the outbreak of war in 1939. In the photograph: a football match between “Czarni” Lwów and WKS “Kotwica” Pińsk, Lwów, 1935. Photograph: National Digital Archives.

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In the Second Polish Republic, soldiers of the Polish Army were granted land in recognition of their service during the formative years of the state. Following the outbreak of war, nearly 80% of the settler families living in the Eastern Borderlands were deported deep into the USSR. In the photograph: the Grzegorski family – military settlers from Krechowce, 1931. Photograph: National Digital Archives.

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Following the September Campaign of 1939, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans and Soviets. In the photograph: a farewell organized for the Chief of Staff of the Border Protection Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel Witold Kiszenszein, at the officers’ mess in Warsaw, 1932. Photograph: National Digital Archives.

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During the Second Polish Republic, Jan Reyman played football for “Wisła” Kraków and “Czarni” Lwów. In 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau for his involvement in the resistance. Having been educated in chemistry, he was detailed to work at the camp laboratory. Photograph: National Digital Archives.

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During the Warsaw Uprising, thousands of residents of tenement houses at Wolska Street perished in mass executions. In the photograph: the Warsaw-Berlin Bicycle Race, 1935. Fot: National Digital Archives.

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Artyści Teatru Wielkiego w Poznaniu, 1937 rok. Podczas Powstania Warszawskiego śpiewaczka Jadwiga Fontanówna (trzecia od lewej w dolnym rzędzie) przeżyła brutalne wypędzenie ludności cywilnej z miasta. Fot. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

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Polish landowners during the horse racing event, the Warsaw Derby, July 1939. Two months later, following the German invasion of Poland, they were forced to leave their country for ever. Fot. National Digital Archives

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Polish athletes prior to their departure for Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932. Janusz Kusociński (third from the left), the Olympic track events champion, was shot by the Germans in Palmiry in 1940. Fot. Leon Jarumski, National Digital Archives

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Witold Hulewicz (with earphone), a poet and literary critique, killed by the Germans in Palmiry in 1941. Prior to the outbreak of the war he served as head of the Literary Section of the Polish Radio. Fot. Wacław Żyliński, National Digital Archives

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Stefan Starzyński, Mayor of Warsaw, killed by the Germans in December 1939. In the picture he presents the exhibition Warsaw of the Future. Fot. National Digital Archives

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A summer leisure on the beach of the river Vistula, Warsaw, 1927. During the Warsaw Uprising the Germans blew up the nearby Poniatowski bridge. Fot. National Digital Archives

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Chronicles of Terror is one of the largest collections of civilian testimonies from occupied Europe and features hundreds of accounts submitted by Polish citizens, who suffered immense hardship at the hands of the German and Soviet totalitarian regimes during the Second World War. These materials reflect the personal experiences of thousands of Polish victims of totalitarian crimes, and also of their families and loved ones.

Until recently, witness depositions made before the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland were scattered and locked away in archives. The accounts of Poles – both soldiers and civilians who left the Soviet Union with General Anders’ Army – were gathered from 1943 on in the Middle East, while after the War they were reposited in the American Hoover Institution. The depositions concerning Poles who helped Jews during the occupation were collected from 1999 on by the Committee for the Commemoration of Poles who Saved Jews.

Today, for the first time, they can reach a much wider audience – both in Poland and around the world.

More about the project

10564

Testimonies in Polish

4209

Testimonies translated into English

14058

Published pages of source material

46473

Analyzed pages of files

Defying Christianity - repressions against the Church

To annihilate the nation: intelligentsia, institutions, culture

Murders in the wrecked capital - executions on the former Ghetto premises

NKVD prisons – detainment, sentencing, and death

Germans in Radom – executions in Firlej

In a cattle wagon – by railroad to the East

The Germans in Kielce - Crimes Committed on Castle Hill

Reign of Terror - executions in the streets of Warsaw

Kozelsk – Polish officers in Soviet captivity

Terror in the Countryside - the case of Michniów

Radom 1942 – the price of resistance

Genocide in Wola - a district sentenced to death

Pawiak - the Warsaw execution site

Treblinka - a complex for the extermination of the Polish Jews

Ochota Massacre – the suffering of the district

Crimes in the "police district" – tragedy of insurgent Warsaw

Contrary to humanity - the pacification of hospitals in Warsaw

Helplessness and horror – women in the occupied Poland

Fear and shame – the plight of female deportees

More collections

Find out what happened to the residents of your town, street or house during World War II.

Places of arrests and round-ups, addresses of hiding places, harsh prisons, concentration camps, places of torture, deportations and executions – the map enables you to trace the fate of victims of totalitarian terror.

Select location where the events described by witnesses took place

Zoom in to see locations from particular testimonies

Borders loading in progress

„Street after street, person after person” – official video

Giving voice to the witnesses of totalitarian crimes

Collections

Defying Christianity - repressions against the Church

To annihilate the nation: intelligentsia, institutions, culture

Murders in the wrecked capital - executions on the former Ghetto premises

NKVD prisons – detainment, sentencing, and death

Germans in Radom – executions in Firlej

In a cattle wagon – by railroad to the East

The Germans in Kielce - Crimes Committed on Castle Hill

Reign of Terror - executions in the streets of Warsaw

Kozelsk – Polish officers in Soviet captivity

Terror in the Countryside - the case of Michniów

Radom 1942 – the price of resistance

Genocide in Wola - a district sentenced to death

Pawiak - the Warsaw execution site

Treblinka - a complex for the extermination of the Polish Jews

Ochota Massacre – the suffering of the district

Crimes in the "police district" – tragedy of insurgent Warsaw

Contrary to humanity - the pacification of hospitals in Warsaw

Helplessness and horror – women in the occupied Poland

Fear and shame – the plight of female deportees

A map of testimonies

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