Murder Story of Domaczewo Jews at the Sand Hill in the Domaczewo Area

The major part of the Domaczewo Jewish population was murdered in a large-scale operation on September 18 or, according to some sources, on September 20, 1942. About 250 Jews, apparently those who realized that they were going to be murdered, tried to escape to nearby villages and woods, but most of them were found by the Germans and tortured to death or shot on the spot. The Jews were made to line up and taken in groups of 30-50 people to a sand hill that was located half a kilometer south of the village. Prior to that, some ghetto prisoners had been forced to dig a large pit. There they were forced to strip naked and then were pushed into the pit, where they were placed face down in layers. Then the Germans threw grenades into the pit and shot those who were still alive. The children were thrown into the pit alive. The number of victims killed during this murder operation was 2,700. After the operation there remained some Jewish families who had built bunkers or had dug pits to hide in the area of the ghetto. They were found by the Germans and shot on the spot. During the shooting operation eleven Jews, eight men and three women, were taken from the murder site and left alive to provide services for the Germans. Among them were artisans, such as a tailor, a shoemaker, a tinsmith, and others. Apparently, they were shot later, although the exact date remains unknown.