Murder Story of Odessa Jews at the NKVD Sanatorium in Odessa

In the late afternoon of October 22, 1941 a bomb attack was carried out against the building of the Romanian commandant's office, as a result of which four German naval officers were killed, along with the commandant. Already the same evening the head of the unit [Sonderkommando 11b] Bruno Mueller, together with the accused Schlupper and Winterstein, inspected the destroyed building... Unit head Mueller then decided that Einsatzkommando [sic] 11b should particpate in the killing of the Jews of Odessa and, that very evening, ordered the accused Winterstein to find an appropriate murder site. After the accused Winterstein had found a dry well beyond the park at the former NKVD sanatorium, where Einsatzkommando [sic] 11b had set up its headquarters, unit head Mueller ordered the accused Schlupper, together with other squad members, to take Jews early the next morning from the prison where they were being held by Romanians and to bring them to the murder site. Schlupper was accompanied by the accused Winterstein, who spoke with the Romanian prison administration and succeeded in getting them to hand over at least 500 Jewish men, women, and children. These Jews were taken under guard toward the site intended for the execution. On the way the accused Winterstein repeatedly beat the Jews. When they arrived at the execution site, the accused Schlupper assigned some of the squad members to guard duty. He also had the victims hand over their valuables, completely undress, and then run in groups of about six to the well, where they were shot. On the way they [the Jews] again were beaten with sticks and clubs by squad members. The victims who were still waiting in the column cried and prayed as they heard the shooting and realized what fate awaited them. The execution squad at the well was headed by the accused Eschenbacher, who gave the order to open fire. The women were robbed of their children, who were shot before their eyes and thrown into the well. The rest of the victims had to stand in front of the well in such a way that they would fall in from the impact of the shots. Since the victims who fell down the well were often not yet dead, groans could be heard from the depths of the well shaft. Consequently, the accused Eschenbacher from time to time threw in hand grenades and shot into the well from his submachine gun. He commanded the murder squad at the well for at least 4 hours and was then replaced by another squad member....