Tarnawa | Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Irena M., born in 1948: “My grandfather, Jan Kulka, was shot by the Germans for helping Jews hiding in the Lipiny forest.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum The site where Jan Kulka was shot by the Germans for helping Jews. His body was buried at the site of the killing and moved to a cemetery after the war. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Irena M., born in 1948, leads the Yahad-In Unum team deep into the forest to show the burial site of the murdered Jews to whom her grandfather brought food during the occupation. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Irena M., born in 1948: “Inside this thicket of bushes, the Jews dug a dugout for themselves, where they hid during the occupation. My grandfather lived on the edge of this forest and brought them food”. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Irena M., born in 1948: “Unfortunately, I do not know who those Jews were or even how many of them there were. Perhaps my mother told me once, but today I no longer remember. I know that they were killed and buried here.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum Killing and burial site of six Jews from Skała, murdered by Germans in their Lipiny Forest dugout on June 16, 1942. The remains were never exhumed and stay at the site. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad – In Unum

Destruction of Jews from Skała in Tarnawa

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Lipiny Forest
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
6

Witness interview

Irena M., born in 1948: "I was born after the war. I know this story from my mother, Maria Karlik, who was born in 1926. She was 16 years old when her father, my grandfather Jan Kulka, was killed for helping the Jews. My family lived in a small house right next to the forest in Tarnawa called the Lipiny forest. They were a poor family with five children, and my grandfather worked as a shoemaker.

During the occupation, my grandfather would bring food to Jews who were hiding in a dugout in the forest. This hiding place was located about 300 meters to the right of the main road and our house. He was probably denounced by someone. One day, the Germans came and took him. They killed him in the bushes at the edge of the forest, about 50 meters from the house. It is probable that the Jews in the hiding place were killed at the same time. Their bodies were buried there and they stayed there." (Witness N°YIU1263P, interviewed in Tarnawa, on September 22, 2021)

Polish Archives

"Tarnawa 16 VI 1942: The Nazis murdered a Jewish family of six from Skała who were hiding in the forest. Their bodies were left at the site of the killing." [Source: AGK, Ankieta GK „Represje na ludnosci zydowskiej...” pow. Olkusz, woj. Krakowskie.]

Historical note

Tarnawa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łapanów, within Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland.

While there are few records of a specific prewar Jewish community residing within Tarnawa itself, historical sources confirm a significant Jewish presence in nearby settlements. Łapanów, located just 4 km away, had approximately 160 Jewish residents in 1921. As the administrative and commercial center for the surrounding area, Łapanów served as a hub for trade and services. This proximity indicates that the Jewish community there was an integral part of the local economy, likely maintaining regular professional and social ties with the residents of Tarnawa before the Holocaust.

Similarly, Skała, situated roughly 6 km from Tarnawa, was home to a vibrant and integrated Jewish community primarily engaged in trade and local religious life. On the eve of World War II, the Jewish population in Skała was estimated at between 600 and 800 residents.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Tarnawa was occupied by German troops in the first weeks of September 1939. Located in the administrative district of Gmina Łapanów within Bochnia County, the village and its surrounding forests became a site of both hiding attempts and German reprisals. The area was subjected to strict German administration and the implementation of anti-Jewish policies that intensified over the following years.

According to archival records from the Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes, a Jewish family of six from Skała was shot on June 16, 1942, in the Lipiny forest near Tarnawa. This account was corroborated by the testimony of Irena M., who was born in 1948. Her grandfather, Jan Kulka, was also shot by the Germans for providing food to a group of Jews hiding in a dugout in the forest, located roughly 300 meters from the main road and his home. While Irena M. could not definitively confirm the identities or the exact number of the victims, the shared location and timeline make it highly probable that the archival records and the testimony describe the same group of Jewish victims.

According to Irena’s testimony, Jan Kulka was likely denounced, possibly by neighbors. German forces arrived at the property and led Jan out of the house in front of his children. He was taken to a patch of bushes approximately 50 meters from his home and shot. Initially buried at the killing site, his remains were reinterred in the local cemetery after the war.

It is believed that the Jews he was assisting in the dugout were discovered and killed around the same time. Irena M. maintains that their bodies were never moved. Thanks to her testimony, the Yahad-In Unum team was able to identify the location of the killing and burial site in the Lipiny forest, where the remains of 6 Jewish victims are believed to still lie. To date, no memorial has been erected at the site to commemorate the victims.

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