Imbramowice
Historical background
In order to enforce even more efficient pacification [in the Olkusz poviat – NG], on February 2, 1943, a special Jagdkommando Police Pursuit Unit was organised, headed subsequently by German gendarmes: Fischer, Baumgarten, and Herling. The formal commander was volksdeutsch Kazimierz Nowak. The Jagdkommando started its activity in the village of Imbramowice, where 43 Gypsies: men, women and children, were killed.
According to the testimony of a witness, on February 2, 1943, Germans were to reach Imbramowice by three carts. They came from Wolbrom, Miechów and Skała. Due to the large amount of snow, they had difficulty reaching the village, so to facilitate the pursuit of Jagdkommando, the residents were ordered to remove snow from the roads across the entire village. It is possible that the Gypsies were denounced by local residents.
In Imbramowice, the largest number of Gypsies (nomadic) wintered with Jan called Brzychcyk in the hamlet of Dziadowizna. It was there that 62 (!) Gypsies were executed. A certain man named Zelinger, of Jewish origin, but baptised and married at a local Catholic, was also going to be executed with them, but he somehow managed to escape and after the war he lived in Imbramowice for some time. Two Gypsies also managed to avoid the execution – a father worked in the forest at that time, while his son escaped the Germans from Brzychcyk’s farm. The fate of the survivors is unknown.
According to the data of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites – 50 people were buried in the mass grave: a group of 43 Gypsies shot in Imbramowice on February 2, 1943 and seven captured in Wolbrom on February 3, 1943. None of the victims was identified. The discrepancy in the number of victims probably comes from counting Gypsy victims from Wolbrom twice.
Description of commemoration
In Imbramowice there is a monastery of Norbertine sisters, which dates back to 1226, as well as a parish church of St. Benedict Abbot and two cemeteries. At the newer cemetery (between the monastery and church, and in the vicinity of the museum / regional chamber) there is a grave of the Roma murdered during World War II. To reach it, after entering through the main gate, immediately turn left and walk along the asphalt road along the cemetery’s edge almost to the end of this part of the cemetery. The Gypsy grave is located between the graves of children. The grave is unmarked. On the day I saw it, it was neglected, but no more than the rest of the graves in the cemetery: a lot of rubbish, old flowers, burned candles… Inside the fence, there were the remains of a coniferous branch remaining after All Saints Day (?) as well as some burned candles.
The exhumation took place in 1954. The remains of the dead were moved from the place of execution and temporary burial to the cemetery. The Roma grave is a separate spot of land, surrounded by a fence made of steel flat bars since the 1970s. Inside, there is a cross characteristic for the cemetery in Imbramowice, decorated at the ends with welded chain rings. On the sides it features additionally welded two candle holders.
Date of the unveiling
1954
Address
The parish church in Imbramowice
Location
50°18’13.4″N 19°52’11.6″E
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Materials
Stefan Ząbczyński, Ruch Oporu i straty ludności cywilnej na Ziemi Olkuskiej 1939-1945 [The Resistance Movement and Civil Population Casualties in the Olkusz Region 1939-1945], published by Muzeum Pożarnictwa Ziemi Olkuskiej [Museum of Fire Brigade Services of the Olkusz Region] 1999.
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbrodnia_w_Imbramowicach
Gallery
