Class 6
Wisznice
My experiences from the German occupation
The Germans tormented us for five years, and would have tormented even longer had it not been for the savior of our country – the Russian army. In 1943 [sic!], when the front was approaching, there was a lot of fear, as planes began to appear at night – flying way up high, twinkling like stars, and waking us up with their mighty roar. A few days later we could hear the thundering of cannons. The German occupiers began to dig trenches around our house as they planned to fight a battle there.
In the afternoon my sister, brother, aunt and I hastened to Curyn. I spent that night in Curyn. Shortly after, in the evening, as soon as I went to bed, a plane flew over and dropped a bomb. At first I didn’t know whether I was alive or had passed away. Some time later, when I realized that I was still alive, I thanked God for saving me and spent the night trembling with fear.
On the following morning my aunt, uncle, sister, brother and I were sitting in a trench, with bullets whizzing above our heads. In the afternoon the bullets were replaced with cannonballs. I stayed in the trench looking out for the one that would bring us death.
Later, when things got a bit more quiet, I left the trench and saw smoke rising above the horizon and forming dark clouds that resembled frothing waves during a storm at sea. I moved to the roadside in order to see our house being set on fire, as the houses of our neighbors were all in flames. I didn’t expect our home not to be set on fire, and yet it was spared by God’s grace.
On the next morning, as I was leaving the house, I saw our saviors on the road, the Soviets. [They saved us] from such horrible enemies, the Germans, who wanted to impose their German rule on the whole of Europe. I spent the afternoon in Curyn and then returned home, finally free from fear, as the horrible enemies had been driven away from our area.