Murder Story of Zabłocie Jews at the Popova Gorka Tract in Zabłocie

… On the second or third day of the Russian Orthodox Church religious holiday of Christmas, i.e. on January 8 or 9, 1943, my wife returned from church and we had dinner. After dinner, about 2 or 2:30 p.m., I went out to the courtyard of our house and I saw an odd procession moving forward on the road from [the village of] Zabłocie to Tur. Armed men were going ahead of it, behind were up to 20 carts with horses carrying some belongings and people were sitting on several carts. Near the carts people were walking as well, behind [the procession] there was also a group of armed men. When I took a closer look I noticed that on its sides all this procession was surrounded by armed men. I was watching this approximately from a distance of 800 meters on a gray winter day. Then this strange procession turned toward the village of Tur and my view was cut off by a hillock that we call Popovskaya Hill. I would like to mention that shortly before that, on orders from the occupation authorities, a pit had been dug at Popovskaya Hill by some residents of Tur village…. In the area of this pit a short time afterward I heard heartbreaking screams and short volleys of shots from a machine-gun. When I was able to take a closer look, I saw from [the distance of] about 700 meters, that on the hillock, in the area of the pit, from time to time some white [silhouettes] appeared among the dark silhouettes…. I came to the conclusion that those white silhouettes were naked people emerging on the hillock and right away descending the slope where screaming was heard immediately, along with short machine-gun volleys. This lasted approximately until 5 p.m., … afterward, when dusk was falling, I saw how the same carts were stretching from Popovskaya Hill along the road [back] toward the village of Zabłocie. Afterward, I heard from many fellow-villagers … that on that day Germans and [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen shot to death about 100 Jews, including 40 former residents of the village of Tur.…

… On January 9, 1943, all the Jewish civilians were taken under guard from the Zabłocie ghetto toward the area of Tur village and there, with the participation of Germans, were shot to death. Regarding this shooting I know the following: In the morning of January 9, 1943, I remember well that it was the third day of the Christmas holiday, Miron Golovey… one of the elders [senior officials] of the [Zabłocie County] administration came to me with an order of the head of the administration to come with a sled to the administration building … At that time near the county administration [building] there were assembled about 20-25 sleds with horses. Someone from the heads of the county, I don't remember who exactly, gave an order to go to the ghetto and the former Jewish homes and to take from there all the Jewish civilians, along with their belongings, to the county administration building. At that time I was taking from one house an old Jewish lady whose name was Basya. When I reached her house, she had already was expecting the sled and holding two bundles with dishes and other items of houseware.… Sometime afterward the sleds were assembled again near the administration [building]. On each cart were sitting Jewish civilians (adults and children), and there were also some of their belongings. Several Germans were there as well, among those I remember the chief of the Zabłocie County Gendarmerie (rural order police) Sitzler, there was also the chief of the Zabłocie [Ukrainian auxiliary] police Nikolay Dufanetz, [and] the policemen Kiril Zvarich, Stepan Redesha, and others whom I don't remember.… While walking along the column of sleds, Dufanetz and Zvarich were explaining to the Jews there that since military trains sometimes arrived at the [nearby] Zabłocie rail station and [therefore] some acts of sabotage might be carried out there by Soviet partisans and, since the ghetto was located near the railroad station, in the case of such sabotage Jews might be harmed as well, the German authorities had decided to relocate all the Jews from the ghetto to a safe place, i.e. to the nearby village of Tur, located 6 kilometers from Zabłocie. After this announcement, a general roll call of the Jews was carried out. All this took place on the street in front of the county administration building, where I was also waiting with my sled. When the roll call was over, the men and women who could walk were formed into a column ahead of the carts, while the old people and children were left on the sleds. At the same time some 20 armed [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen, taken from somewhere, surrounded the column of Jews; after that the Jews [in the column] and, after them, all the carts headed toward the village of Tur.... Halfway on the way to the village of Tur our column was passed by … Dufanetz, Sitzler, Zvarich, and some other policemen…. When we arrived there [i.e. near the village of Tur], we were ordered to stop. The policemen quickly took the adults to the right and ordered them to lie facedown in the snow. When they tried to lift their heads, they were beaten on the head with rifle butts. The policemen took the old people and children from the sleds and joined them to the prone Jewish adults and forced them also to lie in the snow. I was then positioned about 20 meters [from the site] and I could see everything well. At the site, slightly to the right of the Jews lying in the snow, could be seen a pit lightly covered with snow, with a gentle slope on one side. Sometime later I came close to this pit so I can say that it was 8 meters long, 4 meters wide, and over 2 meters deep. I don't know who dug the pit before we came [to the site]. On the orders of Nikolay Dufanetz, armed policemen from the Zabłotie County [Ukrainian auxiliary] police were guarding the pit and the prone Jewish civilians. Two or three Germans, Dufanetz, Zvarich, and Redesha - with weapons in their hands - positioned themselves at the entrance to the pit. At this time the Jewish civilians, realizing what soon awaited them, began screaming and crying, but they were not even allowed to lift up their heads from the ground. Then Zvarich and someone else… began to call the people to the pit, according to a list, approximately 5 [each time]. At the entrance to the pit they were ordered to strip naked and lie naked facedown at the bottom of the pit. Following those doomed to death, Sitzler, Dufanetz, Zvarich, and other policemen entered the pit, holding machine-guns and a short volley of shots was heard from there. This lasted until all the Jewish civilians were shot to death. After completing the shooting, Sitzler, Dufanetz, Zvarich, and Redesha left by sled for the village of Tur.… The shooting of the Jewish civilians near Tur village lasted for an hour and a half or two hours. According to what I heard, 100 Jewish civilians were shot to death, but I don't know the exact number of those who were shot. When Sitzler, Dufanetz, Zvarich, and Redesha left the shooting site for the village of Tur, only several rank-and-file policemen were left at the pit. They collected the clothing of the murder victims and loaded it onto sleds. At that time I approached close to the pit and I saw inside it many naked, bloody bodies (of old people, women, and children). My body was paralyzed at this sight: I couldn't feel my arms and legs and my heart felt frozen. All this was etched into my memory for the rest of my life. None of us covered the pit with those who had been shot to death. All the belongings and the clothes of those shot to death were taken to Zabłocie and delivered to the county administration [office], where we arrived toward the evening of the same day.…

… at the beginning of January 1943 about 100 Jews who were left in Zabłocie were shot to death. On the eve of this murder operation one of the elders at the [Zabłocie County] administration came to me and informed me that on the following day, in the morning, I had to come with my sled to the police station. When I arrived at the police station on the next day, there were already several sleds there and, after some time, about 15 sleds with drivers were assembled there. Then one of the policemen told the drivers where to go. I was told to go [to the house of] Demyan... a resident of Zabłocie…. By the time I arrived at that house, some policemen whom I did not know were already there. Shortly afterward, a woman who had been living in Demyan's house, along with her child and their belongings, were loaded onto my sled. The general collection took place near the police station. Some Jews were brought there on foot. The policemen then claimed that they were relocating the Jews. Next, all the sleds were formed into a column, and we headed toward the village of Tur. The young men [Jews] went on foot ahead of the sleds, surrounded by [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen, while the women were [transported] on the sleds. … When the column turned onto the main road leading to the village of Tur, we were overtaken by some Germans and [Nikolai] Dufanetz [the chief of the Zabłocie County Ukrainian auxiliary police] who were riding on two sleds. On those sleds they [also] had a tailor, a barber, and another couple of people. When they [the Jews] saw Dufanetz, the women got off the sleds and joined the walking men. Panic ensued. Then the policemen surrounded those doomed to death in a tight ring, while the Germans and Dufanetz passed us and proceeded on. Near Tur village the column stopped next to Svyatoye Lake. A pit, about 10 [meters] long, 3 meters wide, and about 2 meters deep had been prepared there. Near the pit the Germans and Dufanetz were waiting for us. On one side of the pit was a slope. The civilians, who were doomed to death, were positioned 10 meters from the pit. Then the policemen forced them to strip to their underwear. I personally saw how two girls, while taking off their half-length sheepskin coats, tried to rip them up and, then, one of the [Ukrainian] policemen whom I did not know began to beat them on their hands with his rifle butt. Those who did not want to undress were beaten by the policemen as well and, thus, were forced to take off their clothes. The policemen made them enter the pit in twos and threes; then shots were heard. I was positioned about 50 meters from the pit. The shooting was carried out in the pit, but I didn't see who was shooting. Once I came close to the pit and looked inside. I saw a German shooting several people to death. I felt sick after what I had seen; it was dark before my eyes. The shooting of Soviet civilians [Jews] lasted for an hour. Only two were left alive – a man – a carpenter - and a young woman who apparently had not completed sewing a sweater for one of the Germans. Later, I learned that this woman was also shot to death…. After the shooting I saw the German and [Ukrainian] policemen asking a woman to show them her sled and where they suspected she had hidden some gold [meaning of the original of this sentence and the following not clear]. When she saw [all] the sleds, this woman seemed to go out of her mind. She came to her senses only when the last sleds had passed her.... I saw how a policeman searched her sled and, after not finding anything, took the woman away. I would also like to note that the clothing [of the victims] was loaded onto sleds and taken to the police [headquarters in Zabłocie]. Residents of Tur village were left to cover the pit with earth, but I did not do so, and do not know who did....