Type of place

Information about the crime

On February 2, 2022, we conducted a site inspection of the forest hideout where a Jewish couple from Kosów Lacki had been hiding for an unspecified period. At the site, we met the W. couple, who showed us the location of the hideout, next to which the bodies of the victims were probably buried.

“Woman: My husband said there was a Jewish family in the forest. But what happened to them, whether they were killed or escaped, no one knows.

Man: Apparently, they were murdered.

Zapomniane: Was that Jewish family from Kosów?

Man: Yes.

Zapomniane: Do you know what their names were?

Man: No. All I know is that there were two of them, a married couple.

Zapomniane: Two adults?

Man: Yes. They had a dugout. […] It has collapsed; a hole is now visible there. Everything had collapsed.

Zapomniane: Do you know where that dugout was?

Woman: My husband knows, because we showed him.

Zapomniane: How long did they stay in that dugout? Do we know anything about that?

Woman: No one knows. There are stories that they came to the village to get food. This woman would come. She came, and the man stayed there. But how long it went on, nobody knows. Well, maybe someone knew, but they are all gone now. All we have are stories.

Zapomniane: Were they buried somewhere near that dugout?

Woman: I don’t know where. No one really knows. All we know is that there is a pit here, that they were here, they lived here, this was where they stayed.

Zapomniane: Did the Germans arrive from some outpost?

Woman: But no one knows who killed them. Whether it was some informers from the village, or someone reported them to the German military police station – nobody knows, because those who might have known are no longer alive.

Zapomniane: But is it certain that they were murdered?

Woman: Yes. It is certain.” (February 2, 2022)

IDENTIFICATION OF THE GRAVE BASED ON NON INVASIVE RESEARCH

On 2 February 2023, an site inspection was carried out at the location (GPS: N52°37.880′ E022°09.788′) indicated as as the victims’ hideout and the area containing the grave of two victims (see photos 1, 2 and 3 of the location). The precise location of the victims’ burial site could not be determined.

The LiDAR survey is not helpful in this case.

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 Tosie. If you know something more, write to us at the following address: kontakt@zapomniane.org.

Bibliography

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), W. couple, interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko and Aleksander Schwarz, Tosie, February 2, 2022.

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.