Murder Story of Powórsk Jews at the Former Powórsk Military Base

On September 4, 1942, in the morning, Ukrainian auxiliary policemen of Powórsk, headed by Vasiliy Sikuto, drove several hundred Jews who had been imprisoned in the ghetto onto the street and collected them near the police building. There they were made to hand over all jewelry and other valuables they possessed. Then, on the pretext that they were going to be relocated to the city of Kowel, the Jews – mainly women, children, and elderly people-- were taken by armed guards to the former Soviet military base located near the railway station of the town. Upon arriving at pits that had been created by the Soviets when they blew up gasoline tanks at the site, the Jews were made to strip naked and to sit on the ground. Some Ukrainian auxiliary policemen stood guard around the shooting site in order to prevent the victims from escaping, while other policemen took them in groups to the pits, where they were shot to death in the back of the head by members of Kowel's regional order police (Gendaremerie) and Ukrainian auxiliary policemen. After the shooting the victims' bodies were covered with earth, apparently by Ukrainian policemen, and their clothing was looted.