Bronice | Lublin

Barbara O., born in 1930: "The Germans came to Bronice and to the estate very quickly. The owner of the estate had to leave, and the Germans took over the estate. We had to obey them". ©Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum Barbara O., born in 1930: "This Jewish woman tried to save herself and her child. She hid in a barn and survived, but her child, whom my father had hidden in the barn, was found and killed." ©Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team during an interview. ©Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum The killing site of 14-16 Jews in the estate of Bronice, shot by a German unit from Lublin in March 1942. © Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum Barbara O., born in 1930: "The Jews were killed near this wall, which still exists. It was near the vegetable garden and the orchard, next to the gardener’s house.” Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum The investigation around the Bronice estate. A local witness was able to indicate to the Yahad team the place where the 14-16 Jewish residents of the estate were shot and the place where the bodies were buried. ©Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum The burial site of 14-16 Jewish victims, killed by the Germans in March 1942. The site is located on the wooden hill, on the outskirts of Bronice. There is no monument to commemorate the victims. ©Jordi Lagoutte/Yahad - In Unum

Destruction of Jews in Bronice

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
1939-1944
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1939-1944
Number of victims:
Between 14 and 16

Witness interview

Barbara O., born in 1930: "These Jews worked on the estate in Bronice. On the day of the shooting, I saw a young Jewish woman who tried to escape but was shot in the head. She was buried in the same pit as the other Jews who were executed that day. The shooting took place near the wall of the estate, close to the vegetable garden and the orchard, next to the gardener’s house. The Jews were ordered to lie on the ground with their heads bowed, and they were all shot in the head. Afterward, my father and my cousin transported the bodies in a carriage. I still remember the amount of blood at the site—it was overwhelming. The bodies were buried in a single grave dug a little further down the road, where there were bushes at the time.” [Testimony N°YIU915P, interviewed in Bronice-Kolonia, on August 24, 2018]

Polish Archives

"Questionnaire on Mass Killings and Mass Graves

1. Date and place of killing: March 1942, Bronice woods “Borek”

2. Method of killing/shooting, hanging or other: Shooting.

3. Details of victims killed:

- Poles, Jews, foreigners: Jews

- Number of people executed: 14

- Origin of victims: Jews working in the manor

- Names, ages, professions and addresses: unknown

4. Do we know what the victims were accused of, or was the killing an order of reprisal or other? Non-respect of existing restrictions

5. Who carried out the execution: special unit of German officers from Lublin

6. Are the names of the perpetrators known? Unknown

7. Were the bodies burned? Or destroyed in some other way? No, the bodies were buried

8. Where were the bodies buried? In the wood “Borek”

9. Description of the grave: the size of the grave is difficult to establish

10. Was the grave exhumed? No.

[IPN Gk 163/16, Questionnaire on Mass Executions and Mass Graves in the Lubelskie Province, Districts: Puławy. Based on the testimony of Wladyslaw Grzegorczyk, 38 years old, collected on September 24, 1945].

Historical note

Bronice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nałęczów, within Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is located approximately 8 km (5 miles) north of Nałęczów, 20 km (12 miles) east of Puławy, and 27 km (17 miles) northwest of the regional capital, Lublin.

The village was centered around the Bronice manor and estate, which belonged to Antoni Wołk Łaniewski until the early months of the war. According to a local witness interviewed by Yahad, several families lived and worked on the manor grounds, including a group of Jews consisting of men, women, and children. Additionally, itinerant Jewish merchants from Kurów and Markuszów—important Jewish settlements in the area—regularly passed through Bronice, selling tools, bread, and other goods.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Bronice came under German occupation in mid-September 1939. According to a witness interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, the Germans established their headquarters on the Bronice estate, forcing the owner to leave and abandoning the land and its employees to the control of the German administration.

In March 1942, 14 Jewish residents (or 16, according to the Yahad witness) working on the estate were rounded up by a German unit that had arrived from Lublin. The victims were taken to the estate’s perimeter wall, where they were ordered to lie on the ground with their heads bowed. They were then shot to death. After the execution, the bodies were transported by Polish residents of the estate to a nearby wooded hill, where they were buried in a pit.

Among those killed was a young woman named Zysla, who attempted to escape the massacre with her friend Zelek. Zysla was caught and shot in Bronice, while Zelek was apprehended in the village of Płonki, about 3 km away, where he was also shot and buried. According to a Yahad witness, a single Jewish woman who went into hiding during the Aktion managed to survive, though her child, who had been hidden by a local resident, was discovered and killed.

To this day, the burial site of the Jewish victims in Bronice remains unmarked.

Nearby villages

  • Markuszów
  • Kurów
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