Statement by Aleksander Wyrzykowski

When the Red Army came, the victims were free. We dressed them as best as we could. The first one went to his house, but his family had perished, so would come to eat with us. The rest went to their homes. One Sunday I noticed that guerillas were coming. They said: 'we'll come today and get rid of the Jews'. The other said that they would kill everybody. From this time on the Jew slept in the field in a dugout for potatoes. I gave him a pillow and my coat. I went to warn the others as well. They began hiding. The bandits had nothing against the girls who were the Jews' fiancées, but they were told to say nothing to their partners. The same night they came to us to get the Jew. They said to give him away, that they would kill him and then they wouldn't bother us again. My wife replied that I had gone to visit my sister, and that the Jew had gone to Lomza and hadn't returned. Then they started to beat her so that her entire back was bruised. They took whatever they could find in the house and told her to drive them back. My wife took them in a horse cart to the vicinity of Jedwabne. When she returned, the Jew came out and saw how she had been beaten. After a certain time another Jew, Janek Kurbrzanski came. We discussed the situation and decided to run away from the place. We took residence in Lomza. My wife left the little child with her parents. From Lomza we moved to Bilaystok, because we feared for our lives…In 1946 we moved to Bilesk Pdlaski, but after a few years this was found out and we had to flee from there too".