Murder Story of Lyubar Jews at the Peschanoye Tract in Lyubar

… My grandfather, my grandmother, and my aunt were shot in Lyubar during the first mass shooting. The survivors of [the Jewish population], including members of our family - my Dad, my Mom, my two brothers, and me - were taken here… There were rumors that the police from a nearby county were going to be coming. They arrived to see what "work" was waiting for them. On the following day, October 31, 1942, I think it was a Monday, at 6 in the morning, there still some men there. They all were taken to dig pits, we all knew about that. And at 9 o'clock the police from the nearby county of Chudnov came here and placed all the people along a very long corridor of the monastery. From there the people were taken to be shot. There were only Ukrainians [among the shooters]; no one saw any Germans....

The shooting in September 1941 lasted for three days but I witnessed it only during two of them. The shooting took place at the Peschanoye Tract near the sand pit. The Jews were brought to the pits by cart. There they were forced to strip naked; they were searched for money and valuables. The Jews were forced to dig a pit. After the shooting I returned. The earth was soaked with blood. The pit was still open. I believe that some non-Jews were also shot there. The pit was long and wide.

...On September 13, 1941, when I was going to the river, shooting began in the village…..We heard people crying and weeping as they were driven out of their homes and taken away to be shot. In the late afternoon everything became quiet. We saw how the possessions looted from the Jews were taken to nearby villages. It was clear to us that all the Jews of Lyubar had been shot to death. Among them were my mother, my sisters, and [other] relatives (a total of 23 people). On that day about 2,000 Jews were shot at the Peshchannyi Tract and buried in the pits from which sand used to be dug….. In the morning all of those who were in Detgorodok (250 people) were shot....