Chorupnik | Lublin

Wanda W., born in 1936: "The whole village knows that the Jews are buried in the meadow. I would like the place to be commemorated, but it’s a private meadow and it’s complicated to achieve.” ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum Eduard K., born in 1928, remembers the day when his father witnessed the killing of Jews from Gorzków on a meadow in Chrupnik. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The witness Wanda. W., born in 1936, shows the Yahad team the testimony of her neighbor who witnessed the killing of about 8 Jews in Chrupnik in 1942/1943. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team during an interview. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad - In Unum The former Jewish cemetery is located on a wooded hill in Chrupnik. It was established around 1850 by the Jewish community of Gorzków and was completely destroyed during the war. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad-In Unum Matzvas from a former Jewish cemetery of Chrupnik, discovered in 2022 during the renovation works of the local fire station. The matzavs had been used to pave the path leading to the fire station. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad-In Unum The memorial plaque commemorating the Jewish cemetery in Chrupnik. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad Gorzków - In Unum The killing and burial site where 7 or 8 Jews from Gorzków were killed by the Germans in 1942 or 1943. The victims were buried in place and their bodies remain at the site. ©Piotr Malec/Yahad-In Unum

Destruction of Gorzków Jews in Chorupnik

1 Killing site(s)

Investigated by Yahad:
2023
Kind of place before:
Meadow
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
About 8

Witness interview

Eduard K., born in 1928: "A gendarme from Izbica used to come to Gorzków specifically to kill Jews. He did it for his own pleasure, as a form of distraction. The murdered individuals were likely buried in the Jewish cemetery in Chorupnik. A number of Jews were also killed in a meadow in Chorupnik. On that day, the Germans rounded up several men in Gorzków, including both Jews and Poles, and took the entire group to the meadow. My father was among them. I remember my mother crying and saying, ’They are killing Poles.’ However, in the end, the Germans ordered the Jews to step forward from the group, and they killed only the Jews. The Poles were allowed to leave." [Testimony N°YIU1471P, interviewed in Gorzków Wieś, on August 21, 2023]

Historical note

Chorupnik is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gorzków, within Krasnystaw County in eastern Poland. It is located approximately 14 km (9 miles) southwest of Krasnystaw and 47 km (29 miles) southeast of the regional capital, Lublin.

According to a local witness interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, there were no Jewish residents in Chorupnik before the war. However, a significant Jewish community thrived in the nearby village of Gorzków. In the mid-19th century, this community established a Jewish cemetery on the wooded heights of Chorupnik.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Chorupnik, along with the entire district of Gorzków, was initially occupied by the Germans. Shortly afterward, Soviet troops took control of the district, but they withdrew in early October 1939, leaving the area under German occupation once again.

Local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum reported the execution of approximately eight Jews in a meadow in Chorupnik. The killing occurred in 1942 or 1943. On the day of the massacre, the Germans rounded up a group of men in Gorzków, including both Jews and Poles, and marched them to a meadow in Chorupnik. Upon arriving at the site, the Germans released the Polish men and executed the Jews. A witness recounted seeing the bodies of six or seven men and one woman buried in a pit at the site. The remains remain in the unmarked grave, and the location is not commemorated.

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