Niedźwiedź | Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Zofia J., born in 1936: “Three Jews were sheltered in Kolonia Niedźwiedź by the Komenda family: a young couple and an elderly woman. They even attended church during the May devotions”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Zofia J., born in 1936: “At some point, the Germans found out about them. They came to the village and killed the Jews two months before the Russians arrived.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Jan M., born in 1931: “From what I remember, only one Jew lived in Niedźwiedź before the war. His name was Jabrom and he owned a shop.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Jan M., born in 1931: “Three Jews were staying with the Komenda family in Kolonia Niedźwiedź. I only learned about it on the day they were murdered by the Germans, because I witnessed it myself.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Jan M., born in 1931: “The Germans arrived here in late autumn of 1943 and shot the three Jews. Their bodies were buried by farmers in a nearby field.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum The burial site of the three members of the Gross family is located in a field that formerly belonged to the Piątek family. The victims’ remains are still interred at this location near the former Komenda family home. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum

Destruction of Jews in Niedźwiedź

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Field
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
3

Witness interview

Zofia J., born in 1936: "During the German occupation, three Jews were hiding in Kolonia Niedźwiedź, in the house of the Komenda family. They were a young couple and an elderly woman, probably one of their mothers.

They hid there for a long time, and so well that they even went to church for the May devotions. I saw them there many times.

Then one day, Germans came riding into the village on horseback. People watched them and whispered to each other, “Where are they going? They must be heading to the Komendas, that’s where the Jews are hiding.” And that’s exactly what happened.

The Germans killed the three Jews and, as people said, buried them somewhere behind the barn. Strangely, they did nothing to the Komenda family. It was in November. Then in January the war ended and the Russians came." (Witness N°1218P, interviewed in Niedźwiedź, on December 14, 2020)

Polish Archives

Niedźwiedź, Słomniki municipality

Spring 1943: 3 Jews shot by members of the Sonderdienst. Bodies buried next to the victims’ house. [source : K. Leszczynski: Eksterminacja…, Biuletyn GK, t. IX, s. 135]

Historical note

Niedźwiedź is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Słomniki, within Kraków County, in southern Poland.

Little is known about the prewar Jewish presence in Niedźwiedź. According to testimonies collected by Yahad–In Unum, only one Jewish resident lived in the village before the war—a man named Jabrom, who operated a local shop.

The Jewish population of the area was primarily concentrated in the nearby municipal town of Słomniki, located less than three kilometers from Niedźwiedź. According to the 1921 census, Słomniki comprised 285 houses and had a total population of 4,800 inhabitants, including 1,460 Jews.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Niedźwiedź and its surrounding area were occupied by German troops on September 6, 1939. The exact fate of a Jewish resident of Niedźwiedź named Jabrom remains unclear; however, it is likely that he was relocated to Słomniki. This assumption aligns with broader regional developments, as Jews from surrounding villages and from Kraków, numbering approximately 1,000 people, were concentrated in Słomniki by the end of 1941, where they ultimately shared the fate of the town’s Jewish population.

Archival records indicate that three Jews were shot in Niedźwiedź in 1943. Testimonies collected by Yahad – In Unum have made it possible to identify the victims and reconstruct the circumstances of the execution.

During the occupation, some local residents provided assistance to Jewish refugees who had escaped from ghettos or fled deportations and sought refuge in the countryside surrounding Słomniki. One such case involved a Jewish family named Gross. According to testimony from Jan M., born in 1931, the group consisted of a young married couple and an elderly woman, the mother of one of the spouses. The husband had previously owned a treadwheel factory in Lublin. For approximately two to three years, the Gross family was sheltered by the Komenda family, Polish residents of Kolonia Niedźwiedź, who concealed them until their discovery in 1943.

Archival sources indicate that the shooting took place in the spring of 1943, whereas Yahad witnesses date the event to late autumn, likely November 1943. On the day of the execution, armed German forces arrived in several horse-drawn carts and stopped near the Komenda family home. When the three individuals emerged from the house, they were shot. The Germans then ordered the village head (sołtys) to requisition local men to bury the victims. The bodies were interred in a nearby field, where they remain today in an unmarked grave.

Additional archival documentation records that in August 1943, 85 Jews from Słomniki and neighboring villages were shot in Niedźwiedź. Although local witnesses were unable to provide detailed accounts of this Aktion, Jan M. recalled hearing of a separate execution involving a larger group of Jews in a nearby forest.

For further information on the fate of the Jewish community of Słomniki, please consult the corresponding profile.

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