53 studies / 54 · Osieczna near Leszno and the Jarogniewice forests
Osieczna: 48 Murdered Wards of an Institution for Women and Girls
January–February 1940 · Cases requiring particular caution
Women and girls from the institution in Osieczna are sometimes added to accounts of Kościan patients, although they were a separate group. A Polish investigative notice confirms the killing of 48 wards in the Jarogniewice forests. The available brief studies nevertheless leave important gaps: they do not allow the fate of every person to be reconstructed or all methods known from neighbouring crimes to be automatically assigned to the group. [1]
Editorial account based on the sources listed below. Sources checked: 5 September 2026.
- Victims and toll
- 48 wards of the institution in Osieczna; their identities had not been established in the 2016 notice.
- Perpetrators
- German state functionaries; the available appeal does not identify individual executors.
- Documented methods
- forced removal of wards · killing — the exact method is not demonstrated in the notice used
A separate group of victims
The appeal of the Poznań branch of the IPN in case S.37.2016.Zn covers 48 women and girls from Osieczna murdered in the Jarogniewice forests in January–February 1940. These victims were listed separately from the patients of Kościan. [1]
Names remained unknown
A PAP account of a statement by Natalia Cichocka of the IPN confirms that investigators established the identities of Kościan patients but did not have such data for the wards from Osieczna. This was the state of knowledge announced in 2016, not an assertion that identification can never be possible. PAP and the appeal report the same investigation; they are not independent proof of two different findings. [2]
Why the account remains cautious
The appeal used contains no detailed description of the killing of these 48 people. Gassing of patients from other institutions in the area does not replace evidence concerning Osieczna. For that reason the article is marked as requiring further supplementation. We do not invent scenes of violence or a precise Polish national total that the brief publication does not allow to be verified. [1] [2]
Limits of the findings
The available sources confirm the killing, but not its detailed method or a separate nominal total by nationality. This entry has the limited category and cannot serve as evidence of documented torture. PAP repeats findings of the same investigation. [1] [2]
Sources and notes
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Oddziałowa Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu w Poznaniu. Apel do świadków zbrodni w lasach jarogniewickich koło Stęszewa. IPN.
Use of this source: 48 ofiar, ramy datowania i brak ich identyfikacji w 2016 r.; nie dowodzi szczegółowej metody.
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PAP; wypowiedź Natalii Cichockiej. IPN szuka świadków niemieckich zbrodni wojennych na terenie tzw. lasów jarogniewickich. Dzieje.pl / PAP.
Use of this source: Stan identyfikacji i zakres tego samego postępowania IPN.
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