Rząśnik Lubotynski (Rzasnik Lubotynski) | Masovian Voivodeship

/ Tadeusz K., born in 1924, saw the mass shooting of Jews while he was picking mushrooms in the forest © Markel Redondo - Yahad-In Unum Piotr L., born in 1930, saw a mass shooting of Jewish women and children in a nearby forest, called Adamowizna, while he was grazing his cows. © Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum Piotr L., born in 1930, led our team to the mass grave of Jews from Lubotyn, Kosewo and other neighboring villages. © Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum “Once the Germans pushed all the women and children into the pit, they killed them by shooting a series of shots.” © Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum “Everyone screamed, not only women, but children also. My God, how they screamed (…)”© Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum The research team during the interview © Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum Mass grave of hundreds of Jews in the Adamowizna forest © Markel Redondo- Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Rzasnik Lubotynski

2 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Foundations of a bunker in the forest
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
About 2,600

Witness interview

Piotr L., born in 1930, recalls: « I climbed a tree. When I was 3 or 4 meters high, I saw a truck full of women and children coming. I’m not sure if all these women were with their children, I didn’t see them getting inside. I only saw that truck coming. I was sitting on the tree and others were taking care of our cows so they wouldn’t get away or be noticed. The Germans made them [the Jews] get out of the truck and they all climbed up the hill where the pit was located. These Germans, big men, had rifles. Once they all got on the hill, some Germans were pushing people inside of the pit using their guns, others were beating them. I was far from them […]”.(Eyewitness N°303, interviewed in Rząśnik Lubotynski, on May 09, 2014)

Polish Archives

Szumowo village, Zambrow County, Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Court inquiries about executions and mass graves

1. Date and place of execution: 16.08.1941; fields, 3km from the village of Szumowo;

2. Type of execution (Shooting, hanging or other): shooting;

3. Personal data of the executed victims (Polish, Jews, other nationalities): Jews;

Number of executed victims: 1500 people;

Origin of the victims: Zambrow and Andrzejewo County (Lubotyn)

[Deposition of Jan K., 35 years old; RG-15.019M Reel#1]

Historical note

Rzasnik is a village in Ostrow Mazowiecka County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. According to our witnesses, the Jews lived in Rzasnik until 1914. When World War I began, the villages were divided into aristocratic and agricultural villages. The Jews had to leave Rzasnik, which became a strictly agricultural village at the time, to settle down in the aristocratic villages nearby, such as Lubotyn, Gniazdowo, Zalesie and Kosewo.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

In summer 1941, the Jews from Szumowo, Andrzejewo, Zambrow, Wysokie Mazowieckie and Ciszewo were brought in trucks to the edge of the village of Rzasnik. The local Jews (from Lubotyn, Zalesie and Kosewo) were brought there on foot. They were held there until evening, surrounded by Nazis. Right before sunset, they were led to the forest, where they were shot and buried in two large mass graves. Among the victims, there were men, women and children. Executions lasted a few days. Today, there is a monument on the mass grave of Jewish victims from Zambrow. The other mass grave is also marked, but it’s very difficult to find the monument as it is covered in shrubbery today.

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