Murder Story of Trojanowka Jews at the Horse Graves

… On Friday September 4, 1942 toward evening, German and Ukrainian [auxiliary] policemen surrounded the town. The Jews already knew that their final hour was approaching. The night between Friday and Saturday was an awful night for the Jews, a night of horror, a night of fear and waiting for death. During that night many Jews tried to escape the town, but they encountered Ukrainian policemen at every turn ... Only a few succeeded in running away. On Saturday September 5, 1942 the murder operation began. Wild Germans, along with Ukrainian and Polish murderers, forced their way into [Jewish] houses and searched for Jews. They were looking in every place: in cellars, stables, gardens, in every place that their criminal arms could reach. The Jews who were caught [in hiding] were taken to the collection point, that was on the corner of Łuck Street and Ogrodowa Street. By noon about 2,000 Jewish victims from Maniewicze had been caught. The murderers surrounded them on all sides and none of them [Jews] could [even] dream of escaping the murderers who were guarding them. The victims were lined up and taken along Ogradowa and Szirak Streets and past the railway station toward the village of Czerewacha. The sight of … the victims who were marching along on their final way was terrible. Fathers and mothers were embracing their children. Grandfathers and grandmothers were holding their grandchildren. There was silent praying and silent crying. This awful procession arrived at the same place in the forest ("the Horse Graves") where a year earlier 300 Jewish men had been murdered. The [German] monsters ordered the victims to strip naked and, thus, a mound of clothing was created. Then Rabbi Gordon was given permission to speak for 5 minutes. With a trembling voice he tried to give support to the unfortunates of ones who would be killed within a few minutes. After the Rabbi's short speech, the German murderers ordered the victims to line up. Then they [the Germans] made them run, one row after the other, into four pits that had been prepared. They were made to lie inside the pits and then a hail of deadly bullets ended their lives. A thin layer of earth was poured over each layer of the murder victims and [then] on the top of this layer a new row of victims was made to lie inside the pits, and the same awful process was repeated until the last victim was buried in those death pits. By evening the murder operation was over when the last victims were slaughtered. Many victims were buried while still alive and they continued to move for a long time under the earth that covered them. Four long, deep pits were filled with the bodies of the slaughtered. After the massacre the [Ukrainian auxiliary] police searched and found several Jews who had gone into hiding, and they were killed as well. Maniewicze was then proclaimed "Judenrein" ("free of Jews')….