Researchers from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) have uncovered the remains of a man, three women, and an unborn child in Kolczyn, a village in the Lublin region of Poland. The findings are believed to be the remains of the Pochwatka family, who were murdered by the Nazis on January 5, 1943, as a retaliation for hiding Jewish individuals during World War II.
The skeletal remains were discovered about 200 meters from where the family’s house once stood. “Today, a cross marks the location and the surrounding area is forested,” stated Dr. Artur Piekarz, head of the IPN’s Lublin Search and Identification Office. The remains, along with small personal items such as shoes or their fragments, a leather belt, buttons, beads, a bracelet, and a cufflink, were found at a depth of approximately 1.5 meters in the remnants of an underground shelter.
Further investigations will be conducted at the Forensic Medicine Department of the Medical University of Lublin, where the remains will undergo more detailed examinations and genetic identification. The search operation focused specifically on locating the burial site of Józef Pochwatka, his wife Bronisława, and their two daughters, Pelagia Krystyna and Janina, who was pregnant at the time of her death.
Local historian and community activist, Ignacy Rudolf, has been instrumental in the efforts to commemorate the Pochwatka family. In 2021, a memorial plaque was unveiled in the church of Józefów nad Wisłą, chronicling their sacrifice. The Pochwatkas, originally from near Vilnius, had moved to a small house by the Wrzelowianka River. In 1942, as mass deportations of Jews began, two Jewish families from Kazimierz Dolny and Puławy, totaling 11 people, found refuge with the Pochwatkas.
The family’s ultimate sacrifice came after German soldiers stationed in nearby Opole Lubelskie were tipped off about the Jews hiding at the Pochwatka residence. Although the soldiers did not find the Jewish families, who had escaped to a nearby forest, they executed the entire Pochwatka family and buried their bodies in the shelter where they were later found.
This discovery not only highlights the brutal consequences faced by those who dared to defy Nazi orders but also serves as a poignant reminder of the courageous acts of solidarity during one of history’s darkest chapters.