Murder Story of Proskurov Jews at the Slaughterhouse Dump in Proskurov

…After 10 days, on November 4 [1941], the pogrom began. We were surrounded by SS-men. About 8 a.m. they started to break into our homes. We hid in the coal bin, but were found. I remember some old women with shaking hands who couldn't manage to get a child dressed so the SS-men rushed her along. We were all taken to the textile [weaving] factory. On the way we were beaten with rifle butts. My father, who was physically strong, grabbed my brother and pushed through the crowd, but they were caught. On the way [to the murder site] my brother was constantly asking: "Are we going to be shot now?" "Why?" They took a good fur coat from one Jew, but he managed to cut it up with a knife. He was shot to death immediately. We were driven inside the building. A whole pile of clothes was lying there. I said to my father: "This is the end!" But he tried to console me saying that we were going to be taken to work. Before we were forced to take off our clothes, the head of the murder squad entered the building and announced: "Those who hand over their valuables will be released." My father had hidden a pillowcase containing silverware with some Ukrainians… . He sent me to get it. I refused to go, saying that in any case that wouldn't help. But my father insisted. When I approached the head [of the murder squad], he shouted: "How did you get here?" He grabbed me by the arm, took me out the building, and put me under the guard of two SS-men…. While under guard, I tried to catch sight of my mother but I didn't see her. But I did see my Aunt Ester, she had a black shawl [on her head] and was smiling in a strange way. I also saw how Lea Daiter, the wife of my uncle, and Dora, her 10-year-old daughter, were being taken [to the murder site]: they were beaten with rifle butts. I was kept under guard until the end of the pogrom, until evening, when it was dark. I didn't believe that I would remain alive…. [After the pogrom] about 20 people were still alive, those were Jews who had in their hands… documents testifying that they were workers. After their own "work" the SS-men got drunk and began singing; some of them were wearing new rubbers that had been taken off the murder victims. On this day the Ukrainian population [of Proskurov] was celebrating and feasting. It was Ukrainians who denounced the Jews [who had gone into hiding] to the Germans, who didn't always realize that they were Jews….