Anna Kutera
Class 6
Public Elementary School in Maziarze
Iłża district
16 November 1946
My most memorable moment from the occupation
On 28 September 1944, at 1 a.m., German forces surrounded the Starachowice Forest. A great dread fell on the village. The partisans started to gather to attack the Germans. There were many Germans, and the partisans feared that they might burn the village. At dawn the battle began. At 10 a.m. the Germans burned down the forester’s lodge and the wilderness hut. The forester, his wife and children were taken to a German station; he was taken away, but his wife and children were released. The forester’s lodge was burned down, including cattle and poultry. One partisan was hiding in the attic; the Germans found him, killed him, and threw him into the fire. The partisans fought till the end, but they were surrounded and had to fight their way to the village. The bullets fell on the village. There were many terrible sounds coming from the forest: cannons shooting, grenades exploding and machine guns firing.
On the morning of 29 September the fighting quieted down. The Germans left the forest, leaving many corpses. The wounded were taken to Błaziny and put in a barn. There they had their hands tied and were deported to Germany. Corpses were collected and buried in the forest. After the liberation of Poland, the graves of the fallen were honored. The area was fenced, and a cross was built. On the anniversary of the soldiers’ death there is a mass, there are speeches about the lives, fights, and hardships of those heroic soldiers of freedom. The standard of Poland flies on their graves.