Murder Story of Peretsfeld Jews at the Topcharly Well

- Please tell us about this place. - Next year will be a memorial date, 70 years since the Nazis’ horrors, when people were destroyed here, whole families. I read about one case when a Jewish woman gave birth to a baby on her way here: they took the baby, smashed him on the ground, and threw him into the well in front of his mother’s eyes. Other people had to watch too. The atmosphere of this place is terrible. When you approach it, it depresses you. - What was here? - A well. Only after the war they erected a monument here. - Who used its water? Was there a settlement here? - Yes, there was a village, Topcharly. Here, on the left side. - Now no one lives here anymore.

- When the Germans occupied this territory and shot people they shot his family as well and threw them into the Zimino well. - How many people was that? - He had five children, in addition to his wife and himself they were seven people. - What was his last name? - Liver. I think it is in the lists. On May 9th we went to the well, and I believe that I saw his name there. - In addition to the Liver family who else was shot in Zimino? - I think there were about 90 Jewish families. - What other places did the families come from? - I think the villages nearby. ... - Did you see or hear what happened in Zimino? - Of course, we were young boys then and we went to that village. - What was its name? - Peretsfeld. Some 3 kilometers from here. So, after they were killed, on the 2nd and on the 3rd day, we came to see. We knew that some of the people in the well were still alive. - How did you know? - Because they were moaning, and we heard it. You see there were trucks surrounding the well…[and they prevented us from getting close enough to see]. - The well or the village? - The well. There were machine guns set up around the well. - Please tell us in detail everything you remember. - When they brought them, we were sitting further away and saw it. - You mean when they brought the machine guns? - No, the machine guns were already there. We came on the 2nd day and on the 3rd day. - Were you there on the day of the shooting? - No, we were in the forest, some 200 meters from there. We didn’t go there because we would’ve been shot as well. ... - So how many boys were there with you on the day you witnessed that shooting? - We were three or four. - You were chasing rabbits? - Yes, we were wandering in the forest, and then we saw the vehicles. There were three or four vehicles. - Could you please describe them? - They were trucks, big trucks, covered. In short, military trucks. They brought them [the victim] there and threw them in. One boy ran away from the well so the German soldier chased him and knocked him down; the boy didn’t get up anymore. We heard about the shooting but we didn’t realize that some people were fell or jumped [into the well]when they were still alive… what a horror… there were almost no men, it was wartime [and the men were at the front]. There were old people, women, and children.... - So they brought people on those trucks, not by foot. - Yes. - Do you remember how many Germans were there? - Many people: German soldiers and policemen. - How many policemen? - I Don’t know. - Five, ten, or more? - I think about five. The police headquarters was in Zimino. - And the Germans – 5, 10,or 15 people? - I don’t know, we didn’t really see because they were standing there with the machine guns so we couldn’t get close to see. - How did you know the difference between the German soldiers and the policemen? - The policemen didn’t wear uniforms, just regular clothes, with armbands. They also had simple rifles while the soldiers had sub-machine guns and machine guns, uniforms, and helmets. - Did you recognize any policemen? - Each village had one policeman. - Zimino as well? - No, we had three or four. It was a big village....