Type of place

Information about the crime

In February 2023, the Jewish Historical Institute forwarded to the Foundation a letter from Mr. Adam C., in which the author reported the existence of an unmarked Jewish grave from the Holocaust in Chylin Wielki, lubelskie voivodeship. “I am writing to the Institute regarding a great matter concerning a long-past crime committed against your people. The crime was perpetrated by the German military policemen, probably from the post in Cyców, in the village of Chylin Wielki, Wierzbica borough, Chełm district, lubelskie voivodeship. An unmarked mass grave of approximately 10 people, located between Chylin and Władysławów, remains uncommemorated. The victims came from Lublin or Warsaw and were hiding in this area. My mother, Wacława J., who lived in Chylin at the time, witnessed the crime. […] The crime was committed during World War II in the vicinity of Chylin. The victims were shot by the perpetrators, and one of the girls, while attempting to escape, drowned in a ditch in the meadows near the village. Later, the farmer was forced to remove the bodies. He took them to the forest in his cart and buried them in World War I bomb crater. My mother often went there with her brother while grazing cows in the Chylin colony.” (February 2023)

In the spring of the same year, we carried out a site inspection of the alleged burial location and met with Ms. Wacława, who provided information about the location:

“Three spruces grew there, and there was a beautiful trench, maybe postwar, cfrom 1918, you know. My brother and I – I was 13, and he was three years older – were herding cows, and they carried them stacked on a cart. And after they left, we used to go there.

– Do you remember how many people were killed?

– I don’t remember, it was in Chylin, in the village. They took them from the village to the river nearby, and I lived in the colony. They threw them onto the cart, in their clothes, with blood dripping.

– Where could they have been transported from?

– They shot them near Chylin, then took a cart and laid down some planks…

– Were the victims adults, or were there children as well?

– There was likely a girl, about 6 years old. I even saw her myself. They were from Warsaw and nicely dressed. They were hiding wherever they could. And she probably wasn’t shot, because they lined them up by the river and fired, but she just drowned.” (Chylin Wielki, 2023)

Other local residents we spoke with said that the burial site was fenced with a low fence after the war. We were unable to determine when the murder occurred. Our interviewees recalled only that “the weather was warm then.”

Ms. Wacława remembered Jewish families in Chylin before the war: “They had a cart, they had horses, they used to buy eggs. They had a cellar where they stored milk to keep it cool. hey were always involved in trade. They bought chickens and cows, and did shoemaking. They lived in Chylin. I don’t know how many families. A girl named Esta went to school with me.” (Chylin Wielki, 2023)

On the same day, we also met a resident of Chylin whose family owned a piece of forest near the burial site of the victims of the execution.

“They were supposed to bury them here, in this pit, but my mother asked them not to, because it would frighten the children. So they took them further away. I remember that when we were grazing cows here, there were pits there. My father and grandmother told us that Jews had been buried there.

– How many people do you think might have been buried there?

– I’m not sure. There were little children as well.

– So, families?

– Yes, families. My brother Janek was 7, I was 5. When he witnessed the killing of those Jews, he got scared, cried a long time, couldn’t sleep. He said a little girl was holding onto her mother’s neck. Little Jewish girl. And they were being killed.” (Chylin Wielki, Spring 2023)

IDENTIFICATION OF THE GRAVE BASED ON NON INVASIVE RESEARCH

On April 3, 2023, a site inspection was carried out in the presence of a witness to determine the area of a mass grave containing 10 victims. The area is so large that precise determination of the grave’s location is not possible today.

(Approximate GPS coordinates: N 51°17.299′ E 023°18.189′)

The LiDAR survey was not helpful in that case.

The aerial photography query for this area wasn’t ordered.

Contact and cooperation

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

Bibliography

Letter from Adam C., dated February 16, 2023, to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), Wacława J., interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko, Chylin Wielki, spring 2023.

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), Ms. G., interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko, Chylin Wielki, spring 2023.

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.