Wisznice, 19 June 1946
Irena Parchomiuk
Class 5b
Wisznice, Włodawa district
My wartime experiences
In 1944, the war started between Germany and Soviet Union. The Germans were catching people and forcing them to dig trenches. The front line was approaching, the fire of German and Soviet cannons grew louder and louder. On Saturday, 21 July, many German soldiers arrived, and they set up their guns in forests and bushes. There were many German cannons in Dąbrowa. The Russian troops started to approach, and the Germans panicked and set Polish buildings on fire, while German planes started bombing Soviet trenches. The Soviets were getting closer. The Germans had no support any more, so in a terrible commotion they started to set their cars with gasoline and ammunition on fire. The Soviets took over the entire area of Wisznice.
During the war, I saw the gendarmes shoot people. The labor office was catching young people and sending them to Germany for work. We were sitting in a trench during the war, I was crying because I was so afraid. We only heard the shells flying over our trench. A bomb fell about 200 meters away. On Monday, 23 August, we returned home. On Friday morning a German plane dropped three bombs on a field. The Germans took away butter, lard, meat, eggs and other products from smugglers.