The interview was recorded by the PILECKI INSTITUTE as part of the WITNESSES TO THE AGE project.

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Our today’s interviewee:
Feliks Trusiewicz (1921–2019) witnessed the Volhynia Massacre. His family – grandmother Franciszka, mother Helena and brothers Henryk and Stefan – were killed in November 1942 during the attack on the Polish inhabitants of the village of Obórki in Volhynia that was carried out by the members of the Schutzmannschaft (Ukrainian auxiliary police headed by the Germans). On Wednesday, 11 November 1942, Feliks' grandmother sent the 21yearold Feliks to a nearby village of Rudniki to get some grain. While he was away, all of the men in Obórki – including his two brothers – were arrested by the Ukrainian police, brutally beaten and taken to a detention facility in Cumań. Having heard the news, Feliks quickly returned home. On the night of 12/13 November, five women from Obórki – including Feliks’ mother – set out on foot to Cumań in order to bring the arrestees some warm clothes and food. On the morning of 13 November, while the women were away, Feliks also left the village, urged by his grandmother who feared that the Ukrainians could return to Obórki and arrest more people. This decision saved his life – a few moments later the village was surrounded by Ukrainian policemen from Cumań and Kołki, accompanied by two Germans. They captured the remaining inhabitants and herded them into a barn, where one of the Germans shot them in the back of the head. The victims were buried on the spot. Having heard about the tragedy, Feliks rushed back to Obórki to see if the horrific rumors were true. The empty village and the presence of Ukrainian policemen, who were keeping an eye on the property that had not yet been looted, confirmed his worst fears. Feliks fled to Łuck, knowing that the Ukrainians would kill both him and anyone that was helping him if they knew he was from Obórki. Feliks’ mother and the other women who were in Cumań during the massacre returned to Obórki, where they were arrested, taken to the scene of the crime, killed and buried next to the other victims on Saturday, 14 November. With the exception of one, all of the men from Obórki detained in Cumań were murdered on the same day. Tadeusz Morawski – the only man who was released because he turned out to be an inhabitant of Klewań, not Obórki – later told Feliks all about the very last night in the lives of the arrestees.

Copyright by Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa im. Witolda Pileckiego.