Type of place

Information about the crime

On 22 July 2015 together with the mayor of Radwany-Zaorze we conducted a site inspection of a clearing in a forest where, according to the mayor, a forgotten Jewish grave is located. Bodies of a Jewish family rest there (a woman with two children or two adults with a child.) As a primary school pupil the mayor visited the grave site with teachers and other schoolchildren. At that time there was still a mound of which now there is no trace.

A resident of Radwany (born in 1930) we met on the same day specified: “Germans killed three young Jews. When Germans were still [here] and I went to pick mushrooms, people were going there to look. They were still not buried properly. They [the Jews] used to come to the village. They were young – the boy was maybe 16, and two girls – one of them very young, maybe 10 years old. They used to come to our village (I used to live in Mroczki) in the evenings to get some milk. My mum would give them some. They were hiding in the forest, in a dug-out. They were killed and left lying there. They escaped to the forest but all of them were killed. Maybe they were siblings. Military policemen were driving from Prosienica and they… It was in the summer, I think.” (Radwany, 22 July 2015.)

According to our interlocutors, the murdered Jews could have been the Bobcuk family from Prosienica. It is not known, however, whether it was their real surname or a nickname.

In the Register of the Crime Places and Facts there is information about a murder of three Jews by military policemen, including one child, in Radwany, 30 metres away from the road leading from Radwany to Mroczki. The bodies were buried at the place of execution.

The location of the grave remains unknown to this day.

Contact and cooperation

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

Bibliography

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), name: – [witness to the story], place of residence: Radwany-Zaorze, b. 1930, subject and keywords: Jewish graves in Radwany, interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko, Radwany, 22 July 2015.

The register of sites and crimes committed by the Germans in Poland between 1939 and 1945. Łomżyńskie province, Warsaw 1955, p. 169.

In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this research project. Through recovering the assets of the victims of the Holocaust, the Claims Conference enables organizations around the world to provide education about the Shoah and to preserve the memory of those who perished.