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2 Execution site(s)
Witness Franciszek K. recounts:
“(…) One day, the Germans arrested all the Jews and gathered them next to a school. They surrounded them with cordons [of soldiers]. They [the Jews] had to stick together. If someone left the cordon, he was immediately shot. Others had to draw [his body]… A pit was dug behind the road and they threw the bodies there. Sometimes, they [the Germans] searched houses during the day and they still found some remaining Jews. These Jews were directly killed, they weren’t even brought to the school or near the pit (…) They gathered them together during the day and they killed them next to that school. Then, they took them to the Jewish cemetery (…)” (Witness N°19, interviewed in Łomazy, on July 28, 2010)
Court inquiries about executions and mass graves
1. Date and place of execution: forest called “Haly”; August 1942; village of Łomazy
2. Type of execution (shooting, hanging or other): shooting;
3. Personal data of the executed victims (Polish, Jews, other nationalities): Jews;
Number of executed victims: about 1500 people;
Origin of the victims: village of Łomazy
[Deposition of Andrzej K.,born in 1897, the mayor of Łomazy; GK 163/12]
The Jews started to settle down in Lomazy, most likely during the second half of the sixteenth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, there were almost 1.800 Jews living in the village, which represented 56% of the entire population. They were mostly traders and artisans. In Lomazy, there were some industries run by the Jews, for example a tannery, a candle and soap factory, an oil factory etc. After World War I, the population in Lomazy decreased because of the difficult economic situation.
In 1940, the Nazis created a ghetto in Lomazy. It was located on Małobrzeska street. All Jewish possessions were confiscated. The Nazis forbade Jews from leaving their residences, except for work. In May of 1942, about 1700 Jews from Lomazy and many other towns and villages (Serock, Suwalki, Wisniowa Gora, Rossosz, Opole-Podedworze, Slawatycze and from Warsaw) were placed in that ghetto.
The liquidation of the ghetto took place in August 1942. On August 17 or 18, 1942, the Gendarmes from the Wisznice and Sławatycze posts, as well as a small SS contingent from Biała Podlaska, and eventually a contingent of Ukrainian SS soldiers from Trawniki began to gather the Jews together in the local schoolyard. The Jews who were too old or frail to walk were shot dead at this location and the rest was brought to “Haly” woods. About 40-60 men were chosen to dig a pit there. Once the pit was ready, the Jews were led in columns of 200-300 people to the execution site. The shooting lasted until the evening. The pit was covered by several Jews who were shot at the very end of the execution. After the liberation, the victims’ bodies were taken from the place of martyrdom and buried in the Jewish cemetery. According to Hipolit K., born in 1928, dozens of Jews were also killed in the Jewish cemetery of Lomazy: “The first victims were shot here, in the Jewish cemetery. There were three of them, they were called Berki. I saw the Germans bringing them to the cemetery.”
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Read Yahad-In Unum’s report of the research trip in this area