Murder story of Birzai Jews in the Astrava Forest

The Lithuanians often entered the synagogue and demanded money. The oppressed, desperate Jews gave them everything they had in order to appease them and [to try to] arouse some mercy in the hearts of those drunken murderers who beat them with sticks and rifle butts. This took a whole day. Nobody slept during that night. Everyone knew that these were the last hours of their lives. Thousands of sad eyes watched the silent Holy Ark. Mothers kissed their little children and cried the entire night. Weeping quietly, they bid farewell to the little children who were sleeping calmly in their arms. Again, the drunken Lithuanians opened the door and demanded gold and silver. A Lithuanian named Setnikas, a high-school graduate, delivered a speech. He demanded gold and silver, threatening that otherwise they would be shot. The Jews gave whatever they had. That is how the Jews spent the night in the synagogue. In the morning they were told that they were supposedly going to work near the Lithuanian border. The Jews did not believe this but, on the other hand, there was nothing they could do to help themselves. The Lithuanians took all of them out of the synagogue and put them into groups of five. Some took with them the few belongings they had brought. While leaving the building, they were beaten and tortured. The Jews were taken to the Ostravas Miskas Forest, to pits that had been prepared in advance among the groves there. They [the Lithuanians] divided them into groups of men, women, and children. Then the Lithuanians ordered them to take off their clothes, including their underwear. These naked people were taken to the pits and ordered to kneel on their knees close to the edge. Then, immediately, shouting and groaning of the wounded were heard. At first the Lithuanians took groups of 16 people to kill them. Then they increased the size of the groups, with each group having 25 Jews. The women prostrated themselves, begging the Lithuanians not to kill their children. For themselves they asked nothing other than to die without suffering. The murderers did not shoot the children, but just threw them into the pits. They murdered the older children [by striking them] with rifle butts or clubs. Sheyne saw them shooting a pregnant woman, Tsirke Milner. Just when they were shooting her, she had the baby. Along with the terrible screaming of the women, the cry of a baby was heard. Sheyne, her mother, and little brother Khatskel were already naked when they walked toward the pits. Khatskel kissed a Lithuanian's boots, begging him not to shoot him. The murderer answered by striking his small head with his rifle butt and Shyene saw how part of her brother's skull fell onto the ground and he died. Her mother cried terribly and pinched Sheyne as a sign that she should run away. At that moment she came up with an idea: she told the Lithuanians that not far from the Jewish cemetery, in the house of her acquaintance, Hela Savoitski, she had hidden some gold and some other valuables. The murderers decided to send one of them with Sheyne to get hold of the "treasure." Completely naked, she went to the heap of cloths and put on some clothes. The Lithuanian who accompanied her was drunk so, just after they began walking, when he stopped and started adjusting his pants and boots, Sheyne kept on walking, and then began running. Thus, she escaped. She arrived at Biržai and entered the church where she spent the day and the night. This was after the murder of all the Jews.