Murder Story of Gomel Jews on the Chernigov Road

From the testimony of Hubert S., a former member of Einsatzkommando 8: ... Our branch carried out arrests both in Gomel itself and outside the city. These arrest operations mostly followed denunciations from the Russian population. When we detained Jews, no special security measures were needed, as they did not resist.... Investigations were unnecessary in the case of imprisoned Jews. It was taken for granted that they would be shot... The shootings took place every time there were enough candidates for death. Occasionally, 2 shooting operations took place in one week.... Almost all the members of our squad were present at the shooting operations. Each time, only about 2 or 3 men remained behind in our living quarters. When the victims had been taken by truck to the shooting sites, those about to be shot had to stay at the collection point in the vicinity of the pit, and were then taken individually to the execution pit. They were killed there by single shots fired from a submachine gun. As far as I remember, the squad leader assigned the individual marksmen only at the pit itself. Sometimes, an additional man [of ours] would stand by the pit to show the victims the place [to stand] - and, later, to arrange the bodies. One could watch the shooting process from the collection point. I was amazed at the courage of the Jews in the face of death. They [the men] went quite calmly to the grave. Naturally, the women and children screamed and wept, especially when their relatives had been separated from them and taken to the pit. I also know that the victims prayed as long as they were together with their families. In the pit, the mothers, with infants in their arms, tried to throw themselves over their children in order to protect them. In such cases, a shot would be fired first into the mother's head. Then, the nursling would be taken from under his mother and shot, too. There was no need to fire addition shots to finish off the victims during the shootings in Gomel, since the shooting was carried out at short range. If the victims were wearing valuable outer garments or decent shoes, they had to take off these articles of clothing before being shot....

From the testimony of Lorenz B., a former member of Einsatzkommando 8: ... I mentioned in a previous section that we had constantly carried out shooting operations. Jews, Gypsies, and partisans in our ward of the prison, who were slated for "ST" [special treatment], would be shot. It was through these shooting actions that our ward of the prison was regularly cleared out. We did not have a specific day or schedule for the shootings: the shootings would take place whenever the prisoners became too numerous. In any case, we tended to empty the prison toward the end of every month, so that we could report to the Einsatzkommando [HQ] in Mogilev that we had fulfilled our quotas ... We would clear out the prison about 2-3 times a month. We did not have a fixed quota of people to be shot; rather, it fluctuated between 15 and 35 persons. The shootings were always carried out in the same forested area, outside Gomel, near a river. The delinquents [sic] were taken by truck from the prison and transported to the shooting site. We followed in a car right behind them. The detachment leader was present at every shooting: without him, no operation was carried out. The shooting procedure was worked out over the course of several months. Everyone learned what he had to do. All the members of our squad were assigned to the shootings. Anyone who tried to shirk this duty could be sure that, for the next shooting operation, he would be assigned by our detachment commander to be not only a guard, but a shooter, as well. The shooting itself was carried out by only 2 men: one did the actual shooting, while the other dealt with the bodies.... I wish to add the following: infants and young children were generally put in the pit and then shot. Having already participated in the shooting of Jews, we were amazed at how calmly these people usually went to their deaths. Naturally, there were also terrible scenes at the shooting site. Often those who were to be shot later witnessed the shooting of their predecessors. At first, the victims had to stay about 20-30 meters from the shooting pit. Afterwards, they would be taken to the shooting pit individually and shot there. There were guards stationed along the short path to the shooting pit. The victims would constantly be brought to the grave by 2 men. From about summer 1942, the delinquents [sic] had to undress before being shot - that is, they had to take off their outer garments and shoes. These items of clothing were afterward taken by truck back to our office. Later, these clothes were mostly used in labor camps. Some of the clothing was put at the disposal of the mayor of Gomel. Every evening before a shooting operation, the detachment commander would assign the men their guarding and shooting duties for the next day. The delinquents [sic] were "sorted" on the day prior to that, i.e. they were put into separate cells, so that, in the next morning, we would know right away who was to be shot. During the regular, smaller shooting operations, it was mostly Jews who were shot. Although we had more partisans than Jews, most of the partisans were transferred to labor camps....

From the testimony of Wilhelm Schultz, former commander of a detachment of Einsatzkommando 8, stationed in Gomel: When the larger shooting operations had been completed, Jews continued to be shot as part of the anti-partisan campaign. These Jews were handed over to my squad by other departments... These Jews were shot solely because they were Jews, and admitted to this... There were cases when entire families [consisting] of men, women, and children were handed over to us and incarcerated in our prison... In the case of the persons belonging to the Jewish race who had been handed over to us, my only option was shooting; there were no alternatives... If it turned out that these persons were Jews, they were included in the ongoing smaller shooting operations. These, naturally, included the women and children... In the later, smaller, [shooting] operations, the entire detachment was assigned to take part, except for one man on guard duty and his translator. There was no need for special orders. The shooting itself was carried out each time by 2 men. One did the shooting; the other "picked up" [the bodies]. The other members of the squad cordoned off [the murder site]. Waffen-SS members would usually stand as a barrier between the execution site and the place where the delinquents [sic] had to wait before being shot...

From the testimony of Otto S., a former member of Einsatzkommando 8: Our squad was responsible for dealing with the Jews captured in our Gomel area. The Jews were mostly handed over by the Wehrmacht offices, by the Feldgendarmerie, by the Geheime Feldpolizei, and by Russian policemen, as well. The Jews were then incarcerated by us in the Gomel prison...The Jews arrested by our own squad would also be placed there. Sometimes, we learned the whereabouts of Jews via denunciations or in other ways.... If a prisoner admitted to being a Jew, this was basically a death sentence for him. No further steps were necessary.... Shootings of Jews were carried out whenever the jail cells at our disposal were filled. Then, our 1.5-ton truck, loaded with Jews and other persons to be shot, would be driven to the execution site.... I have already stated that the delinquents [sic] were taken from the prison by our squad's truck and transported to the shooting site. The truck was usually driven by the auxiliaries; one of our SS-men sat next to him in the front seat. Our squad was transported to the execution site by cars. As far as I know, the column needed to drive only 2 or 3 kilometers to reach a forest where there were graves in the form of ditches. To the best of my knowledge, the graves had been prepared before the arrival of the cars by Russian policemen or inmates from a labor camp. Based on the descriptions of my comrades from the detachment, I know that the persons who were to be shot would be taken to the graves individually, and, kneeling inside the ditch, they would be killed by a shot in the back of the head. Those who were still alive had to watch the shooting being carried out... In any case, the shooting was conducted before [their] eyes and not far from them: thus, those awaiting [death] had to witness their own future fate. My comrades told me with admiration how, in many cases, people would approach the grave calmly. I am convinced that truly terrible scenes took place at the graveside....