Type of place

Information about the crime

In autumn 2025, we received a report about the existence of an unmarked mass grave in Wola Rafałowska. Rozalia Socha, a resident of the village, had provided shelter to a group of Jews from Albigowa and Zabratówka. On September 12, 1942, the hideout was discovered, and the Jews staying there were murdered. Rozalia Socha was not at home that day; she was killed three months later, on December 19.

Wanda W.:
“During the occupation, I was a little girl attending primary school. On my way to school, I would pass by Rozalia Socha’s house. I remember that Socha was hiding Jews at her house, and that the Jews were shot by the Germans. I saw their bodies when I was walking home from school. […] I saw their bodies when I was walking home from school. […] I know that one of the Jewish women who managed to escape is now living in the United States.

Walenty S.:
“About half a kilometre from our house lived my aunt Rozalia Socha, who was about 63 years old. She was single and very poor. As I learned from her, she had sheltered seven Jews in her attic for several months, five from Albigowa and two from Zabratówka. I did not know the names of the Jews from Albigowa, I only remember that it was a married couple aged around 40, two children aged 5 and 6, and one unrelated Jewish woman. I also do not know the names of the Jews from Zabratówka, I only know that they were siblings named Efroim and Rojza, aged 28 and 30. The Jews did not go outside; my aunt brought everything up to the attic. On September 13, 1943, around 10 a.m., my neighbours told me that four German military police officers had arrived in the village. […] The Germans shot the Jews that my aunt had been hiding, but they did not find her. Her closest neighbor, Wojciech H., dug a large pit and, as far as I remember, dragged the bodies of five of the murdered Jews to its edge to bury them. One or two Jewish women managed to escape.”

Marek M.:
“One day in the autumn of 1942, I was looking in the direction of Rozalia Socha’s house. I couldn’t see the house itself, as it is behind a hill, but I noticed an unknown girl running away from her house. After a while, I heard several shots coming from her house. […] After the Germans left, I saw Wojciech H. and Stanisław C. burying the bodies of several Jews, about seven, but I didn’t count them.”

The justification for the decision to discontinue the investigation of 12 October 1971 stated that on 13 September 1942, at around 10 o’clock, several German military police officers arrived in Wola Rafałowska by cart and went to Rozalia Socha’s house. She was not at home at the time. The Jews hiding at her house noticed the approaching military police, and one or two of the Jewish women fled into the forest. After entering Socha’s house, the military police shot the remaining five or six Jews and then ordered neighbours to dig a pit near Socha’s house and bury their bodies. (Ds. 14/70)

Contact and cooperation

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

Bibliography

II Ds. 14/70 – execution of Rozalia Socha on August 4, 1943, in Wola Rafałowska by the military police for hiding Jews.

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