36 studies / 54 · Near Stąporków

Wielka Wieś: people killed by fire in February 1943

18 February 1943 · Burning people alive and killings during pacifications

Wielka Wieś was attacked in February, while later events in the autumn of the same year form a separate episode in its history. In the account of the February pacification, testimony about burning people is decisive. Available summaries do not agree on all figures, however, so we do not create from them one uniform, closed list. [1] [2]

Editorial account based on the sources listed below. Sources checked: 5 September 2026.

Victims and toll: 27 according to the IPN; the local Map of Memory gives 28.
Perpetrators: German Order Police and gendarmerie.
Documented methods: burning alive · killing by gunfire

Basis for the facts and their qualifications: [1] [2]

Victims of the fires

The IPN identifies 20 people burned alive: one man, ten women and nine children. [1]

The local account

The Map of Memory links the operation to reprisals for assistance given to partisans. It names gendarmes from Końskie and police officers from Czarniecka Góra. It gives the burning of eleven farmsteads and burial in the cemetery at Niekłań. Its number of people killed and its count of children differ from the calendar. [2]

What requires further checking

The article retains both total figures. The larger must not be chosen merely because it seems better to convey the scale of suffering, nor the smaller for the appearance of caution. It is necessary to check which people and period each list covers. Agreement of sources about burned farmsteads does not substitute for separate proof that people died in the flames. [2] [1]

Limits of the findings

The count remains discrepant. Data on the number burned come from the IPN; the local material does not break down methods of death. [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.

Paweł Żołądek. Pacyfikacje na wsi kieleckiej – 1943 r. IPN, Delegatura w Kielcach.

opracowanie instytucjonalne · Kalendarium: hasła miejscowości · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

Use of this source: Daty, bilanse i wskazane formacje; skrótowe zestawienie, bez reprodukcji akt.
Mapa Pamięci. Wielka Wieś, pacyfikacja. Stowarzyszenie Rekonstrukcji Historycznych JODŁA.

opracowanie instytucjonalne · Hasło datowane 18.02.1943 · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

Use of this source: Lokalny wariant 28 ofiar i pochówek w Niekłaniu.

How we assess sources

The evidence base consists primarily of Polish scholarly publications, investigative findings, archives, museums and documented witness accounts. Reliability is assessed through the document’s provenance, scholarly method and the ability to check the finding. Statements by perpetrators and family accounts of perpetrators require especially critical comparison with other material. Two pages from the same institution may repeat one finding; they are not automatically treated as independent confirmation.

Full methodology