Alfreda Jakubczyk
Class 6
Public Elementary School of the Third Degree in Chęciny
What the common graves tell us
Our homeland endured five and a half years of German captivity. Many cities, towns and villages, formerly flourishing with life, have been reduced to rubble and ruin by the hand of the Nazi invaders. Many settlements, so bustling before, have become deserted, and today stretch [only] the arms of chimneys towards the sky. Much destruction was left behind by the enemy, but the greatest [were] the hundreds of thousands of murdered who died only because they felt Polish, because they loved their homeland above all life. Across forests, fields and cemeteries, heroes lie quietly in common graves, murdered by German thugs, often cruelly. Every day we hear of the discovery of more and more common graves, traces of German barbarism, and then, in spite of ourselves, we clench our fists at this eternal enemy of Polishness and Poland. For this enemy, who always proclaimed that there was respect for human dignity in their country, turned out to be the despicable murderer of many lives. As we look at these graves of the murdered, we must remember one thing: that this slaughter of the innocent was not in vain. We will follow in your footsteps, dear brothers. Sleep tight. We will never forget you. Hail to you, silent heroes!