Wola Wadowska | Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Destruction of Jews in Wola Wadowska

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:

Sand quarry

Memorials:

No

Period of occupation:

1939-1944

Number of victims:

13

Witness interview

Janina S., born in 1934: "Before the war, Wola Wadowska was a bit larger than it is today. There were a few Jewish residents, including Mejlech, Herszko, Szulim, and Sima, as well as others whose names I can’t recall. The Jews were primarily involved in trade—you know, they didn’t eat pork. I remember, as a little girl, seeing them bring calves from Radomyśl Wielki. But the Jews weren’t only traders; they also had other professions, such as lawyers and doctors. When I got frostbite on my legs as a child, it was a Jewish doctor from Radomyśl Wielki who treated and cured me. The Jews were wealthier than most Poles, which allowed them the means to pursue education. Jewish children, however, didn’t attend the same school as we did. I don’t know where their school was located. The house of prayer for Jews from Wola Wadowska was in Dąbrowa or Radomyśl Wielki, and they would go there to pray. My father’s sister, my aunt, hid three Jews from the village in her barn. Every evening, she secretly carried food to them in a bucket. Unfortunately, someone noticed her and reported her to the Germans. The Germans arrived, arrested two of the young Jews, and took them away, while the third—a man of advanced age—was shot behind the barn. My aunt was forced to transport his body to a place we called "the trenches," located in a field near the village. That land is no longer used today; a forest has grown there.” (Witness N°1198P, interviewed in Wola Wadowska, on November 30, 2020)

Polish Archives

Historical note

Wola Wadowska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wadowice Górne, within Mielec County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. It lies approximately 8 km (5 mi) west of Wadowice Górne, 18 km (11 mi) west of Mielec, and 65 km (40 mi) northwest of the regional capital, Rzeszów.

Little is known about the pre-war Jewish community of Wola Wadowska and Kosówka, which were part of a single village until 1947. According to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, before the outbreak of the war, Jews made up about 20% of the population in the surrounding villages, with Wola Wadowska hosting the largest Jewish community in the area. Several Jewish families lived there, including individuals such as Mejlech, Herszko, Szulim, and Sima. The Jewish residents were primarily engaged in trade, particularly the livestock trade, bringing calves from nearby Radomyśl Wielki.

Jewish children in Wola Wadowska did not attend the same schools as their Polish peers, though the exact location of their education remains unclear. The village had a synagogue, or "boznica," located near a bridge in Wola Wadowska, in a house owned by a Jewish man named Kurtz. Additionally, synagogues were situated in Radomyśl Wielki, about 13 km from Wola Wadowska. In 1939, Radomyśl Wielki was home to 2,517 Jews, making it one of the largest Jewish communities in the area. The nearest Jewish cemetery was also located in Radomyśl.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

German troops entered the district in September 1939. Little is known about the course of the Holocaust in Wola Wadowska, as historical sources often neglect the fate of such small Jewish communities. Available archives document the shooting of 18 Jews by the Germans in the fall of 1943, but unfortunately, the Yahad team was unable to locate a witness with detailed knowledge of this execution.

The fate of the rest of Wola Wadowska’s Jewish community remains unclear. One witness mentioned that at some point during the occupation, the Germans brought a group of Jews from Pilzno to Wola Wadowska, where they stayed briefly with local Jewish families before being deported to an unknown location. It is likely that any local Jews who could not hide were also deported at that time.

Thanks to two interviews conducted by Yahad, the fate of a group of 14 Jews from Wola Wadowska who sought shelter in the nearby village of Kosówka was partially reconstructed. This group, including at least three women—one of whom was in advanced pregnancy—dug an underground bunker into an embankment on a farmer’s land in Kosówka. According to a witness whose father was ordered by the Germans to bury the victims, the Germans, accompanied by the Navy-Blue Police, arrived in Kosówka on January 17, 1941. Several local peasants were forced to lead the Jews out of hiding.

The victims were lined up in a row and shot, first with a machine gun and then with individual pistol shots to ensure they were all dead. The bodies were buried in a mass grave in a nearby sand quarry, known locally as "the trenches." The following day, a group of requisitioned men was forced to load the bodies onto sledges and transport them to the burial site. Witnesses noted that the bodies were completely naked, likely due to their clothing being stolen by locals during the night.

In the 1980s, an exhumation took place, and the remains of thirteen victims were removed to an unknown location. Today, there is no memorial or commemoration at the killing or burial site.

Only one member of the group, a 14-year-old boy, managed to escape. Although wounded in the leg, he was seen in nearby villages such as Wierzchowiny, where he hid with a local farmer. In 1942, he fled to the Jamy forest and stayed there until September 1942, when a German round-up likely resulted in his death.

Nearby villages

• Mielec
• Czermin

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