1 Killing site(s)
Marianna S., born in 1928: “Two Germans were killed by partisans during a requisition. In reprisal, German soldiers in green uniforms arrived in a lorry and surrounded the village. It happened in September 1942. The Jews were rounded up in the church square. They were taken from their homes, especially along Warszawska Street. There were about a hundred of them. I was out in the field, picking potatoes, when I heard gunshots. Later, I saw the bodies after the shooting—lying face down at the bottom of an embankment. Others had been shot while trying to flee into the surrounding fields. I remember seeing the body of a young boy. His shoes had already been taken by villagers. The Germans were gone by then.” [Testimony N°YIU826P, interviewed in Serokomla, on June 18, 2018]
"Shortly before reaching the village of Serokomla, the company commander ordered a halt, and an order was issued with the Unterführer. […] When this order was issued, Hauptmann Wohlauf at first only explained to us that the company had the order to clear the village of Jews. […] The roundup of the Jews may have lasted until about 10-11 in the morning. Up to this time we were lying behind our machine guns in the sun. It was still a warm sunny day. Then about noon I saw the first groups of Jews coming out of the village. There were 20 to 30 men in each group, who were brought under guard of some men to the area designated by me. […] The executions lasted until about 2 or 3 o’clock. Since it was about 200 meters from my position to the execution site, I went over there myself once towards the end of the Aktion and talked to Junge. Here I was also able to observe the course of the executions in detail. After the escort squads had brought in the 30 or so Jews, each member of the equally strong execution squad took a Jewish person and led him to the crest of a small hill. Here the Jews had to line up facing the 2-meter-deep pit. The shooter would then step back a little and shoot at point-blank range, sometimes even while standing, at the victim standing in front of him, aiming at the back of the neck. Terrible and indescribable scenes took place here, since there were women and children among the victims, who, as they lined up on the ridge hill, could see their compatriots who had already been shot in front of them." [Deposition of Hans K., member of Police Battalion 101; given in Hamburg, Germany, on October 8, 1964; HW2256-58].
"From Radzyn, I remember another mission to a mass shooting. This took place in a small village, Serokomla. We drove there from Radzyn via Kock. […] When we were assigned to Serokomla, which was done here by Hptm. Wohlauf personally, he told us at first that we only had to gather the Jews of this village. […] All Jews were to be taken to the gathering place. This was also done after a short time. I believe that the number of Jews rounded up was 178. I cannot say exactly, but I think I heard this number at the time. After the Jews had been rounded up, Hptm. Wohlauf gave the order again, and only now did he explain to us that we also had the order to shoot these Jews here. I believe that now predominantly the platoon of Lnt. Pauly was assigned as the firing squad. We then took all the Jews to a place no more than 500 meters outside the village. At this place I stayed behind as a guard post. I believe that the execution site could not be seen from here, at least I do not remember it. I only remember that the execution was supposed to have taken place on some hills. The shootings were also over quickly, and I think that the whole Aktion lasted at most half a day." [Deposition of Karl S., member of Police Battalion 101; G 661-62].
Serokomla is a village in Łuków County, located in eastern Poland. It lies approximately 25 km (16 miles) south of Łuków and 53 km (33 miles) north of the regional capital, Lublin.
During the interwar period, the Jewish community of Serokomla was affiliated with the Kehillah (Jewish community council) of Kock. A Jewish cemetery had been established there in the 18th century. According to the 1921 census, 239 Jews lived in Serokomla, making up 4.2% of the total population of 5,573.
Local witnesses recall that, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, about 15 Jewish families lived in Serokomla. The community maintained a wooden house of prayer, a mikveh (ritual bath), and a slaughterhouse, all overseen by the community’s rabbi. These families resided on Warszawska Street in the village center and operated several small markets and bakeries. Many were skilled artisans—shoemakers, tailors, and barbers. Jewish and Catholic children attended the same public school.
In early October 1939, most of Serokomla was destroyed by the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Kock, which took place from October 2 to 6, 1939. It was one of the final battles of the September Campaign against the German invasion of Poland. German troops entered Serokomla on October 5, 1939, establishing a temporary headquarters in the local school building. While no permanent German gendarmerie was stationed in the village, local order was maintained by the Polish Granatowa Policja (Blue Police).
According to local witnesses, the Jewish population of Serokomla immediately became the target of German persecution and forced labor. Trade and craftsmanship were banned, and Jews were subjected to regular humiliation and violence. An elderly Jewish man named Mosiek, for instance, was publicly humiliated when a German soldier cut off his beard.
During the winter of 1939–1940, Jews were forced to clear snow and ice from the roads. From the spring of 1940, a group of about 30 Jews was taken daily to work on land drainage (melioration) projects near the Czarna River. A Jewish man who was assigned to guard the laborers was shot near the church by a German soldier after reportedly commenting that the Germans were not effective enough at capturing partisans. Under these harsh conditions, some Jews from Serokomla left for the Radzyń ghetto, according to local testimony.
A major Aktion against the Jews of Serokomla took place on September 22, 1942. On that day, Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the Nazi German Order Police, under the command of Captain Wohlauf, carried out a mass roundup of the Jews of Serokomla and surrounding areas. Jewish men, women, and children were first gathered in the square in front of the Catholic church.
Around 12 Jews were shot near the village pond (which no longer exists) while trying to escape the roundup. The remaining Jews were marched in groups of 20 to 30 to the execution site, located on the outskirts of Serokomla. German records refer to this location as a garbage dump in the clay quarry area, while witnesses interviewed by Yahad identified it as a former shooting range near the clay quarry.
The victims were executed with shots to the back of the neck, using automatic weapons and pistols. Others were gunned down in nearby fields while attempting to flee. The massacre lasted several hours—from around 11 a.m., when the round-up was completed, until approximately 3 p.m.
After the executions, local villagers were forced to load the bodies onto carts and transport them to the clay quarry on the other side of the road, where they were buried in a clay pit. The bodies of those killed near the pond were also buried there. Estimates of the number of victims vary, ranging from 130 to 300 according to different sources.
After the war, the victims’ remains were exhumed and reburied in the Jewish cemetery in Łuków. In 2023, a commemorative plaque was unveiled in Serokomla in memory of the approximately 200 Jews murdered there.
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