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1 Killing site(s)
Anastazy B., born in 1931: "I know that at least one Jewish family lived in Racławice before the war, as was the case in every neighboring village. All of the Jewish residents in these surrounding villages were farmers. Before the Second World War, I lived in Miroszów, a village located about 6 km from Racławice. The Jewish Lewkowicz family lived just a few houses away from ours. It was a large family; the father, known as ’Bojka,’ was an elderly man who was not only a farmer but also served as the local rabbi. Jews from nearby villages would gather at his house on Saturdays to pray. During the war, the members of the Lewkowicz family met different fates: some were sent to ghettos where they perished, others were held in the labor camp at the school in Racławice, and eventually shot, and others survived helped by the Poles." (Witness N°YIU1270P, interviewed in Racławice, on September 27, 2021)
Racławice, Jerzmanowice County
"July 1943: The Nazis shot the Lewkowicz family of five. The bodies were buried at the site of the execution." [source: AGK, Ankieta GK "Egzekucje" pow. Olkusz, woj. Krakowskie]
Racławice is a village located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the seat of the municipality (Gmina Racławice) within Miechów County.
Little is known about the pre-war Jewish community of Racławice. Witness accounts mention at least one Jewish family living in the village before the war, but their fate remains uncertain. However, the witness further recalled that after the war, descendants of this Jewish family came to the village and contacted him, asking him to show them the former house and property that had belonged to their family. This suggests that at least part of the Jewish family from Racławice survived the war.
Racławice and its surrounding areas were occupied by German troops in early September 1939. Following the establishment of ghettos in nearby regional centers such as Działoszyce and Miechów, the majority of Jewish residents from Racławice and the surrounding villages were relocated there between 1941 and 1942.
A group of Jews remained in Racławice as forced laborers. This group consisted not only of local Jews but also of individuals from surrounding localities, including two boys from the Lewkowicz family from nearby Miroszów. These young Jews, deemed fit for work, were detained in the local school building. Under German guard, they were forced to work on the construction of the highway toward Skalbmierz, where they operated machinery to crush stone for the roadbed. While local children occasionally brought them bread, the workers were eventually moved to an unknown location as the liquidation of the labor camp progressed. Those who attempted to escape were hunted down and shot. Anastazy B., born in 1931, helped identify the approximate location of the graves of three Jewish prisoners, including a Jewish man and two members of the Lewkowicz family.
Anastazy B. described the death of a Jewish man who attempted to escape from the camp into the fields. Chased by the Germans, the man, who was reportedly ill at the time, was shot “higher up in the fields” and buried in a pit where he fell. As of today, his burial site remains unmarked.
Regarding the Lewkowicz family, archival records and witness testimonies differ on the exact location of their killing. According to Polish archival records, the family of five was shot and buried in Racławice in July 1943. However, local memory contests this. According to Anastazy B., two Lewkowicz men were shot and buried in a field between the villages of Miroszów and Kropidło.
Available archival accounts also describe cases of aid given to Jews by locals from Racławice. Maria Stochel, née Lewkowicz, is one of the notable survivors from the Racławice area, where she successfully evaded the occupation by remaining in hiding throughout the war. Her survival was facilitated by her fiancé, Antoni Stochel, and the village head (sołtys), Melchior Pomierny. Although Pomierny held an official position under the occupying administration, he provided Maria with food and warnings of impending German searches. Maria was sheltered by Pomierny’s cousin, Jan Pomierny, throughout the duration of the war.
For more information about the fate of the Jewish community of Miroszów, please follow the corresponding profile.
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