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2 Killing site(s)
Janina S., born in 1928: “In the middle of the village, near my house, there was a labor camp with wooden barracks. It was guarded by SS men. The prisoners were all men—about 300 in total. They were forced to work together in the stone quarry. The ones who were too weak to walk were shot. One day, three Jewish women came to visit their relatives in the camp. One of them was pregnant. They were shot and buried next to the road. The camp existed for two years. During its liquidation, a number of inmates were executed. The victims were led to a field near the camp’s first building and forced to lie face down on the ground. The shooter was one of the five SS men who guarded the camp; two others stood beside him.” [Testimony N°YIU722P, interviewed in Dyle, on August 15, 2017]
"Questionnaire of investigation on the camps
Name of the camp: Forced Labour Camp of Dyle.
Location of the camp: Common pastureland, in the middle of the village.
Size of the camp: it covered about 1 hectare of the pasture, on which 4 barracks were built.
Date of the camp’s establishment: December 1941.
Date of the camp’s dismantling: December 1942.
Were there only Poles, only Jews from Poland, or both Poles and Jews from Poland in the camp? Poles, Jews, and Russians.
Were there foreigners in the camp? Which ones? Were there Jews from abroad? How many? There were none.
What was the average population of the camp? Around 250 people.
How many people passed through the camp during its existence? Up to 1,000 people.
What happened to the prisoners when the camp was dismantled? They were released; the Jews were shot.
Did the prisoners work in the camp? What tasks did they perform? What kind of workshops were there? They worked in local quarries located on the land of Dyle.
Did the prisoners work outside the camp? What tasks did they perform and where? They broke stones in quarries outside the camp, for road repair.
Was there an infirmary or hospital in the camp? There was none.
Was the camp affected by epidemics? Which ones? Lice-borne typhus.
Are there any data on mortality in the camp? No.
Were executions carried out in the camp? Outside the camp? Executions took place outside the camp, by shooting.
Were the bodies destroyed? How? Where? The bodies were buried at the place of execution.
Was there a crematorium in the camp? No.
Has the burial site of the victims been identified? Provide a location. Poles and Russians were buried next to the Bilgoraj district hospital. Poles and Jews were transported to Bilgoraj for a doctor to confirm the death. Jews were buried at the execution site.
What is the current state of the camp? What has been destroyed? What is in its place? The building no longer exists; it was completely dismantled by the Germans.
Have any material traces of the camp been preserved — documents, belongings of the executed, or others? Where can they be found? Were they secured? There are no material traces.
Are the names and possibly the addresses of the camp’s prisoners known? The names of the prisoners are unknown. No official from the Puszcza Solska commune ever entered the camp.
Are the names of the Germans, the camp commandant, and other officials known? Unknown." [Testimony of Franciszek Solak, born on August 9,1900, resident of the village of Smolsko, profession unknown, dated July 5, 1945, commune of Puszcza Solska [currently Bilgoraj commune], village of Dyle, concerning the Dyle camp, its prisoners, and the executions that took place there; GK 163/49 p. 24]
"Minutes of the Municipal Court in Biłgoraj:
- February 13, 1942 – Dyle, Biłgoraj County: Three Jewish men, aged 17 to 23, were shot. They had tried to bring food to their fathers, who were imprisoned in a penal camp. Their bodies were buried in the forest." [Minutes of the Municipal Court in Biłgoraj, October 5, 1945; 337 E 852]
- November 15, 1942 – Dyle, Biłgoraj County: Ten Jewish prisoners, aged 18 to 60, were shot. Their bodies were buried by the road to Ignatówka." [Minutes of the Municipal Court in Biłgoraj, October 5, 1945; 337E853]
- October 20, 1942 – Dyle, Biłgoraj County: Eleven Jews were executed after being caught in the forest. Their bodies were buried in the forest near the road to Holwiszyn." [Minutes of the Municipal Court in Biłgoraj, October 5, 1945; 337E854]Dyle is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Biłgoraj, located in the Lublin Voivodeship. It lies approximately 8 km (5 miles) north-east of Biłgoraj and 74 km (46 miles) south of the regional capital, Lublin.
Dyle was founded in the mid-18th century around a manor and its estate, which included the village itself and surrounding settlements. By the 19th century, the estate featured a distillery, a brewery, a windmill, a mine, and a lime kiln.
According to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad – In Unum, the village was inhabited predominantly by Catholic Poles, along with a minority of Jewish and Orthodox Christian residents. On the eve of the Second World War, two Jewish families—the Abraham family and the Pinkwas family—lived in Dyle. Together, they numbered about 15 people, including parents and several children.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Dyle—like the rest of the Biłgoraj district—was first occupied by German forces, then briefly taken over by the Soviets. In early October 1939, the Soviets withdrew, returning control of the area to the German occupiers.
From December 1941 to December 1942, the German administration operated a forced labor camp in Dyle. Located in four barracks in the center of the village, the camp held an average of 250 prisoners at any given time. Among them were Jews, Poles, and Russian POWs. Over the course of the camp’s existence, approximately 1,000 individuals were imprisoned and subjected to forced labor under brutal conditions, particularly in the nearby Glinska stone quarries and on road construction projects. Prisoners endured inhumane treatment, extreme deprivation, and outbreaks of disease, including a typhus epidemic.
According to Polish archival records, between February and November 1942, German forces carried out multiple executions resulting in the deaths of 24 Jews. These included ten camp inmates, eleven individuals discovered hiding in the forest, and three young men who had attempted to bring food to relatives held in the camp. Additionally, local testimony recounts the execution of three Jewish women—one of whom was pregnant—who were shot while visiting inmates. All of the victims were buried in nearby forests or along rural roads.
Eyewitnesses interviewed by Yahad – In Unum confirmed the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners, who were executed by German camp guards and buried near the edge of Dyle, in a meadow used for grazing near the road to Ignatówka. During the camp’s liquidation, Polish and Russian prisoners were released, while the remaining Jewish prisoners were executed on-site.
One local resident also recounted the fate of two Jewish women from Dyle—Janta and Chudla—who were captured while in hiding after escaping deportation. They were shot by German forces in a nearby forest and buried by the road leading to Biłgoraj.
The investigation conducted by Yahad – In Unum identified two primary killing sites: one in a meadow on the outskirts of the village, and another along the Dyle–Biłgoraj road. To this day, neither site is marked or commemorated.
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