The Fear

Wielki strach

The communal memory of killings which took place following World War II in the Dębrzyna forest in south-east Poland, featuring accounts from those who witnessed the atrocities as children. It was a time when many people were returning from forced labour in Germany, with no idea that they might become victims of the attacks being perpetrated by the marauding bandits who had overrun the area. The residents of the nearby villages knew what was going on in the forest, yet never intervened because they were “living in fear” themselves.