Plaque

Grave of two French soldiers at Wiele

In the communal cemetery of Wiele, one finds a stone on which is set a plaque in memory of four victims of the Second World War. The first two are two Frenchmen aged 23, from Amiens and Grenoble, who died on 7 January 1945 at Lubnia. The third is Władzia, 22, from Lviv, who died on 7 January 1945 at Przytarnia. The fourth is Zbigniew Łukasiewicz, 24, from Gdynia, who died on 10 March 1944 at Stutthof.

According to the recollections of Mr Jan Orlikowski, two escaped French soldiers were hiding with a Polish woman in a bunker located in the woods behind the village of Przytarnia. In January 1945, a manhunt took place. One of the escapees wanted to see what was happening and looked out of the bunker through an entrance hidden in the vegetation. When he saw a man in uniform in front of him, he fired at him. He thus wounded a forest ranger from Głuchy Bór. The French soldiers and the young Polish woman then decided to flee. One of them was wounded. The Germans searching for them tracked them to a house in Przytarnia where they had found refuge. They sent a young boy to gather information. The latter, frightened by the wounded partisan, took fright and ran off. As he did not stop despite the Germans' calls, they fired at him and wounded him. He died on the way to the hospital. Hearing the gunfire, the partisans returned fire. Władzia died in the shooting, while the Frenchmen managed to flee towards Lubnia. They then hid in a barn which the Germans pursuing them set on fire. They died in that fire.

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