24 studies / 54 · Kielce region

Mniów and Raszówka: residents locked in a burning house

26 May 1943 · Burning people alive and killings during pacifications

At Raszówka there is a grave of people murdered during the German pacification of the Mniów commune. Heritage documentation describes the burning of a large group in an isolated house. It allows the place and nature of the crime to be identified, but it is not a complete investigative protocol. The article retains the numerical approximations given by this source. [1]

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

Victims and toll: More than 50 people in the operation; about 30 burned in a house in Raszówka according to municipal documentation.
Perpetrators: German gendarmerie and SS from Kielce according to municipal documentation.
Documented methods: gathering people in a house · burning alive · shooting

Basis for the facts and their qualifications: [1]

Murder in an isolated building

The municipal heritage-care programme describes the crime committed during the operation of 26 May. Its victims came from several nearby settlements. The largest group was locked in a freestanding house in Raszówka, which was set on fire. The official document speaks of about thirty people burned, including five children. The cemetery preserves the memory of a place directly connected with their deaths. [1]

Scope of the operation

The municipal programme also lists looting, arrests and arson in the surrounding area. The count for the whole pacification is broader than the number of victims in a single building. Residents of Raszówka are not an additional category that can be added again to the overall number killed. [1]

The grave as testimony

The local-government documentation links the history of the pacification with a description of the surviving cemetery. It is valuable for locating the memorial, but it does not replace an exhumation protocol or a complete nominal list. We therefore accept the information about people being burned in accordance with the source while retaining its rounded count. [1]

Limits of the findings

The description relies on an official heritage-care programme. Its approximations are not a complete nominal count. The source does not identify the exact unit. [1]

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.

Rada Gminy Mniów. Gminny program opieki nad zabytkami: cmentarz ofiar pacyfikacji w Mniowie-Raszówce. Dziennik Urzędowy Województwa Świętokrzyskiego.

opracowanie instytucjonalne · Uchwała 396/LVII/2023, s. 32–33 pliku PDF (numeracja dziennika) · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

Use of this source: Opis pacyfikacji 26.05.1943, palenie ludzi w domu i historia cmentarza; dokument urzędowy.

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