Murder Story of Snigirevka Jews in an Anti-Tank Trench near Snigirevka

March 23, 1973 From the Indictment against Erich Bock and other members of Sonderkommando 10a: …In early September 1941, Einsatzkommando [Sonderkommando] 10a was stationed in Snigirevka on the Ingulets [River]. There, too, Jews were shot. A 10-15 meter long, 2-3 meter deep, and 3-5 meter wide pit, probably an anti-tank trench, was chosen as the killing site; it lay across the Ingulets, near its eastern bank, in uneven terrain. At least 70 Jewish men and women were taken to the area of the shooting site, where they had to wait on a tract of land. From there, they were taken in groups of 10 to the pit, which lay some 200 meters away, and shot in the back of the head or in the back by a squad of the same size [i.e., 10 people], who used rifles or submachine guns. The order to open fire [would be given] by a junior officer. The bodies were usually covered [with earth] so poorly that the next batch of victims could identify them by their silhouette or profile as they lay in the pit. Those waiting nearby heard the shooting, but they probably did not see it. It cannot be determined whether the victims had to take off their clothes first, nor whether there were children among them. Seetzen had overall charge [of the massacre]. The defendant Bock took part in this annihilation of Jews. Prior to the shooting, at the residential quarters, he was ordered to go see a special agricultural officer of the Wehrmacht who had remained north of Kakhovka and felt threatened by the partisans. Seetzen ordered him [Bock] to come to him to receive his orders before leaving the site where, as Bock knew, the Jews were to be killed. As soon as the preparations for his visit to the special agricultural officer were completed, Bock went to Seetzen at the shooting site. The killing was already underway, and there were at least 20 bodies lying in the pit. Bock reported to Seetzen and received some additional instructions related to the imminent trip. In the meantime, another group of Jews was shot. As Bock was about to depart, a commotion rose among the victims waiting in the nearby tract, and this was heard by Bock and Seetzen. Seetzen then ordered Bock to restore order. When Bock reached the tract, the commotion had already quieted down. Bock returned to Seetzen. Meanwhile, yet another group of Jews was shot. Seetzen then ordered Bock to take part in the shooting of the next group. Bock requested to abstain, [maintaining] that the firing squad was at full strength, and that he had a long road ahead of him. Seetzen reprimanded Bock, accused him of insubordination, and asked whether Bock knew what an SS and Police tribunal was. Consequently, Bock desisted from further protests. He joined the line of marksmen and fired a single shot with his submachine gun. His shot definitely missed. Afterward, Bock was allowed to leave. He spent a total of less than 15 minutes at the shooting site (the area between the pit and the tract). Subsequently, another 20 victims who had been waiting were killed….

April 17, 1962 From the Interrogation of Erich Bock, a former member of Sonderkommando 10a: …I remember that locality where Jews, men and women - I didn't see any children - were removed from their homes by the local auxiliaries and taken to an assembly point, which I recall as the village square. None of the squad members [I believe] participated in the roundup of the Jews from their homes. I believe, however, that some of our men were present at the assembly point, and that later, when the Jews had been taken in groups out of the town, our people also carried out guard duties. In any case, I myself had nothing to do with the house searches for Jews, with their transportation to the assembly point, or with the subsequent [events] at the execution site; I only observed this from my living quarters. When the first groups had been taken away, I, together with another squad member (whose identity I no longer recall), rode to the execution site, which lay across the river that ran about 1 kilometer east of the locality. I remember the execution site as follows: The execution was carried out in a ravine that ran along the road south of the river, in a crater or an anti-tank trench. The people about to be shot had to stand on the lip of the trench, in groups of 10 or 12. The firing squad positioned itself 10-15 meters behind them, and they would fire at the victims with submachine guns and rifles when the order to shoot was given. The shooting was carried out in volleys – i.e., only single shots were fired, even from the submachine guns. I cannot say with certainty where they [the shooters] aimed. I assume that, while shooting the victims from behind, they aimed either at the head or at the area of the heart.… I believe that the killing squad consisted only of Waffen-SS soldiers and people in SD uniforms.… You ask me whether, during this execution, the shooters would finish off those who had been merely wounded. I remember that it was some Wehrmacht soldiers, who chanced to be at the site and were watching the proceedings, who fired these killing shots. To this end, they used their 08 [Luger P08] pistols.… I, too, was initially only an onlooker at this execution, standing close to S. [Seetzen], who was chatting with two Wehrmacht officers about 40 meters to the left of the execution site itself. When S. [Seetzen] noticed me, he inquired whether I had taken part in the shooting. When I answered in the negative, he ordered me to join the shooters. Following this order, I fired my rifle at the area where the victims were, without moving from my position at S. [Seetzen]'s side and without aiming. Shortly before this, the execution squad had fired a volley at the victims - so that, by the time I shot, the victims were already falling.… If you object that my version, according to which I fired a shot at the victims from a distance of 40 meters, does not reflect the facts, I can only reiterate that it took place exactly as I have now described it. It was only a matter of my following S. [Seetzen]'s order to shoot. There were no further orders for me to participate in the execution as a marksman. I cannot tell you how many people were executed on that day. However, I assume that between 50 and 80 [people] were taken from the town to the execution site. When I arrived there, the execution was already underway: I remember that a large number of female bodies were already lying in a sloping section of the crater. The large number [I mentioned above] is an exaggeration. I actually only remember 4-5 bodies that were lying on the surface, at the edge of the trench. However, there were more bodies in the trench itself. Just when I arrived at the execution site, a group of Jews was being shot. Another group stood in a pit further to the left of me. I would estimate the distance between the execution site itself and the place to which those Jews had been brought to await their turn [to be shot] at about 400-500 meters. From there, they would be led by squad members to the execution site. This [the execution] proceeded without any difficulties and without any resistance on the part of the Jews. While I was there, only three groups of Jews were shot; during the last [shooting], I had to fire my gun upon S. [Seetzen]'s orders, in the way that I have already described. The Jews did not have to take off their clothes prior to being shot, and - of this I am certain - they did not have any luggage with them. I believe the execution itself lasted only one hour….

May 13, 1964 From the Interrogation of Georg R., a former member of the 49th Guard Battalion: …Between August 31 and September 20, 1941, I witnessed a large-scale execution in Snigirevka. Our guards battalion was there to oversee the transportation of Russian POWs to the rear. One day, we heard a rumor to the effect that Jews were going to be shot outside Snigirevka, some 500 meters from the eastern bank of the Ingulets [River]. Since Snigirevka lies directly on the river, and we were staying there at the time, we, several members of the 49th Guards Battalion, took a row boat across the Ingulets [River].… There was hilly terrain on its eastern bank, and we were about 200 meters from the anti-tank trench that had been dug there. This trench was several kilometers long. It extended along the eastern bank of the Ingulets, running parallel to the town. I saw many uniformed policemen and SD members near this anti-tank trench, and, at the time of my arrival, about doomed 50-60 Jews were still there. In any case, I saw that the Jews (as far as I remember, there were men, women, and children there) were being forced to undress. Then, in some other place, their clothes were confiscated. In yet another place, they had to hand over the meager possessions that they had brought with them. Those might have been cash and jewelry. I could not quite make it out, since I was too far away. Those Jews were ordered to approach the trench by SD members, who shouted commands such as "Next, hurry up here!" The Jews ran there without offering any resistance and lined up at the edge of the trench, facing it. I did not hear any man scream; the only cries came from the women. Each time, 10 persons would be forced to position themselves in this way, and an identical number of uniformed policemen, with rifles at the ready, would step up behind them and shoot the delinquents [sic]. The space [between the shooters and their victims] was 6-8 meters. They [the shooters] aimed at the back of the head. After the shots were fired, each of the victims fell forward into the trench. As far as I remember, no one remained lying above, on the lip of the trench. The marksmen then approached the trench and fired repeatedly into it. Apparently, some of the victims were not dead yet. It was not just one man who fired these shots to finish off the survivors; each marksman did this. It seems that every marksman checked his victim once to make sure that s/he was really dead. After the shooting of each line of delinquents, some Jews had to cover them with soil. However, this layer of soil was not very thick, and arms and heads could be seen protruding out of it when the next victims were ordered to the trench. As I have already indicated, I did not hear the cries of any victims. The SS members present at the execution site naturally ordered the victims to approach the trench in a loud and commanding tone. However, I did not see any beatings. Although some of the SS members held riding crops or truncheons, I don't believe they actually used them. The Jews did not offer any resistance as they approached the anti-tank trench, and they lined up there just as their predecessors had done. They obviously realized the futility of any resistance. It was an unsettling experience for me. For that reason, even now I can see it quite clearly. No one can convince me that whoever has experienced such a thing once could ever forget it. I cannot tell you how many bodies fell into this trench during my stay there, since I was present at the execution site for only about 10 minutes. One of the policemen standing at the trench approached us and told us that we should leave as soon as we could. Since we were afraid of being arrested ourselves, we got away from there as quickly as possible by rowing our boat back to the western bank of the Ingulets….

October 14, 1965 From the Interrogation of Michael K., a former member of the 49th Guard Battalion: …Only once did I see civilians being shot in Russia. In this context, too, I cannot tell you whether this shooting was carried out by SS members or by uniformed policemen. At the time, we were stationed in a large village west of the river. This river had dug a deep channel in the earth. There was an anti-tank trench on the other side of the river, and the civilians were driven into this trench and shot by an execution squad. I can no longer clearly recall whether I saw it on a single day or in the course of several days. I am sure, however, that I saw this myself, even though I did not row across the river for that purpose, but watched it from a place on the near side of the river. The company members also spoke about this shooting. As far as I can remember, the civilians were brought to the execution site by truck. Based on my own observations and conversations with company members, about a hundred men and women were shot there. I do not know whether there were any children among them. It was said then that the people being shot were Jews. [However,] as I have said already, I myself was not present at the execution site. I was merely watching the proceedings from my side of the river - and, therefore, I cannot tell you from personal experience whether the victims actually were Jews….

March 17, 1965 From the Interrogation of Erich Bock, a former member of Sonderkommando 10a: …One of those three executions I recall as follows: I see in this connection [before my eyes] a village and a river about 1 kilometer from it, which was spanned by a bridge. It was not a pontoon bridge. To the south, there were railway tracks, running parallel to the river. The local Jews were taken from their homes by the [local] auxiliaries and brought to the assembly point. I think no one from the squad [Sonderkommando 10a] participated in fetching the Jews. The squad members stayed at the assembly point throughout the operation. The squad members also took the Jews, men and women, to the execution site across the river. I remember the execution site as a tract of land with a ravine or an anti-tank trench. The Jews had to line up on the very lip of the trench, and were then shot at a range of 10-15 meters. As far as I can remember, the shooting was carried out by the squad members, together with several Wehrmacht soldiers. S[eetzen] was in charge of this shooting, and there were two or three Wehrmacht officers standing near him. I did not see uniformed policemen at this execution. Since I saw the abovementioned Wehrmacht officers standing by S[eetzen]'s side, I assumed that this was an act of retaliation. I remember that it was alleged that someone had tried to blow up the bridge near which the execution was taking place; the abovementioned shooting was carried out in retaliation. Since I am being asked about the number of victims, I assume that it was no more than 50, and not 50-80.… I was initially only an onlooker to this execution, and I was supposed to report to S[eetzen], who was chatting with both of the abovementioned Wehrmacht officers, upon my return from my mission. S[eetzen] asked me whether I had already fired my gun, and, when I answered in the negative, he told me to join in the shooting. I tried to wriggle out of this, [but] S[eetzen] prevented me from doing so and ordered me in no uncertain terms, right in front of the two officers, to obey him. After that…, I complied. I fired only a single shot.… The Jews did not have to take off their clothes before this shooting, and I believe - nay, am certain - that they did not have any luggage [with them]. When I arrived at the execution site, the operation was already nearing its end. I was present [there] probably for only half an hour. I remember that S[eetzen] was the only SS officer present at this execution….