Updated in March 2016
Uzupełniono w marcu 2016
THE MASSACRE AT KONIUCHY
MORD W KONIUCHACH
On February 12, 2001, the Canadian Polish Congress wrote to Poland’s Institute
of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej—IPN) to initiate an investigation into a mass murder perpetrated in the village of Koniuchy (now Kaniūkai, Lithuania) during World War II. According to the count of the perpetrators themselves, some 300 defenceless Poles—mostly women and children—were massacred.
The village of Koniuchy, as well as its civilian population, was obliterated on January 29, 1944. Their only crime was that they were Poles who attempted to protect their lives and property from incessant and violent raids by marauding Soviet partisans. This war crime has been amply documented in accounts written by the actual perpetrators—members of the “Death to the Fascists” and “To Victory” detachments of the so-called Lithuanian Partisans. Not only did they describe the massacre in lurid detail, but they also vilified the victims and glorified their vile deeds.
Our findings were first published in 1998 in the book The Story of Two Shtetls Brańsk and Ejszyszki. An investigation carried out by Nasza Gazeta, a Polish newspaper published in Vilnius (Wilno), has revealed important new information about the crime. They managed to locate survivors of the massacre in Koniuchy who confirmed the gruesome circumstances of the massacre and identified some of the victims by name. Soviet, German and Lithuanian archival documents confirming the massacre have also come to light.
Professor Witold Kulesza, the director of the IPN’s Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, announced on February 22, 2001, that there would be a formal investigation into this matter, thus bringing to fruition an undertaking commenced by the Congress’ Information Services in 1996. In April, a preliminary report by the IPN confirmed that the crime had indeed occurred: the village was almost entirely wiped out and the victims numbered around fifty. In May, the Council for the Preservation of the Memory of Struggles and Martyrdom announced the planned erection of a commemorative wooden cross at the site of the massacre and a plaque in the parish church in Butrymańce.
The matter has also been referred to the Lithuanian Genocide Centre (Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras) which has undertaken a separate investigation. What remains to be done is to strip Genrikas Zimanas, the partisan commander who oversaw the massacre, of Poland’s highest military distinction, the Virtuti Militari, which was bestowed on him by Poland’s Communist authorities and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous deed, some of whom are living comfortably in the West.
In response to further inquiries by the Canadian Polish Congress, on March 1, 2002, the IPN’s Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation released reports summarizing their investigations of the massacres at Koniuchy and Naliboki. These reports are set out below in both Polish and English.
A memorial cross was unveiled in Koniuchy in 2004, on the 60th anniversary of the massacre. The investigation of the crime is still ongoing.
Another massacre of approximately 130 Polish civilians in the small town of Naliboki, carried out on May 8/9, 1943 by Soviet partisans, is also being investigated by the IPN’s Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation. The circumstances of that atrocity are described within.
POSTED MATERIALS:
(1) Letter from the Canadian Polish Congress to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) – February 12, 2001 (in Polish with extensive citations in English from non-Polish sources)
(2) Letter from the Canadian Polish Congress to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) – February 20, 2002 (in Polish)
(3) Letter from the Canadian Polish Congress to Poland’s Institute of National Reembrance (IPN) – February 12, 2007 (in Polish)
(4) Releases by Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP) – February 22, 2001 (in Polish with partial English translation)
(5) Article from the Warsaw daily Rzeczpospolita – February 23, 2001 (in Polish with English translation)
(6) Article from the Warsaw daily Nasz Dziennik – February 24, 2001 (in Polish)
(7) Article from the Warsaw daily Nasz Dziennik – February 27, 2001 (in Polish)
(8) Articles from the Toronto daily Gazeta – February 27, 2001 & March 22, 2001 (in Polish)
(9) H-Holocaust Net Discussion – March 1, 2001 (in English)
(10) Article from the Vilnius (Wilno) weekly Nasza Gazeta – March 8, 2001 (in Polish with partial English translation)
(11) Articles from the Vilnius (Wilno) weekly Nasza Gazeta – March 29, 2001 (in Polish)
(12) Report aired on Telewizja Polska (TVP) – May 11, 2001 (in Polish)
(13) Article from the Vilnius (Wilno) weekly Nasz Czas – January 24, 2002 (in Polish)
(14) Article from the Toronto daily Gazeta – May 4–6, 2001 (in Polish)
(15) Article from the Warsaw daily Gazeta Wyborcza – May 7, 2001 (in Polish)
(16) Articles from the Warsaw daily Nasz Dziennik – August 18, 2001 & August 28, 2001 (in Polish)
(17) Article from the Warsaw daily Nasz Dziennik – October 28, 2002 (in Polish)
(18) Article from the New York weekly Forward – August 8, 2003, coverage by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – August 12, 2003, and commentary by Andrzej Kumor
(18)Excerpts from the Warsaw weekly Myśl Polska – July 20–27, 1997, and the Bydgoszcz
quarterly Wileńskie Rozmaitości – 2001 (in Polish)
(19)Investigation report of the Institute of National Remembrance – April 23, 2001 (in Polish);
Report in Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, no. 7 (August 2001)
(20)Investigation reports and communiqués of the Institute of National Remembrance on the
massacres in Koniuchy and Naliboki:
March 1, 2002 (in Polish with English translation);
September 5, 2002 (in Polish with English translation);
May 15, 2003 (in Polish with partial English translation);
August 5, 2003 (in English);
Annual Report of the Institute of National Memory to the Seym and Senate of the Republic of Poland, January 2005 (in Polish);
August 9, 2005 (in Polish);
September 8, 2005 (in Polish);
September 13, 2005 (in English);
May 16, 2006 (in Polish);
December 10, 2007 (in Polish);
December 21, 2009 (in Polish);
August 2010 (in Polish);
January 2012 (in Polish);
October 2012 (in Polish);
November 2013 (in Polish);
August 2015 (in Polish);
November 2015 (in Polish);
February 2016 (in Polish)
(21)Polish media reports about the massacre at Naliboki – March 25, 2001 & March 26, 2001
(in Polish with partial English translation) with letter from CPC to IPN
(22)Lithuanian historian Rimantas Zizas about the massacre at Koniuchy – Genocidas ir
rezistencija, no. 1 (11), 2002 (in Lithuanian with Polish translation)
(23)Excerpt from the scholarly historical studies A Tangled Web and The Story of Two Shtetls
(in English)
(24)Soviet, German and Lithuanian reports about the massacre in Koniuchy (in English and
Polish)
(25)Release of the Canadian Polish Congress on the 60th anniversary of the massacre in
Koniuchy (in Polish)
(26)Polish media coverage of the 60th anniversary of the massacre in Koniuchy and the ongoing
investigation (in Polish)
(27)Information about A Tangled Web and The Story of Two Shtetls (in English)
(1) LETTER FROM THE CANADIAN POLISH CONGRESS TO POLAND’S INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE – FEBRUARY 12, 2001 (WITH REFERENCES TO SOURCES AND CITATIONS IN POLISH AND ENGLISH)
12 lutego 2001 r.
WP Prof. dr hab. Leon Kieres
Prezes Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej
oraz
WP Prof. dr hab. Witold Kulesza
Dyrektor Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
00-207 Warszawa
Pl. Krasińskich 2/4/6
Wielce Szanowni Panowie Profesorowie!
Zwracamy się do Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w celu rozpoczęcia badań i dochodzeń nad jednym z licznych masowych mordów ludności cywilnej popełnionym na Kresach Wschodnich, co zdaje się być sprawą zaniedbaną. Mord ten popełniono wiosną 1944 r. na mieszkańcach wsi Koniuchy, gmina Bieniakonie, powiat Lida, województwo nowogródzkie, przez partyzantów sowieckich. Istnieją liczne relacje samych sprawców tego mordu, oraz znane są dokładnie nazwiska członków niektórych oddziałów. Według twierdzeń sprawców w Koniuchach zginęło kilkaset osób narodowości polskiej, w większości były to kobiety i dzieci.
Podajemy poniżej zestawienie relacji (w języku angielskim oraz w tłumaczeniu polskim – kopie wymienionych źródeł też załączono) o mordzie w Koniuchach autorstwa sprawców:
(1) Sztab Brygady zdecydował zrównać Koniuchy z ziemią aby dać przykład innym.
Pewnego wieczoru 120 najlepszych partyzantów ze wszystkich obozów, uzbrojonych w najlepszą broń, wyruszyło w stronę tej wsi. Między nimi było około 50 Żydów, którymi dowodzi Jaakow (Jakub) Prenner. O północy dotarli w okolicę wioski i zajęli pozycje wyjściowe. Mieli rozkaz aby nie darować nikomu życia. Nawet bydło i nierogacizna miały być wybite, a wszelka własność spalona. […]
Sygnał dano tuż przed wschodem słońca. W ciągu kilku minut okrążono wieś z trzech stron. Z czwartej strony była rzeka, a jedyny most był w rękach partyzantów. Przygotowanymi zawczasu pochodniami partyzanci palili domy, stajnie, magazyny, gęsto ostrzeliwując siedliska ludzkie. […] Słychać było huk eksplozji z wielu domów […] Półnadzy chłopi wyskakiwali przez okna i usiłowali uciekać. Ale zewsząd czekały ich śmiertelne pociski. Wielu z nich wskoczyło do rzeki aby przepłynąć na drugą stronę, ale tam też spotkał ich taki sam los. Zadanie wykonano w krótkim czasie. Sześćdziesiąt gospodarstw chłopskich, w których mieszkało około 300 osób, zniszczono. Nie uratował się nikt.
The Brigade Headquarters decided to raze Koniuchy to the ground to set an example to others.
One evening a hundred and twenty of the best partisans from all the camps, armed with the best weapons they had, set out in the direction of the village. There were about 50 Jews among them, headed by Yaakov (Jacob) Prenner. At midnight they came to the vicinity of the village and assumed their proper positions. The order was not to leave any one alive. Even livestock was to be killed and all property was to be destroyed. …
The signal was given just before dawn. Within minutes the village was surrounded on three sides. On the fourth side was the river and the only bridge over it was in the hands of the partisans. With torches prepared in advance, the partisans burned down the houses, stables, and granaries, while opening heavy fire on the houses. Loud explosions were heard in many houses … Half-naked peasants jumped out of windows and sought escape. But everywhere fatal bullets awaited them. Many jumped into the river and swam towards the other side, but they too, met the same end. The mission was completed within a short while. Sixty households, numbering about 300 people, were destroyed, with no survivors.
Patrz: Chaim Lazar, Destruction and Resistance (New York: Shengold Publishers, 1985), s. 174-175.
(2) Komandir naszej bazy dał rozkaz aby wszyscy zdolni do noszenia broni mężczyźni przygotowali się do wyruszenia na akcję w ciągu godziny. […]
Gdy zbliżyliśmy się do naszego celu, zauważyłem, że partyzanci nadciągają ze wszystkich stron z rozmaitych oddziałów. […]
Nasz oddział otrzymał rozkaz aby zniszczyć wszystko co się rusza i zamienić wieś w popioły.
Dokładnie o ustalonej godzinie i minucie wszyscy partyzanci z czterech stron wsi otworzyli ogień z karabinów ręcznych i maszynowych, strzelając kulami zapalającymi w zabudowania wioski. Tym sposobem dachy gospodarstw zaczęły się palić.
Wieśniacy i mały garnizonowy oddział niemiecki [?] odpowiedział ciężkim ogniem ale po dwóch godzinach wioska wraz z pozycjami ufortyfikowanymi została zniszczona.
Myśmy mieli zaledwie dwóch lekko rannych.
Gdy później przemaszerowaliśmy przez Koniuchy nigdy nie powitał nas już wystrzał snajpera bowiem był to jak gdyby przemarsz przez cmentarz.
Our base commander gave the order that all able-bodied men should be prepared in an hour to leave for an operation. …
When we were closing in on our destination, I saw that partisans were coming from all directions, from various detachments. …
Our detachment got the order to destroy everything that was moving and burn the village down to its roots.
At the exact hour and minute all partisans from all four corners of the village started pouring rifle and machine-gun fire, with incendiary bullets, into the village. This caused the straw roofs of the houses to catch fire.
The villagers and the small German garrison [?] answered back with heavy fire, but after two hours the village with the fortified shelter was completely destroyed.
Our only casualties were two men who were lightly wounded.
When, later we had to go through Koniuchi [sic] we did not encounter any sniper shots, because it was like crossing through a cemetery.
Patrz: Isaac Kowalski, A Secret Press in Nazi Europe. The Story of a Jewish United Partisan Organization (New York: Central Guide Publishers, 1969), s. 333-334; także w: Isaac Kowalski, (komp. i red.), Anthology on Armed Jewish Resistance, 1939–1945, tom 4 (Brooklyn, New York: Jewish Combatants Publishers House, 1991), s. 390-391.
(3) Jednakże na zdobywanie prowizji składało się więcej niż tylko przekonanie niechętnych chłopów. Stoi mi wyjątkowo jasno przed oczyma jedna taka akcja. Oddział w sile kompanii pod dowództwem Szlomo Branda wyruszył o zmroku tego zimowego dnia aby zaopatrzyć się w prowizje w „bogatej” wiosce niedaleko miasteczka Ejszyszki. Do celu dotarliśmy około północy. Wystawiliśmy czujki po obu stronach wioski, a ja wraz ze swymi ludźmi wszedłem do pierwszego gospodarstwa. […] Pracowaliśmy jak w gorączce przez całą noc zbierając jedzenie i byliśmy gotowi do odwrotu, gdy zaświtał ranek. Szlomo i 20 jego ludzi zostało z tył aby osłaniać nasz odwrót. My odjechaliśmy na saniach. […] W żadnym wypadku nie był to jakiś wyjątek. […]
Udało nam się wymusić duże ilości broni i amunicji od wiosek, które kolaborowały [?] z Niemcami i były przez nich uzbrojone. Przedsięwzięto karne kroki wobec kolaborantów, a jedną z wiosek, która była notoryczna w swej wrogości do Żydów została całkowicie spalona.
Securing supplies, however, was often more than a matter of persuading reluctant peasants. One such operation I remember most vividly. A detachment, of company strength, under the command of Shlomo Brand, started out at dusk on a wintry day to forage for supplies at a “rich” village, near the town of Ishishok [Ejszyszki], which we reached towards midnight. We posted guards on both sides of the village, and I, together with my men, entered the first farmhouse. … We worked feverishly the night through collecting food, and were ready to retrace our steps when dawn broke. Shlomo and 20 of his men stayed behind to protect our rear, and we started out in our sleighs. … This was by no means an isolated incident. …