.jpg&f=jpg)
.jpg&f=jpg)
-1.jpg&f=jpg)
-3.jpg&f=jpg)
1 Killing site(s)
Leon W., born in 1927: "The Jews were running through the fields toward Dębrówka. Germans from Szczebrzeszyn were shooting at them. They killed 12 Jews. Afterwards, I saw people carrying the dead into the forest on stretchers.” [Testimony N°YIU736P, interviewed in Gorajec-Zagroble, on August 22, 2017]
"1. Date and place of execution: July 1943
2. Type of execution (shooting, hanging or other): shooting
3. Personal data on the executed victims (Poles, Jews, other nationalities): Jews
Number of executed victims: 30
Origin of the victims: several unknown localities
Names, age, occupations and addresses: unknown […]
5. Who perpetrated the execution? Gestapo and gendarmes […]
8. Where were the bodies buried? Estate of Gorajec-Zagroble
9. Description of the pit/pits/dimensions, number of victims per pit: one pit, dimension unknown."
[Court inquiries about executions and mass grave; IPN:GK 163/19 pp.1298]
Gorajec-Zagroble is a village in Zamość County, located in eastern Poland, approximately 10 km south of Radecznica, 30 km west of Zamość, and 68 km south of the regional capital, Lublin.
Gorajec-Zagroble is one of three sections that make up the larger village of Gorajec, along with Gorajec-Stara Wieś and Gorajec-Zastawie. According to the 1921 census, Gorajec had a population of 1,160, including 52 Jewish residents. However, a local witness interviewed by Yahad recalled that around 200 Jews lived in the village at the outbreak of the Second World War. While this number is likely an overestimate, it suggests that the Jewish community was sizable and active.
The community was significant enough to maintain a brick synagogue and had close ties with the vibrant Jewish population of nearby Szczebrzeszyn, located just 13 km away.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, the Gorajec area—including the villages of Gorajec-Zagroble, Gorajec-Stara Wieś, and Gorajec-Zastawie—came under full German occupation in early October 1939, following the withdrawal of the Red Army.
A German gendarmerie was soon established in nearby Szczebrzeszyn, where the Jewish population was confined to a ghetto. In Radecznica, a post of the Polish Blue Police (Granatowa Policja) was set up, and its officers frequently patrolled the Gorajec villages. Under occupation, the Jews of Gorajec were forced to wear armbands bearing the Star of David and were subjected to economic persecution, forced labor, and acts of violence. According to a local witness, Jews were forced to hand over their gold and other valuables in order to be allowed to remain in their homes.
In May 1942, German forces—likely gendarmes from Szczebrzeszyn—arrived in Gorajec and carried out a violent action targeting the Jewish population. In an attempt to escape, some Jews fled into nearby fields but were shot by the Germans. Among the twelve victims were women and elderly men. After the Germans withdrew, local villagers transported the bodies to the nearby forest of Dębrówka, where they were buried in a mass grave. The site has since been marked by a memorial.
On September 29, 1942, the remaining Jews of Gorajec, together with those from Radecznica, were deported to Szczebrzeszyn. There, they were placed in homes vacated by Jews who had been deported to the Bełżec death camp in August. The Gorajec Jews remained in the Szczebrzeszyn ghetto until its liquidation on October 21, 1942. During the Aktion, around 500 Jews were murdered, and the majority of the others were deported to Bełżec. Over 1,000 Jews who tried to escape were later captured and executed at the Jewish cemetery in Szczebrzeszyn.
According to a local witness, following the September deportation, at least two separate executions were carried out targeting Jews found in hiding. In one instance, a Jewish woman fleeing through the fields was shot by a German soldier. In another, nine Jews—including women and children—were discovered by three Blue Policemen, locked inside the synagogue, and executed one by one behind the building. Their bodies were later transported to the Dębrówka forest and, according to the witness, buried in the same mass grave as the victims of the May 1942 killing.
In the months that followed, several Jews from Gorajec attempted to survive in hiding within the forests between Frampol, Gorajec, and Szczebrzeszyn. However, they were relentlessly pursued by German forces and some local Blue Policemen. Polish archival records state that in July 1943, thirty Jews were executed in Gorajec-Zagroble by German gendarmes and the Gestapo, and their bodies were buried in a field belonging to a local estate.
The exact number of Jewish survivors from Gorajec remains unknown. However, four confirmed survivors are known by name: Chaia Hoftman (née Met), Chaim Gorkah, Shaul Gorkah-Kleiner, and Michał Dym.
Do you have additional information regarding a village that you would like to share with Yahad ?
Please contact us at contact@yahadinunum.org
or by calling Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17