My father's cousin had no children. They lived alone with their wife, they were very rich. Once he took horses and went into the field to plow, because despite what was happening, you had to work to get grain and milk cards for which you could buy food – says Józefa. – He's been gone a long time. Then a neighbor came to my aunt and told her: „Karol, go to the field for the horses, because Mikołaj no longer has”. My aunt asked: „Why isn't there? What happened?”. The neighbor did not answer. They came back with the horses and then she took my aunt to one place. There, my uncle was tied to a tree. They tied my uncle and cut his body into strips. They cut like a pig! For meat! To the bone! Live. – Tears run down Mrs. Józefa's cheeks. I try to break the conversation for a moment and bring up another topic, but the woman asks for a moment of silence and continues. – How was my father still alive, Ruthenian comes on horseback and says to him: „Come here for me. And there are no flags at the tie?”. We had a band a few meters from us, but my father was afraid to say and replied that he wasn't there. He took out the photos and showed us little children, the ones up to one year old, all nailed to the fence, with their heads and hands lowered. I can see these photos until today. – admits Józefa. – Yes, you have survived everything. I do not remember the present times as much as what I experienced. The woman remembers one more situation: – Brother Roman was 11 years old. Dad was already dead. I went with my brother to my family to ask for a night. It was a Ukrainian who married my aunt. She told us that we had to ask him for permission. So I went and asked. He stands up, looks me in the eye and says: „What? Are fears falling on Lachy ?!”. At first I was struck by my uncle. But I was saucy and couldn't stand it. I answered him: „You, your mother, the time will come for you!”. And we ran away. But my mother screamed at me then. She said she would come at night and kill us now. The Buczacz district was situated on the front line. When the front was retreating, the Germans entered, when it moved forward, there were Russians. – When the Russians came, it was good. We were able to sleep at home. We were safe. Thanks to them we survived – says Józefa. – The Russians promised us that we would leave the village, that we were to go to the station near Buczacz and wait for the wagons. After we went, we waited about a month there. When the Ukrainians found out that we were there, they took scythes, pitchforks, and went to us to murder us. Even women with scythes went to kill. Then the Russian army arrived. It killed them so much that the blood flowed in streams. In 1945, families from Mateuszówka and other villages got into the carriages. Ten families and one cow in a wagon. – When the train started, we all knelt down and sang „Dear Mother”, today I want to cry. What a cry it was, what a lament it was. We were driving nowhere. But he is alive. – adds Józefa. They left at the end of February. After two months, with week–long stops at sidings, they reached Biłgoraj in the Lubelskie Voivodeship. PS At the request of the heroine of the text, we changed her name. today I want to cry. What a cry it was, what a lament it was. We were driving nowhere. But he is alive. – adds Józefa. They left at the end of February. After two months, with week–long stops at sidings, they reached Biłgoraj in the Lubelskie Voivodeship. PS At the request of the heroine of the text, we changed her name. today I want to cry. What a cry it was, what a lament it was. We were driving nowhere. But he is alive. – adds Józefa. They left at the end of February. After two months, with week–long stops at sidings, they reached Biłgoraj in the Lubelskie Voivodeship. PS At the request of the heroine of the text, we changed her name.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – November 1944”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Hryniewicz Renata, „Friendship, murder, nights in the snow. There are wounds that bleed to this day” – at the request of the heroine of the text, her name was changed

A Pole named Walerek was murdered.
„Mrs. Józefa was born in tiny Mateuszówka, Buczacz county, Tarnopol voivodship. About a hundred people lived there, mostly Poles. She grew up at home with her parents and two brothers. They had a farm where everyone worked.
We were a happy, loving family – says Józefa. – Although the village belonged to Poland, The Ukrainians also lived there. And we even had a good life. We invited each other on Christmas Eve, went to school together, to play. We got married to each other. Yes, I remember it well.
The story about the difficult life of Józef's family begins calmly, without emotions: – The Poles had their own church, and the Ukrainians wanted to make an Orthodox church for themselves. Maybe a hundred meters from the church they took stones and built them. A Ukrainian priest came to Mateuszówka. I was 14 then and like kids, we ran to see what was happening. The priest celebrated the mass and shouted: «Long live Ukraine! Fame to Ukraine!». He also said: «Then Ukraine will be ours, when we harvest the tares from the wheat and deport Lachy/Poles». Parents began to whisper that something would be wrong. And it wasn't good anymore.
Mrs. Józefa starts to get nervous, she rubs her face with her hands. He focuses and continues: – And that's how it started. The Ukrainians attacked at night. It was a group not only from Mateuszówka, but also from other nearby villages. Among them were neighbors who had previously eaten Christmas Eve dinners with Polish families. They were good and bad. which some helped us and some murdered like animals. Families began to sleep outside the home out of fear. The eldest brother left for the county, to Buczacz. And we took corn sheaves, whatever clothes we could, and went to sleep in the field. It lasted from summer to December when winter was already harsh. Mom covered us like hen chickens to keep us warm. As it got light, we went home but didn't go in. First, we checked if the padlock was hanging, because Banderites often broke into houses and murdered families,
who were returning from «nights out» – Ms Józefa recalls.
He thinks for a moment. He tries to put his thoughts together to accurately recall the events of 1944. – There was a guard in the village, one who guarded the village, someone like a policeman. He was very tall, maybe two meters. He came to see my dad and mum almost every day, they were friends. But one day, some time after he left us, his wife came and said: «Kaźmierz, did you not see my Walerek?». Father replied that he was here, but had already gone. Towards evening, my uncle ran to us with his hand and said that it must be Walerka's hand. The dog brought her. Then Walerk's wife was looking for a husband. We thought it was to no avail. We were wrong. On December 8, 1944, Józefa's father died of pneumonia. Probably got sick during those «nights out». It was probably a day or two after the dog brought Valerka's hand. The priest was gone we called the family and neighbors together and went to the cemetery to bury my father. When we got there, we saw Valerka's wife at the dug for my father. She was crying terribly. Mom approached her and asked why she was crying so much. She looked down and paused. We all approached. There was a body, or rather human flesh, with a throat cut out on top.
It was terrifying! Mrs. Józefa raises her voice. – I'll never forget that. The sight was gruesome! To this day I dream at night. Walerka's wife asked the family to bury the dead together for the sake of friendship. It happened  […]
My father's cousin had no children. They lived alone with their wife, they were very rich. Once he took horses and went into the field to plow, because despite what was happening, you had to work to get grain and milk cards for which you could buy food – says Józefa. – He's been gone a long time. Then a neighbor came to my aunt and told her: «Karol, go to the field for the horses, because Mikołaj no longer has». My aunt asked: «Why isn't there? What happened?». The neighbor did not answer. They came back with the horses and then she took my aunt to one place. There, my uncle was tied to a tree. They tied my uncle and cut his body into strips. They cut like a pig! For meat! To the bone! Live. – Tears run down Ms Józefa's cheeks”.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – December 1944 and "in 1944"”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Hryniewicz Renata, „Friendship, murder, nights in the snow. There are wounds that bleed to this day”; in: portal: Gazeta Lubuska — web page: plus.gazetalubuska.pl [accessible: 2021.01.28]