Murder Story of Tolochin Jews in Raitsy

On March 13, 1942 the Jews of the ghetto of Tolochin were dispatched on their final way. Not far from the village of Raitsa, in a pit in a field, in the course of a single day, approximately 2,000 Jews were shot to death. They were shot in groups of 30 people. Then they were covered with clumps of frozen earth and [their bodies] blown up. Then all this was repeated. While they were being taken under guard to the shooting site, the Jews began to run in various directions. Some of them were able to save themselves that way, but most of them were killed. B.B. Kazhdan said: "Relatives of mine, the two boys Mulia and Leva Klugman, took their new-born little brother and hid in the attic of their house. Unfortunately, the infant began crying when the murderers were searching for them. That, of course, led to the discovery of those hiding, who were soon killed in the same pit as all the others." Another terrible thing was noted by B.B. Kazhdan: "Somehow Dr. Fishkin learned about the shooting. Without waiting to be killed, he took poison and also gave poison to his wife and two children." V. P. Gliak stated: "I saw how, on March 14, 1942, they shot to death some Jews who had escaped being shot the previous day. There was a girl, a woman, and an old man. It was cold. There was a snowstorm and they were not forced to take off their clothes. A shot to the back of their heads was the last thing they heard."