Murder Story of Kamen Jews in Borki

The Germans entered Kamen during the summer. They did not transfer the Jews to the ghetto; instead they made lists of all their names and ordered them to wear the yellow star and prepare all their gold possessions to take with them. On September 17, the Jews were enclosed in a building that had been used as a wool-processing factory. At first, they took the men in a truck out of the town where they probably ordered them to dig a pit. After the men had finished, [the Germans] threw a bridge over the pit. One by one, the men walked onto the bridge; [the Germans] shot them and they fell in. After the men, they brought the women and children to the pit and shot them. Many injured people, still alive, were in the pit, but they covered it, and the earth breathed for a few more days. 177 people were murdered there.

After the Jews gathered at the market square, they were placed in a column. Many of them started to cry, refusing to leave, as Lepel was some twenty kilometers away and it was clear that the elderly and children would not reach it. They realized that they were being taken somewhere closer ... The cordon consisted of Germans and policemen. The elderly and young children were put on several carts. My grandmother was not herself, it was clear she had gone mad, and my grandfather was holding her hands tightly. I do not remember what Moisei said, whether or not the pit had been prepared in advance, but I do remember that he had a shovel in his hands. When the carts began turning right, and the column was driven after them, it was a good time to escape – the lake was close. He was still hoping for a miracle, although the escape plan was ready within a minute: to dive into the lake, if it was possible to reach it. After several minutes it became clear they were going to kill them. Moisei, a strong, 40-year-old man, did not wait for the execution to start: “Run away, save yourselves!” He hit a nearby policeman’s head with the shovel, and threw himself on another. There was a moment of panic, and a large number of teenage boys ran in different directions. The murderers did not expect that – several seconds passed – and Moisei dived into the water. He did not feel its burning cold. He plucked a reed [to breathe through], and with several strokes he was at the bottom of the lake, which was not deep, with the reed was sticking out among the thicket. Almost immediately they began shooting into the lake. The bullets were hammering into the water; one of them touched his ear. There were shouts and sounds of shootings. He did not remember how long this hell lasted. When everything became silent, he heard them coming up to the water and shooting several times. The members of the punitive expedition were sure he had been killed; nobody dived in to search the water. Moisei could not feel his body; it was numb and did not obey his commands. Nevertheless, he managed to crawl closer to the bank and peek out of the water. No, nobody was waiting for him. Finally, he got out and walked to the murder site. A carelessly covered mass grave was still breathing. He began to rake it away with his hands; there were corpses lying on the top. He lost consciousness. When he came around a short while later, he went to the same peasant for whom his uncle, my grandfather, had worked only several days before.