– They set the whole house on fire and burned him and the Jew – in a frightened voice a resident of the village Krępa told his neighbours about the events that took place in the nearby village. The terrified neighbours hid in their houses.

On 23 April, in the beautiful early spring, when the first rays of sunlight were covering the fields, the Germans from Miechów organised a raid in the surrounding villages. They wanted to catch everyone who had avoided being transported to Germany for forced labour. The manhunt proved fruitful for the Germans, as they captured around 40 men.

Returning to the unit with his human prey, one of the gendarmes noticed a clearly outlined shack sticking out of the ground.

– Look, it looks like a shack! – the gendarme directed his voice to the other gendarme marching beside him. The dog, a giant German Shepherd, immediately took up the trail. The hut turned out to be empty, but the dog’s keen sense of smell led the enraged and overexcited Germans to the barn where the Jew was hiding.

It was a Jew called Goldwasser, whom the lonely widower Józef Wydmański had taken under his roof much earlier.

– This is not a good day for the Jews, nor for their defenders – hissed one of the gendarmes, throwing Goldwasser and Wydmański outside.

The spring sun was still shining on Joseph’s face, and after a brief moment of pleasant warmth, he felt a piercing pain in his body. One shot, ended his life in a matter of seconds.

– Let’s burn it all, it’s of no use to anyone! – said one of the Germans with a mocking smile on his lips. Golwasser, trembling with fear, waited for the bullet that would end his life. But the Germans prepared a crueler death for him.

They set the whole farmhouse on fire and threw Józef’s dead body into the burning cottage.
– Now it’s your turn, Jew – jump into the fire, we’ll save bullets for you.

Goldwasser, defending himself with all his might, was unable to protect himself from death, and thrown into the flames by force, had no chance of rescue. Everything took place in front of forty captured Poles and laughing Germans.