Type of place

Information about the crime

During the German occupation in the close proximity to the village of Treszczotki in the borough of Narew the following events took place: “In the autumn of 1942 or in the early 1943 on the fields in the village of Treszczotki the wife and daughter of Icek Chajt were killed. [Icek Chajt was a blacksmith killed in Śliwowo in the spring of 1943, IPN Bi 408/185 part 2, p. 281]. In the winter of 1943 in the forest near the road leading to the village of Treszczotki the wife and daughter of pharmacist Pilc as well as Szejna Weldman were killed. (S 356/71: IPN Bi 1/534 and IPN Bi 1/535.)

These murders were described in more detail by the residents of the borough of Narew who in 1970s testified in the Białytok Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Poland: 

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Zofia Sz. testified on 22 May 1973: “At that time the wife of a pharmacist Pilc and her daughter were also hiding. She found out that her husband and son were shot and she came with her daughter to Narew. From what people were saying, they were stopped by the military policemen from Narew. […] I heard that at that time the military police stopped Szejna Wedman, a Narew resident of Jewish nationality. Then, all three Jewish women were driven away in the direction of the village of Treszczotki and shot in a young forest. […] Mrs Pilc was more or less the same age as her husband. She was about 50 years old, her daughter was 16-18 years old, Szejna Wedman was about 35 years old.” (S 33/15/Zn, p. 2-7)

Aleksandra Z. testified on 23 May 1973: “After Pilc’s death I heard that his wife and daughter were also captured. They were hiding separately and they were also shot by the military policemen from Narew, probably near Treszczotki.” (S33/15/Zn, p. 10-13)

In 2014 we visited Treszczotki twice and met Dymitr who, as an 8-year-old child, saw the shooting of a Jewish woman and her teenage daughter from a window. „The women were escaping to the forest but they didn’t reach it – they were shot by a military policeman who was standing near the road. The daughter was called Roza. Local people put their bodies on a cart and buried them in the forest.” (Treszczotki, 6 October 2014.)

Clearly, a murder of a mother and her daughter took place in Treszczotki. It is difficult to establish their identity and whether indeed in one village two similar murders- killings of mothers and daughters from two different families- took place in one village.

Those murders were also described in the testimonies of Michał B. on 10 September 1973 (S 15/16/Zn, p. 34-36) and of Eliasz W. on 17 September 1973 (S 15/16/Zn, p. 37-39.) The latter confirmed the information we received from the  current residents of the borough of Narew that the murdered women were allegedly buried in the forest in Klejniki. There are probably more forgotten Jewish graves in this forest.

Contact and cooperation

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

Bibliography

Recording of the Zapomniane Foundation (audio file), name: Dymitr [eyewitness], b. [brak], place of residence: Treszczotka, subject and keywords: Jewish graves in Treszczotki, interviewed by Agnieszka Nieradko, Treszczotka, 6 October 2014.

DS 356/71, The Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Białystok.

DS 33/15/Zn regarding the killings of civilians and prisoners of war from the occupied territory committed by gendarmes from a German gendarmerie post in Narew in the period 1941-1944, Report of the hearing of a witness – Zofia, 22 May 1973, p. 2-7.

S 33/15/Zn regarding the killings of civilians and prisoners of war from the occupied territory committed by gendarmes from a German gendarmerie post in Narew in the period 1941-1944, Report of the hearing of a witness – Aleksandra, 23 May 1973, p. 10-13.

sygn. S. 99/69, The Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Białystok, Report of the hearing of a witness – Włodzimierz, 28 June 1972, p. 6.

File no. S. 99/69, The Regional Commission for the Examination of German Crimes in Białystok, Report of the hearing of a witness – Eugenia, 12 November 1972, p. 11, 12.

File no. S. 99/69, Okręgowa Komisja Badania zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Białymstoku, Report of the hearing of a witness – Mikołaj, 29 May 1973, p. 30, 31.

sygn. S. 99/69, Okręgowa Komisja Badania zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Białymstoku, Report of the hearing of a witness – Michał, 10 September 1973, p. 34-36.

sygn. S. 99/69, Okręgowa Komisja Badania zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Białymstoku, Report of the hearing of a witness – Eliasz, 17 September 1973, p. 37-39.

IPN, sygn. S 15/16/Zn regarding the crimes committed by German officers from the Police station in Klejniki in 1941-44:

1. K. Bielski, Szkic miejsca rozstrzelania dwie (sic!) Żydówki w pobliżu wsi Treszczotki w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej, file no. S 15/16/Zn, p. 2.
2. Photograph 1 – a general view from the village of Treszczotki towards the village of Miękisze to the place of execution of 2 Jewish women near the village of Treszczotki, area Bielsk Podlaski during the German occupation.
3. Photograph 2 – a view towards the village of Treszczotki and the place of execution.
4. Photograph No. 3 – place of execution of two Jewish women near the village of Treszczotki by German gendarmes,  p. 3

IPN, The Branch Office of Document Access and Archiving in Warsaw, Institute of National Remembrance, file no. IPN Bi 012/850, IPN Bi 408/185, electronic copy of documents, number of cards: 673.