2 Sitio(s) de ejecución
Aleksandra W., born in 1930: “It was summer. Jews from other places were first brought to Cyców and gathered at the fire station. The Germans arrived in trucks, bringing more Jews from various localities. By the end of the day, all of them—Jews from other localities and from Cyców—were taken to the shooting range in Wólka Cycowska and shot. There were maybe 200 victims: women, men, and children.” [Testimony N°YIU82P, interviewed in Cyców , on August 16,2011]
Questionnaire on Mass Executions and Mass Graves
1. Date and place of execution:
May 27, 1942, at the shooting range in the village of Wólka Cycowska.
2. Type of execution: Execution by shooting.
3. Details of victims (ethnicity, number, origin, names, ages, occupations, addresses):
- 160 Jews, names unknown, places of origin not specified.
- 3 Poles:
4. Reason for execution: Unknown. It is not known whether the execution was a reprisal, punishment, or carried out under specific accusations.
5. Who carried out the execution?: The Gestapo.
6. Are the names of the perpetrators known?: No, the names are unknown.
7. Were the bodies burned or otherwise destroyed?: No. The bodies were buried at the site of the shooting.
8. Burial location: At the shooting range in the village of Wólka Cycowska.
9. Description of burial pit(s):
[GK 163/13, p. 226]
Wólka Cycowska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Cyców, located in Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland. It lies approximately 2 km (1.5 miles) northwest of Cyców, 17 km (11 miles) east of Łęczna, and 39 km (24 miles) east of the regional capital, Lublin.
The village dates back to the 19th century. In 1880, three wealthy Jewish merchants from Kalisz—Mojżesz Landau, Chaim Oppenheim, and Abraham Koppel—purchased and parceled out lands in the Cyców area. The portion of land owned by Abraham Koppel became known as Abramówka, a name that for a time was used to refer to what is now Wólka Cycowska.
According to a local witness, before the Second World War, the village was primarily inhabited by Ukrainians, along with a Polish family and a Jewish family. The Jewish family owned a house and a field on the eastern outskirts of the village. The nearest Jewish house of prayer was located 2 km away in Cyców, which in 1921 had a Jewish population of 181. The larger and more established Jewish community in the region prospered in the nearby town of Łęczna.
The Nazi occupation of the area began in September 1939, shortly after which a gendarmerie post was established in nearby Cyców.
According to a local witness, the only Jewish family living in Wólka Cycowska was executed by German gendarmes from Cyców in the yard of their home. The witness recounted that his father, along with other villagers, was requisitioned to bury the bodies of seven victims, including two women and five men. A pit was dug on the family's own plot of land, and the bodies were buried there. The remains are still located at that site today.
On May 27, 1942, during the liquidation of the ghetto in nearby Cyców, a mass execution of 160 Jews and 3 Poles took place at the shooting range in Wólka Cycowska. The Aktion was carried out by members of the Gestapo.
A local witness testified that the Germans arrived in Cyców by car and truck, bringing Jews from other localities. These individuals, along with the local Jewish residents, were assembled at the fire station. At the end of the day, they were taken to the shooting range in Wólka Cycowska, where they were executed.
In 1984, a monument was erected at the killing site to commemorate the victims of the massacre. The inscription reads:
“At this site the Germans committed a mass crime by killing 163 Polish citizens, among them 160 Jews.”
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