Józefa Szubarczyk
Class 5b
Wisznice, Włodawa district
19 June 1946
My wartime experiences
On Saturday, 21 July 1944, the front line drew close to our village. Everybody was afraid, as we could hear the cannons firing.
In the evening, we saw an army walking down the road. There were cars, and people were standing in groups and staring. On Sunday, soldiers on horseback rode around, spotting where they could set up, and others followed with carts and ammunition. Many came to us, they set up everywhere, there were horses in the barn and carts in the yard.
Around noon, when the Soviets were firing often, everybody was looking for shelter. Dad and my brother were digging a shelter. I went to a friend’s place. I saw planes circling over us and I ran home. The Germans broke branches and covered their carts [with them]. They destroyed many of our cherry trees. Soldiers walked with big spools and stretched telephone wires across the field. Dad asked if they’d be here long, and they said they’d only stay for a day. Mum and I carried everything we had at home to the shelter. I was afraid of staying at home, because the Soviets were close and they were firing with cannons.
In the evening we all went to the shelter, there were three families there. We took a lot of food and water. At night, I fell asleep and heard nothing. When I got up in the morning, the Germans were gone. They took our neighbor’s horse. There were a lot of burnt cars along the road. Around noon, the Soviets came.