JANINA REK

Class VI
Elementary School in Ostojów
Błoto, 19 October 1946

My memory of German crimes

Among the many German crimes which I saw, one stands out particularly. It was in January 1944, on a Wednesday night at 23.00. A man, a decent gentleman, was hiding out in our quiet village. He was a partisan; he did not know what fate had in store for him. There were some people harassing him, and that night, when they saw that he would be staying in our village, they informed the gendarmes. In 10 minutes, he was surrounded by the enemy; since he couldn’t escape and was all alone and couldn’t defend himself, he was killed. Soon everyone knew that Albin Żołądek had been perished. I saw him and so did a great many other people, for this happened at our neighbor’s house.

He was buried behind the barn. We pity him even now, for he fought for the good of all and sacrificed his life for the motherland.