On 16th December 1939 Jarosław Zygmunt Krzyszkowski and Fryderyk Piątkowski, members of the “White Eagle”, an organization deriving from the pre-war Rifleman Association, daringly attacked a German police station situated at Rynek 16.
In retaliation, the Germans arrested some local people plus 29 other people from Bochnia and vicinity who had been arrested previously for minor crimes. The whole group numbering over fifty men was made to walk along Casimir the Great Street to Uzbornia Hill. Jews were forced to dig two large graves, then a 12-person execution squad shot people in groups of six, one after another. After each series of shots, one of the executioners walked up to the bodies and shot them again to ensure they were dead. After one round of shots, Zygmunt Wilgocki, who was not hurt, escaped to the forest and, despite being fired at, managed to get to Kurów through Uzbornia and from there to Łapanów where he hid for some time. Successive groups of prisoners had their hands tied to prevent escape. The whole operation was managed by Major Albrecht and supervised by the governor Otto Wachter, who arrived from Cracow. The Jews were forced to bury the dead after execution. Bodies of Krzyszkowski and Piątkowski were also buried at the execution site after hanging from lamp posts for four days.
This tragic event is commemorated by a several metres high obelisk made of granite rock with a plaque. The obelisk was erected in 1949, at the site of execution, by the people of Bochnia.
Based on Jan Flasza’s book “Bochnia. Town guide.”
City
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