1 Killing site(s)
Marian K. born in 1932: "During the occupation, the Jewish families who worked on the estate were shot here. They weren’t the only victims—several Jews who had been hiding in an attic were also executed. On the day of the shooting, the weather was mild. We heard the sound of machine-gun fire, and then the Germans came looking for men and boys aged twelve and older to bury the bodies. The sołtys of Urszulin (the village chief) lived far away, so the Germans came themselves because our homes were nearby. They led us through the forest to the estate grounds, where we were ordered to dig a large pit, about 4 by 5 meters in size. We had to stay there until a cart brought all the Jewish bodies from the killing site—near one of the estate buildings—to the pit. I think the cart made three or four trips in total. There were maybe 30 or 40 people, including men, women, and children.” [Testimony N°YIU268P, interviewed in Dębowiec on October 22, 2013]
"We have determined that a mass shooting and arrest took place [in Urszulin] on May 26, 1942. […]
- In Urszulin itself, 7 Jewish families were shot. 6 of the families were from Urszulin, and 1 was from the neighboring village of Kozubata. This makes a total of 24 people.
- 11 Jews working on Donat Przybyszewski’s estate in Urszulin [Dębowiec] were shot.
- The corpses of the Jews who worked on Donat Przybyszewski’s estate were buried in a damp area of the estate where a septic tank has since been set up for the Urszulin Mineral Water Factory." [Administrative notice from 1978; S 19/05/Zn, Vol.13, p. 2591-92]
Dębowiec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Urszulin, within Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately 2 km (1 mile) southwest of Urszulin, 33 km (21 miles) southwest of Włodawa, and 45 km (28 miles) east of the regional capital, Lublin.
At the border between Dębowiec and Urszulin, an important estate was established during the interwar period, contributing significantly to the area’s development. Before the First World War, the lands of the Andrzejów estate were parceled out, and the area around Urszulin and Dębowiec (then largely forested) was purchased by Jewish industrialists. In 1923, the estate was acquired at a low price by the Polish aristocrat Józef Donat Przybyszewski.
Production on the Przybyszewski estate focused on raising domestic cattle and horses. With financial support from his relatives, Przybyszewski built a brickyard, a mill, and a sawmill. He provided employment to many local residents, fostering population growth in Urszulin and Dębowiec and stimulating local development, which included the establishment of a post office and a police station in Urszulin.
According to a local witness, among those employed on the estate were several Jewish families, who worked primarily in cattle care and dairy production.
The Germans occupied the Dębowiec and Urszulin areas in mid-September 1939. However, the Dębowiec/Urszulin estate was not seized, and the prewar owner, Józef Donat Przybyszewski, remained there with his family and the estate’s workers. The Jewish families who had lived on the estate before the war continued to reside there until May 1942.
By the end of May 1942, nearly all Jews living in the surrounding settlements had been murdered in a series of actions carried out by the Germans. On May 28, 1942, the Jewish communities of Urszulin and the Przybyszewski estate were targeted. According to a local witness, the Germans executed the Jewish families who worked on the estate, as well as those hiding in the attic of one of its buildings.
The victims were gathered in front of a house on the estate, lined up against a wall, and shot. The witness, interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, stated that he was forced—along with his father and other villagers—to dig a mass grave and bury the victims. A cart was used to transport the bodies from the execution site to the pit, requiring three to four trips. According to the witness, a local resident was placed inside the pit to arrange the bodies so that all the victims—men, women, and children—could fit. The pit was approximately 4 by 5 meters in size, and the witness estimated that about 45 people were buried there. However, Polish archival sources report that 11 Jews were killed on the estate of Donat Przybyszewski.
Today, the exact location of the burial site is difficult to identify. After the war, a mineral water factory was established on the estate grounds, and a septic tank for the factory was installed near the site where the Jewish victims had been buried.
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