Class 7
Elementary School no. 2 in Hrubieszów
My wartime experiences
I was a little girl, living just outside Łuck. In the autumn of 1939, Germany unexpectedly invaded Poland. People were dying in terrible pain. Life in Volhynia was peaceful, because the Red Army took over the territories up to the Bug River.
But peace did not last long. On 22 June 1941, the Germans invaded Ukraine and triumphantly marched towards the east, conquering the beautiful and fertile territories of Russia.
Horribly brutal pogroms of Jews began. Masses of Jews awaiting extermination were gripped by fear.
A slow demise of the Hitlerite army began only after the Red Army defeated the Germans near Stalingrad. The bands attacking the villages in Ukraine, Podole and Volhynia set fire to buildings and murdered innocent people. I spent many sleepless nights with my parents and siblings under the straw, in a ditch, or under a bush. My 10-year-old brother was killed horribly before my eyes. My little sister Izabela died suffering immensely a month later. We experienced terrible moments. There was no chance we could study.
People felt encouraged when the news of the advancing Red Army finally reached us. Lots of people died, including my grandpa. The Red Army was already at the Polish border.
The day finally came that I saw my dear country freed from the enemies. The liberated people greeted the Red Army which entered alongside the Polish troops.