12. Site of ancient manor of Grocholski family in Poniatów
In 1801, the home farm Poniatów was integrated
into the estate of Wieliszew, owned
by Prince Józef Poniatowski. Poniatów
manor was separated from Wieliszew lands
in 1877. In August 1921, the dilapidated
estate was acquired by the Count Zdzislaw
Henryk Adam Grocholski (1881-1968)and his wife Maria Emilia née Soltan
(1889-1963). The Count Grocholski bought
the properties from his brothers: Wacław,
Wiktor and Walery Golian by way of exchange
for the property located in Warsaw.
The heart of the property was a beautiful
one-storey manor house, with a shingle roof
and ‘Syrokomla’ coat of arms on the frontage
of the manor house.
During World War II, the Poniatów home farm was governed by German extraordinary administration rules. The sister of the estate owner’s wife – Helena Soltan, who lived in Poniatów, recalls the manor house during the war in such words:
The manor, with so special population composition, was the scene where the issues of the Home Army from the entire region were concentrated, Military Service for Women (press distribution to military companies, supply of sanitary materials) and, after the liquidation of the ghetto in Legionowo (late October 1942) two adult women and two Jewish girls were kept hidden for seven months. In 1944, one of the girls, thanks to a very complex and meticulously prepared operation, were placed in a Catholic orphanage run by the Sisters of the Family of Mary in Płudy outside Warsaw.
The rooms on the first floor were occupied by German soldiers, some of whom were convalescents, who served as guards of the nearby border with the Reich, and supervised the Soviet prisoners of war from the camp in Beniaminów working on the farm.
In Poniatów, there were also the headquarters of the 8th Company of the Third Home Army Battalion, with its commander Władysław Danielewicz alias Oko (‘Eye’), second lieutenant of the military reserve and administrator of the confiscated property. Unfortunately, on August 16, 1944, Danielewicz and the sons of Zdzisław Grocholski: cadet officer Adam Grocholski alias Kombinator and corporal and cadet officer Tadeusz Grocholski alias Leliwa – both from the 722nd Home Army Platoon – were arrested and detained in the barracks in Zegrze, and then executed by firing squad. At the end of the war, the manor of the Grocholski family was destroyed.
Photo: Manor before World War II
During World War II, the Poniatów home farm was governed by German extraordinary administration rules. The sister of the estate owner’s wife – Helena Soltan, who lived in Poniatów, recalls the manor house during the war in such words:
The manor, with so special population composition, was the scene where the issues of the Home Army from the entire region were concentrated, Military Service for Women (press distribution to military companies, supply of sanitary materials) and, after the liquidation of the ghetto in Legionowo (late October 1942) two adult women and two Jewish girls were kept hidden for seven months. In 1944, one of the girls, thanks to a very complex and meticulously prepared operation, were placed in a Catholic orphanage run by the Sisters of the Family of Mary in Płudy outside Warsaw.
The rooms on the first floor were occupied by German soldiers, some of whom were convalescents, who served as guards of the nearby border with the Reich, and supervised the Soviet prisoners of war from the camp in Beniaminów working on the farm.
In Poniatów, there were also the headquarters of the 8th Company of the Third Home Army Battalion, with its commander Władysław Danielewicz alias Oko (‘Eye’), second lieutenant of the military reserve and administrator of the confiscated property. Unfortunately, on August 16, 1944, Danielewicz and the sons of Zdzisław Grocholski: cadet officer Adam Grocholski alias Kombinator and corporal and cadet officer Tadeusz Grocholski alias Leliwa – both from the 722nd Home Army Platoon – were arrested and detained in the barracks in Zegrze, and then executed by firing squad. At the end of the war, the manor of the Grocholski family was destroyed.
Photo: Manor before World War II