ADOLF MAKAREWICZ

Adolf Makarewicz
Class VI
Wisznice, Włodawa district, Lublin voivodeship
21 June 1946

Memories of the German occupation

We lived through a lot of fear during the war, because the Germans executed people in the villages and arrested many, and we were restless throughout the entire war. They did not arrest or kill anybody from our family – they only deported my older brother to Germany as a forced laborer.

The front line made a frightening impression. The Germans mounted their defenses, dug trenches, moved their troops, and set up cannons. People were running away with their belongings into the woods. We decided to stay home. [Eventually,] some Germans came to us and barged inside, ordering us to go to the forest. Dad said that the people in the forest were bandits, and that we were not bandits. Then the Germans calmed down and started asking for eggs to be cooked for them. The artillery started firing. Daddy asked if they would be there long, and they said two or three days. One German went with dad and told him that they would be gone soon and that the Soviets would come.