I was born in 1922 in Wołyń in the village of Witosówka, we were all close. Together Poles and Ukrainians, both children and adults, there was no difference between Poles and Ukrainians. They even married each other  […] At the same time, the nearby villages of Perczyn, Budy, Buderaż started to burn, and shots were heard, which meant that the Ukrainians were murdering the people living there. Together with my mother, we started to persuade my father to flee to Dubno as soon as possible, if we do not go, the Bandera followers will also come to us and murder everyone. Father started to reassure us that it is too late, if we go now, we will enter their hands alone, we should wait somewhere in secret and go to Dubno, „during the day, which will be”. That night we didn't even spend the night in our own backyard, we went to the neighboring forest, to the very edge. No one knows where to hide, where to stay, every bush is uncertain, a bandit may be lurking behind every tree. Right behind the forest there was rye, and in the life of the bush, my parents were hiding under this bush, I climbed the cherry that grew there. Even though it didn't have leaves yet, I thought I would be safe on it. It was not long before Pentecost. In the evening, when it got dark, next villages started to burn, you can hear shots, howling dogs. After two weeks, my father decided that we had to go back and take the pig with the piglets. We went in the evening, because you have to lock the pig in a pigsty in the evening when it comes back from the pasture, and take it in the morning. We come to our neighbor Hnatiuk Hrycko, my father asked if he could leave his horses in the yard (explaining why he had come). The neighbor not only agreed to leave the horse, but also fed him and led him under a roof. He also offered us accommodation, for which we thanked, but we will go to sleep. When we got home, the animals were already in the pen, so we locked them so they wouldn't run away in the morning. We went to the neighboring forest ourselves, we also met Poles and neighbors there – Bolesław Doliński and his mother. We sat under the bush to wait until morning. Around midnight, the neighbors suggested that we hide in the barn with another neighbor – a Ukrainian, it will be warmer. Father: – And what will happen when we meet Bandera? As soon as he spoke these words, shooting broke out. The Polish village of Dłużek is already burning next to us. We run away because they will see us here, we run away to the Smordewski forest. We hid in this forest and waited until morning. We saw where it was burning, we heard shots, cattle roar, chickens scream, in the morning the shooting intensified. The Polish family of the Kraszewski lived in this town and it was this family that was murdered by the Ukrainian bandits. When I was in Dubno, I saw how they brought twelve or maybe fifteen men (I don't remember exactly), murdered by Ukrainians. They placed coffins in the square, there was also a speech, but I don't remember where they were murdered. Another time I remember, it was in the summer, they brought three people murdered from Mieczysławówka, grandmother, grandfather and granddaughter (maiden), the body cut with knives. They placed the bodies in a small room on the main street and lay there for several days. Some looked with regret, but there was also one who said: It's for soap. (The murder took place in August 1943, perhaps it concerns the Maruszewski family – footnote from Ś.Ż). Another case is our neighbor from Witosówka, Sokołowski. Like most Poles, he also had to flee the countryside to Dubno, and then travel to the countryside for food and animal feed. This is how he commuted with his son, and even several times it happened that he stayed at his neighbors' house, because he had several machines, such as: a thresher, a reaper, and he helped them in the harvest. After some time only the horses returned to Dubno. The family tried to find them, but all they found was his son's body, he had twenty nails stuck in his head. I also know the Zaremba family who live in Nidzica near Olsztyn. They managed to escape to the city, while his in–laws stayed in the countryside, thinking that they were safe. They were very wrong, they murdered the parents, leaving their child alive, a little boy. They left it as a living bait, they were sure that someone would come to pick up the baby, then they could finish the slaughter too. Someone told Zaremba, that the hungry baby ran from neighbors to neighbors, crying, looking for his mother, and sleeping in the corn under the open sky. It also happened that a friend took pity on the child and gave a piece of bread, but fearing the bandits, no one dared take it under the roof. It was only when the Soviet troops took over these areas that Zarembowa dared to go to her home village, assisted by Soviet soldiers. She found out that a Ukrainian had grabbed the child by the legs and with all his might hit his head against a tree. Our neighbor Sałecka, escaping to Dubno, left two heifers, yearlings, at home. She felt sorry for her, because how to live without a job and decided to take them. She got up on Sunday morning and took her neighbors to her field (all the buildings were burned down). Her little six‑year‑old daughter got up with her, so they both went. They tied up these calves and drove them onto the road. There the calves broke away from her and ran away to her neighbor Hnatiuk, so they followed them so that the host would help them catch them. And then someone caught the mother and daughter and took them to the Janicki basement, where they were also murdered. Janicki also came there at that time and was in his garden, he heard hollow shots. When he came to the cellar, the child was still moving his arm in agony.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „Calendar of the genocide – year 1943 June and the first half of the year”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]

source: Giszczak Petronela nee Raczyńska, „Memories from Volhynia - Witosówka and its surroundings”; in: portal: Volhynia pages — web page: free.of.pl [accessible: 2021.04.11]

The Ukrainians murdered several or a dozen Polish families, the number of victims has not been established.

source: Żurek Stanisław, „The 75th anniversary of the genocide – August and the summer of 1943”; in: portal: Volhynia — web page: wolyn.org [accessible: 2021.02.04]