Type of place

Information about the crime

On April 28, 1942, the Gestapo from Zakopane shot 12 Jews. The following people died:

Lowi Bochner, merchant

Izaak Buchman, 40, merchant

Mozes Buchsbaum, 45, merchant

Samuel Kaufamann, 35, office worker

Michał Mangel, 20, merchant

Scherwach Padterer, 22, synagogue warden

Jakub Steiner, 40, merchant

Szaja Unterberger, 55, farmer

Ryfka Unterberger, 20

Hersch Weizenhofer, 65, gravedigger

Zachariasz Zehngut, merchant

The bodies were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Krościenko in one grave measuring 4x3m.

The same event is mentioned by the Holocaust survivor from Krościenko, Salomon Suskind: „On April, 28, 1942, the Gestapo from Zakopane unexpectedly appeared tracking the communists. They Killed 12 Jews, including a young girl. On the same day there was an action in Szczawnica, they murdered 9 people, and in Ochotnica – 11. The bodies of the victims from Szczawnica were buried together with the victims in Krościenko in one mass grave in the Jewish cemetery in Krościenko. Names of those murdered in Krościenko: Ryfcia Unterberger, aged 23, Buchman Mojżesz, aged 50, Form Hirsch, aged 73, Kaufmann from Gdynia, Mangel Michał, aged 27, Stotter Moritz, aged 70, Zehngut, aged 45, Unterberger Szaja, farmer, aged 47, Landau Leib, aged 60, Steiner Natan, aged 38, Buchsbaum Izak,aged 34, Szmerl, aged 28. (IPN Kr 1/936)

On August 28, 1942, 22 people from Krościenko were murdered in the town of Krośnica. The bodies were buried in two graves by the river (dimensions 6×2 and 2×2 m). Among the victims were:

Sperling, 82, whitesmith, and his wife

Rachela Bauchman, 48, merchant

Abraham Shon, merchant

The wife of Shon

Dieler, 49, shochet

The wife of Dieler

Blima Stotter

Szaja Mangel, 40, merchant

Ryfka Mangel, 32

That is how Suskind remembered the liquidation of the Jewish community in Krościenko in the last days of August 1942: „August 30, 1942. The displacement from Krościenko. In the morning the Gestapo from Zakopane came. I was a messenger in the Polish community, I was on my way to work early in the morning and I was first that noticed that SS were breaking down the door of a family friend’s house. I ran home to warn my mother and sister (since the first action my father had not slept home, he was hiding in a peasant’s shed) but they did not manage to escape and my mother was shot outside of the house. My 19-year-old sister fainted at the sight of our mother’s body. The elders were caught (there was no youth, as they had been barracked in labor camps) and they shot them on the spot. They rounded up the escapees, drove their cars back and forth on the road to Nowy Targ, gathered the victims in a group and shot them near the forest in Krośnica. There were dead bodies all the way from Krościenko to Nowy Targ.” (IPN Kr 1/936)

On 1 October, 1945, A. Rudnicki, a judge, inspected the grave in the Jewish cemetery in Krościenko:

„In the cemetery in the place indicated by the gravedigger there are no signs that would determine the size of the grave. […] The gravedigger, Wojciech S. stated that he was present at the time of choosing the grave in which the Jews were later buried and that the grave measured 10×2 meters. The grave is located right at the entrance to the cemetery, on the left side, by the old wall.” (IPN Gk 163/10)

On this day died:

Chaim Bitterman b. 1880

Schifra Bitterman b. 1887

Etli Bitterman b. 1862

Hama Baumhol b. 1909

Samuel Baumhol b. 1901

The family of Buchsbaum:

Izaak b. 1890

Berta b. 1907

Joel b. 1865

Sara b. 1869

Blima b. 1906

Anna b. 1909

Mojżesz Buchman b. 1893

Regina Buchman b. 1890

Markus Diller b. 1886

Hama Form b. 1919

Salomea Form b. 1886

Hersch Form b. 1899

Chaim Goldman b. 1863

Estera Goldman b. 1883

Efraim Heller b. 1903

Baruch Kleinman b. 1875

Estera Kleinman b. 1874

Dawid Langsman

Langsman (the wife)

Langer Mozes, aged 50, clockmaker

Langer (the wife)

Menkch Mangel b. 1854

Mojżesz Mangel b. 1885

Sara Neugeschel b. 1874

Hana Trausing b. 1874

Blima Pasterer with her daughter and granddaughter

Helena Poznańska b. 1921

Perla Rastener b. 1899

Rachela Rubinstein b. 1880

Józef Siskind b. 1895

Malka Siskind b. 1886

Abraham Schon b. 1886

Beila Schon b. 1890

Maurycy Statter b. 1879

Hersch Stumberger b. 1869

Anna Stumberger b. 1874

Godel Susmann b. 1864

Sara Susmann b. 1887

Jakub Steiner b. 1902

Gusta Steiner b. 1902

Paweł Sonental b. 1890

Anna Sonental b. 1899

Aleksander Susmann b. 1877

Izaak Traubner b. 1895

Salomea Traubner b. 1893

Józef Trausing b. 1902

Szaja Unterberger b. 1893

Gizela Unterberger b. 1894

Wildfeur family: Dawid, aged 35, merchant and farmer, his wife, son and daughter

Pepka Ziegler b. 1894

Beijla Ziegler, aged 45, owner of a tobacco shop

An unknown shoemaker from Chochołów and his wife

Salomon Suskind also remembered the following events:

„In Krościenko, the Wildfener family, wife, husband and son were hiding among peasants. The peasants betrayed them and they were taken to the cemetery in Krościenko. A 14-year-old boy escaped. He was caught. He hit the face of the policeman, who was kicking and hitting him. The boy broke away and he fought a fight with these thugs until they beat him so much that he no longer had the power to defend himself. They dragged him half alive to the cemetery, where his parents’ bodies were already lying and shot him.The head of the village and the peasants from all over the town told me about the boy’s heroic deed.

A young woman Pasterer with her six-year-old daughter was hiding in the woods for several weeks. Once she went to the mountains to ask the peasant for bread. He welcomed her, told her to rest and he himself went for the policemen. She was taken with the child to the cemetery. The mother was shot and the child’s head was smashed against the cemetery wall.” (IPN Kr 1/936)

IDENTIFICATION OF THE GRAVE BASED ON NON INVASIVE RESEARCH

On April 9 – 10, 2018 the site inspections were carried out at the Jewish cemetery in Krościenko. The location of the Jewish cemetery is characterized by a steep hill with traditional burials. The place indicated as the area of mass burials is located in the south-eastern part of the cemetery. It is a flat area, located at the foot of the cemetery slope and close to the gate.

As a result of the aerial photography query, two archival photos were obtained with the reference number: GX12252 SK frame 84 and 85 taken on September 2, 1944. Aerial photos confirm numerous disturbances in the northern part of the cemetery, and also highlight the area indicated as the place of mass burials. In addition, there are clearly visible remains, probably of the former small building standing at the entrance gate.

GPR surveys of the indicated area confirm numerous ground disturbances. The designated GPR test zone, approx. 25.0 m long and approx. 7.70 m wide, contains a set of anomalies of various depths of approx. 1.0 – 1.5 m below ground level. The ground disturbances in this area are highly likely to be associated with mass burials of various formats. The presence of traditional burials in the study area cannot be ruled out either.

The LiDARsurvey clearly illustrates the steep slope of the cemetery and confirms numerous disturbances of the ground in the area indicated as the site of the mass graves.

Contact and cooperation

We are still looking for information on the identity of the victims and the location of Jewish graves in Krościenko. If you know something more, write to us at the following address: fundacjazapomniane@gmail.com.

Bibliography

Executions in the krakowskie voivodeship during the occupation in 1939-1945.

IPN Bu 2448/473 Surveys of The Chief Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Poland and the The Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Warsaw, collected in 1968-1972.

IPN Bu 2448/475 Surveys of The Chief Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Poland and the The Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Warsaw, collected in 1968-1972.

IPN Gk 163/10 Survey. Executions. Graves. Krakowskie voivodeship.

IPN Gk 163/10 Survey. Executions. Graves. Krakowskie voivodeship.

UW II 175 Survey on the course of warfare and the German occupation.

List of names of the residents of Krościenko murdered in the Holocaust. Prepared by the Centrum Foundation as part of the project: “People not numbers”.

IPN Kr 1/936 The Jewish Historical Institute Warsaw Reports.