Zofia Garbal
1st Public Elementary School in Suchedniów
My memories of German crimes
I remember [that] it was a hot July day. In the morning, my sister and I were going to the forest to pick blueberries. We were ready to go. Suddenly, from the direction of the forest, we heard the sounds of machine gun shots. Series after series, more and more frequent. We stopped near the forest anxiously. We returned home. Alarmed by the shots, all the men quit their jobs. Concerned, they looked in the direction from which the sounds of shots came. Everyone guessed one thing – it’s probably our partisans fighting the Germans. Some trembled all over. Everyone knew what could happen to us after such a fight.
Suddenly, clouds of black smoke appeared over the forest. We all understood what that meant. Michniów was on fire. Details unknown, but it was certain that Michniów was on fire. We all thought it was about to happen to us as well. People walked sad, women and children cried. The scariest thing was that none of us could help the dying. We went through terrible moments of uncertainty and anticipation.
In the afternoon, we received news that the German Gestapo had arrested all the youth of Michniów, who had been transported in cars in an unknown direction. People who did not manage to escape into the neighboring forests were burned alive in their own homes. In the evening, the surviving remnants of the population of Michniów took shelter in our village. They couldn’t speak for fear. Not a single house or barn remained in the entire village. Only the chimneys and the skeletons of burnt trees stood, which, moved by the wind, sang dirges for the dying. This news chilled the hearts of all Poles in Suchedniów. A black raven caws on the graves of the murdered.