In the autumn of 1942, at the direction of SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, SS and Police Leader in the Lublin district of the General Government, a significant Nazi displacement operation commenced in the Zamość region.
The initial displacements began on the night of November 27-28, 1942, extending to 60 villages housing approximately 34,000 individuals by the end of December.
[2] Partisan units from the Peasant Battalions (Bataliony Chłopskie), Home Army (Armia Krajowa), and communist People's Guard (Gwardia Ludowa) attempted to impede pacification and displacement efforts, targeting German police, economic sites, and transportation facilities.
[6][7][8] In response to this partisan assault, the German authorities decided to pacify Kitów, a Polish village situated a few kilometers away from Nawóz.
[7][9] The residents of Kitów were forewarned by the village head (sołtys) that German forces were due to arrive on December 11 regarding undelivered food contingents.
[10] Among them were twelve armed members of the local Home Army outpost who feared their presence might provoke German reprisals against the civilian population.
[7][8] After the war, Josef Scharenberg, a member of the 25th SS Police Regiment, testified about his involvement in the execution of the Blej family.
[13] Men, women, and children assembled in the meadow were informed that they are sentenced to death for alleged “bandit activity” and next indiscriminately machine-gunned.
The Register of Places and Facts of Crimes Committed by the Nazi Occupier on Polish Lands in the years 1939–1945 records 164 deaths in Kitów.
[20] Among the victims, apart from the inhabitants of Kitów, were the Blej family of six from Greater Poland, four individuals from Gruszka Mała, one from Nielisz, and one from Wólka Złojecka.
[8] According to one of the participating policemen, the order to murder the Kitów population came from Captain Eder, the commander of the local Landwacht ("Country Guard").