21 June 1946
Henryka Władyczuk
Class 6
Wisznice, Włodawa district, Lublin voivodeship
Memories of the German occupation
The Soviets started the war with Germany on 1 September 1939. This disturbing experience is almost too terrible to describe. When the Germans took control over Poland, the situation here got really bad. They took whatever they wanted, including Polish people, who were deported to Germany for forced labor. It is hard to describe how the Arbeitsamt came to us to get my sister, searched the apartment and left empty-handed, while I kept crying, trembling in fear. I remember the Germans coming to Wygoda to arrest those who did not manage to deliver their quotas. My dad often had to buy bread to feed the whole family after he had delivered his quota. The Germans took great vengeance on the Polish population, sending innocent people to Majdanek and Auschwitz. In Wisznice, 30 men were shot in 1943. It was a horrifying experience.
The German occupation of Poland lasted for five years. Every Pole prayed to God for a quick end to the war. Finally, on 22 July 1944, the Germans gave up on our lands. There was a great commotion. People tried to save whatever they could, because they thought that the Germans would burn the whole village upon leaving. The Hungarians walked past. What a wretched nation. As they went, we could hear the loud cannon fire.
My uncle dug two shelters near the house, and I was staying [in one of them] with my mum. Dad took my sister and our horse into the woods, because the Germans ordered men to serve as cart drivers. The Germans who were sitting in the trees started shooting, thinking that they were Soviets. The bullets ended up hitting the ground a few steps in front of dad, but they didn’t hurt anybody other than many horses.
I heard the bombing, and I was very scared. At night, I was at home with mum, because it was raining. I heard a bridge being blown up by a huge explosion. I saw barracks burning in Wisznice, set on fire by the Germans. Our home was illuminated. While running away from Wygoda, the Germans also set fire to a car with gasoline barrels, which exploded with a loud bang.
On Sunday morning, a soldier came on a horseback; he was surrounded by our people and started asking questions. I ran up to him and saw that he was a Soviet soldier, our ally. I was happy to let mum know. The church bells started ringing, letting everybody know that Poland was free. In the church, the priest started singing God Thou Hast Poland. Thanks to Polish partisans and the Soviet troops, Poland was liberated from the [German] rule, as they wanted to conquer the whole of Europe.