Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka: families murdered for helping Jews

A prepared operation against families

Sebastian Piątkowski describes the arrival in Ciepielów of trained officers of the gendarmerie battalion. They also obtained information about Jews in hiding and underground activists through torture. The operational instructions provided for the murder of a family on whose farm the occupier found evidence deemed incriminating, and for the destruction of its property. This included children and elderly people. [1]

Successive farmsteads

In Stary Ciepielów, the homes of the Kowalski, Obuchiewicz and Kosior families were surrounded. Jews in hiding were captured at the Kosior farm. After killings and gunfire at the family, the barn was burned. The Kowalski and Obuchiewicz families were gathered in a house; after shots were fired, the building was set on fire. The IPN statement indicates that some wounded children were deliberately left to die in the flames. [2]

Rekówka and the proper scope of the count

On the same day, the Kosior and Skoczylas families were attacked in neighbouring Rekówka. The count cited above includes both localities and the murdered Jews. They cannot be removed from the account while leaving the figure unchanged as a count solely of Polish families. The crime is at once a history of repression against helpers and of further persecution of people fleeing the Holocaust. [2]

Documentation of the families

Piątkowski names members of the families and notes uncertainty regarding one of the Kosior children. This signals that even established lists require critical comparison. The article does not link the December murder with the separate crime against Polish soldiers near Ciepielów in September 1939. [1]

Limits of the findings

The available Piątkowski page contains only part of a longer study. Details of methods come from a separate IPN statement; both materials belong to the same institution. [1] [2]

Sources and notes

Footnote markers identify the basis for specific findings. Bibliographic records remain in their original language; the notes indicate how each source is used.

The bibliographic record and source-use note are retained in Polish to preserve the original scholarly citation.

1. Sebastian Piątkowski. Zbrodnie w Ciepielowie i Rekówce. Zamordowani za pomoc Żydom. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · „Przygotowania do akcji pacyfikacyjnej” i „Zbrodnia w Ciepielowie Starym” · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: I Zmotoryzowany Batalion Żandarmerii, przygotowania do akcji i składy rodzin; strona zawiera tylko część artykułu.

2. IPN. Pamiętamy o ofiarach niemieckich mordów – Ciepielów, 6 grudnia 2022. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · Część historyczna; odczytany tekst indeksowany i wersja PDF · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: Przebieg mordów, pozostawienie rannych dzieci w podpalonym domu, 33 ofiary łącznie z dwójką Żydów.