“Yes, I Plead Guilty.” The Murder of Jankiel Lieberman in the Village of Rogów on 1 February 1943: A Case Study - MACIEJ KORKUĆ (Autor) (2023)
https://doi.org/10.48261/PJS230419
https://czasopisma.ipn.gov.pl/index.php/pjs/article/view/2539
Oryginalny artykuł naukowy
The story of the murder of Jankiel Lieberman, a Jewish resident of the village of Rogów near Miechów, who was hiding from the Germans. The crime was committed on 1 February 1943 by Aleksander Kuraj, a peasant from Rogów, who risked his life by selflessly helping Lieberman. This happened under the conditions of the psychosis of fear that gripped the inhabitants after the massacre in the neighbouring villages of Wierzbica and Wolica. There, a captured Jew led German officers to all the families who had illegally helped the Jewish population persecuted by the Germans. Once identified, the families were murdered one by one. The text shows the specificity of the German state terror in the General Government and the far-reaching effects of Germany’s criminal policy towards the Jewish and Polish populations. After the war, Aleksander Kuraj was tried for the murder of Lieberman. Holocaust survivors of Lieberman’s family reported the crime. After becoming familiar with the circumstances of the case, they wrote a letter to the court requesting his exemption from criminal responsibility.
Keywords: historia