Józefa Lewczuk
Class 4
Wisznice, Włodawa district
19 June 1946
My wartime experiences
In 1944, the front was passing through our country. The Germans were fleeing and the Soviets were chasing them; on the way they destroyed buildings and mined bridges and roads. People fled to the forest to get out of their way.
I was sick then, so I was lying in bed, and mom had to be with me. Daddy was in the forest with a cow. The field gendarmerie took people to dig trenches. Mom fell into their hands [too], but she ran off. She hid for a few hours in the rye. The gendarmes fired a few shots, and when then stopped, mommy left the rye. Then we went to the forest, where it was safe. We just watched the fires. We didn’t sleep all night, and the Soviets arrived the next morning. We never saw the Germans again.