Type of place

Information about the crime

On 24 February 2025, we conducted a site inspection of the location where a young Jewish woman was murdered and buried. We were accompanied by local residents and Mr. Krzysztof Tusiewicz, the director of a documentary “Sonia”, about the history from Chomentów.

Tusiewicz recorded several dozen interviews with local residents and people originating from Chomentów. According to these accounts, from the second half of 1942, a labour camp for Jews from Jędrzejów operated in the village. Several dozen people stayed there, often entire families. Among them was the father of a murdered Jewish woman. They worked on road construction, brown coal mining and lime production. Some of them were accommodated in a school building.

“The site of the old school, of which only a photograph remains, still exists. Mr. Witek can show two locations where they were housed, where they lived – approximately, since one place was larger and the other smaller. They lived at the school… Men, women, entire families were held there. And children. Meanwhile, at Mr. S.’s place, there was an empty house where about ten single men stayed. Among these ten men was the father of Sonia. She had come to find him and provide him with help.” (24 February 2025)

Sometime after the establishment of the labor camp in Chomentów, a young woman appeared, claiming to be Sonia, the daughter of the sawmill owner. Our interviewees determined that she may have been one of the daughters of Józef Mauer and his wife Mania (Mala?) née Horowicz from Jędrzejów, who had three children: Samuel, Hena, and Mala. Sonia did what she could to help her father, buying him food. She stayed in Chomentów for about four months. In October 1942, the Jews in Chomentów were driven to the train station in Chęciny, from where they were transported to the Treblinka extermination camp. Sonia was murdered by the blue police and buried at the edge of a field by one of the villagers. At the time of her death, she was reportedly pregnant by one of the murderers.

“They met Bartłomiej K. and supposedly told him: She tried to run away from us, a Jewish woman. We had to shoot her. Please take her and bury her. Recently I met Bartłomiej K.’s daughter Halina, she lives in Jędrzejów. I ask her: Halina, what do you know about this? Are you familiar with the story of the Jewish woman? She says: Well, my father told me years later that one day two blue policemen came. And – she says – they brought a Jewish woman to our house. She was supposed to drink some tea, and then they went in this direction. And Halina tells me: He took my grandfather Bartłomiej and the two of them buried this Jewish woman here.” (February 24, 2025)

Contact and cooperation

We are still looking for information on the identity of the victims and the location of Jewish graves in Chomentów. If you know something more, write to us at the following address: kontakt@zapomniane.org.

Bibliography

IPN Wr 15/365, files concerning the declaration of death: Szternfeld Dwojra Laja, née Horowicz, father’s name: Jakub, born on July 1, 1902.

IPN Wr 15/364, files concerning the declaration of death: Mauer Machela, née Horowicz, father’s name: Jakub, born on May 10, 1986.

IPN Wr 15/368, files concerning the declaration of death: Horowicz Gienia, father’s name: Jakub, born in 1906.

IPN Wr 15/219, files concerning the declaration of death: Horowicz Aron alias Artur, father’s name: Jakub, born on December 17, 1880.

IPN Wr 15/366, files concerning the declaration of death: Horowicz Ksył, father’s name: Jakub, born on November 17, 1889.

IPN Ki 128/114, criminal case files against: Wacław Perek, father’s name: Tomasz, born on September 10, 1903, charged under Article 1 points 1 and 2 and Article 2 of the PKWN Decree of 31 August 1944 on punishment of Nazi-facist criminals guilty of murder and abuse of the civilian population and prisoners of war, as well as traitors to the Polish Nation, that in 1941 in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he acted to the detriment of Władysław Wtorek, Weronika Kamińska and Piotr Kamiński; in 1943, in Miąsowa, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the murder of Władysław Juszczyk; in the autumn of 1942, in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the deportation of Polish citizens of Jewish nationality to the ghetto.

IPN Ki 128/115, criminal case files against: Wacław Perek, father’s name: Tomasz, born on September 10, 1903, charged under Article 1 points 1 and 2 and Article 2 of the PKWN Decree of 31 August 1944 on punishment of Nazi-facist criminals guilty of murder and abuse of the civilian population and prisoners of war, as well as traitors to the Polish Nation, that in 1941 in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he acted to the detriment of Władysław Wtorek, Weronika Kamińska and Piotr Kamiński; in 1943, in Miąsowa, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the murder of Władysław Juszczyk; in the autumn of 1942, in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the deportation of Polish citizens of Jewish nationality to the ghetto.

IPN Ki 128/116, criminal case files against: Wacław Perek, father’s name: Tomasz, born on September 10, 1903, charged under Article 1 points 1 and 2 and Article 2 of the PKWN Decree of 31 August 1944 on punishment of Nazi-facist criminals guilty of murder and abuse of the civilian population and prisoners of war, as well as traitors to the Polish Nation, that in 1941 in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he acted to the detriment of Władysław Wtorek, Weronika Kamińska and Piotr Kamiński; in 1943, in Miąsowa, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the murder of Władysław Juszczyk; in the autumn of 1942, in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as an officer of the Polish police, he participated in the deportation of Polish citizens of Jewish nationality to the ghetto; in 1943, in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as a blue police officer, together with Wincenty Kot, he murdered Manuel Godlewski, a Polish citizen of Jewish nationality.

IPN Ki 128/113, criminal case files against: Wacław Perek, father’s name: Tomasz, born on September 10, 1903, charged under Article 1 points 1 and 2 and Article 2 of the PKWN Decree of 31 August 1944 on punishment of Nazi-facist criminals guilty of murder and abuse of the civilian population and prisoners of war, as well as traitors to the Polish Nation, that in 1943, in Sobków, Jędrzejów district, as a blue police officer, together with Wincenty Kot, he murdered Manuel Godlewski, a Polish citizen of Jewish nationality.

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), Krzysztof Tusiewicz and Witold K., interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko and Andrzej Jankowski, Chomentów, February 24, 2023.

“Sonia,” directed by Krzysztof Tusiewicz – YouTube link

The materials published on this website were developed, digitized, and made available thanks to funding from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage through the Culture Promotion Fund, as well as support from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Warsaw, which also enabled the creation of the English-language version of the website.