Murder Story of Kowel Jews at the Kowel Jewish Cemetery

[After the murder of the Jews from the ghetto in the new city] there remained several hundred [Jews] who had hid in attics and [underground] bunkers; they too were later [caught and] taken and incarcerated by [Fritz] Manthei [the head of the German urban police] and Ukrainian auxiliary policemen in the Great Synagogue, that was located in the ghetto in the old city; from there they were taken to the [Jewish] cemetery, where they were shot to death. …

... at 5 p.m. 6 trucks arrived at the synagogue. [Fritz] Manthei went inside, accompanied by [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen and ordered us to stand up and to get onto the trucks. Everyone knew that this was our end, … so, instinctively, the unfortunates turned towards the walls of the synagogue, wrote down their first and last names there, and that on suc and such a day they were sacrificing themselves for "Kiddush Hashem" [the sanctification of God's name through martyrdom] and that if someone would remain alive – he should avenge their blood that had been shed. I approached the wall to write down my first and last name. … I wrote: "On this day we are going [to be killed] for "Kiddush Hashem." If there will be any survivor of the Jews of Kowel- he should remember us and avenge our shed blood." I should point out that Manthei didn't disturb us when we were writing, but when we delayed, the patience of the Ukrainian policemen ran out and, with the buts of their rifles, they began to push us away from the walls: "That's enough, damned Jews, the trucks are waiting" – they shouted. … Each truck was accompanied by an armed guard of 16 [Ukrainian] policemen. The trucks turned towards Turisk Street. [O]n the way I saw people jumping off the trucks. If someone jumped out, the policemen shot him.... The trucks stopped near the [Jewish] cemetery, that was surrounded by many policemen. The victims were taken inside and collected near the room for the ritual washing of the dead. They were ordered to strip naked and to throw their clothes inside the room. Everyone had to strip naked together – men, women, even little children, and nursing 6 months babies [who were stripped by the adults]. When the people from the first truck had stripped naked – they were forced into the pit; entire families went to the slaughter, inclding brides with their grooms. The children were tightly holding onto their parents. A 10 year-old boy clung tightly to his father's thigh; the little children and nursing babies were carried in the arms of their mothers. The murder procedure was as follows: two boards were stretched over the pit. The unfortunates were ordered to mount them with their faces toward the pit. Three murderers were standing behind them, wearing white clothes, their faces hidden, their hands covered with white gloves, [and] holding automatic weapons. They aimed their barrels at the victim's brain so that the bullet would not miss the mark, but still the death-bullet [often] hit the heart, the ear, or other parts [of the body, thus only injuring the victim]. When the parents had fallen into the pit, their children were thown in after them, and they often died from suffocation. When the people from the first truck had been killed, those from the second truck were ordered to strip naked and approach the pit, and then they [too] were murdered. This atrocity continued until the last victim [was dead].… I approached the pit that was filled to the top with the dead. While standing on a board, I saw Israel Ishiner, who had been hit by a bullet in the heart and was circling around the pile of dead for the whole length of the pit. Th sight of this horror made me dizzy. I fainted and fell into the pit. The last of the victims were eliminated, but the pit was not covered with earth, since [the bodies] rose higher than the surface. I lay unconscious until 11:30 p.m. Suddenly I felt that I was still alive, but I didn't know whether or not I was injured. I tried to move, but the dead were on top of me, pressing and suffocating me. Only my head was above the dead. With my last bit of strength I extricated one arm and afterwards – the other. The blood of the dead victims was still hot, and it was streaming over my arms. With one hand I dried the blood. I thought that I was injured but, by some miracle, my hand had not been wounded. I wanted to free my head – but in vain. The hair of a[dead] woman who was lying on top of me had become entangled with my hair. A strong wind was blowing during these night hours, causing the blood to solidify… that why I had to separate my head from hers. I begun to tear at her hair and, with great effort, I succeeded in freeing my head. I pressed my hand against the dead bodies and with unhuman force I succeeded in freeing my whole body and raising myself. My body was stained with blood from our dear dead ones. I stood near the pit and saw them [the bodies] heaving, up and down. The moaning of the people who were about to be suffocated to death was awful. Six hours after the murder operation some victims were still fighting death.…