Murder Story of Novy Pikov Jews at the Pikov Jewish Cemetery

... On June 30, 1942, the Jewish population in the region of Kalinovka, Novy Pikov and Stary Pikov were hunted down by the local police force .... At 4 am, the hunt began. Women, the elderly and even children were arrested – over 700 people in total. They were held in the stable of the Moltov kolkhoz until 3 pm, when the pits were ready. Lieutenant Lenger then arrived at the stable, and proceeded to take out Jewish “experts” – shoemakers, tailors and tinsmiths amongst others – 33 people in total, who were brought to the Gandarmerie prison cell. Those Jews who declared themselves Ukrainian were also brought to the cell, pending clarification of their status. According to the instructions given by Gandarmerie Commandant Lobrin, the remaining 600 people were brought, under the guard of local policemen Pushkar and Boiko ... to the murder site, where eight Gestapo men from Vinnitsa were waiting ... Gebiet Commissar Pakles took part in the terrible murder under the command of the Gestapo men. The local police force, which had transported the victims, surrounded the murder site. The Gestapo men ordered the Jews to undress, and then a Gestapo man brought groups of five men to the pit, laid them face down and two other Gestapo men shot them in the head with sub-machineguns. Before the massacre, the people shouted their innocence, cried and begged to be left alive, but they were told that their time had passed… When the grave was opened on August 12, 1944 ... it was determined that: the grave is situated 1.5 kilometers from the town of Kalinovka, in the direction of the Jewish cemetery, half a kilometer away. The grave is 18.5 meters long, 8 meters wide ....