Murder Story of Drohiczyn Jews at the Bronna Gora Railway Station

Something was happening on the Sabbath in Ghetto A. Menachem Averbuch and a few other members of the aid committee met with the Judenrat. Shouting could be heard in Ghetto B, but no one knew what people were arguing about. In the evening, the faint noise of German cars coming into town could be heard in Ghetto B and seriously worried the people there. At 11 p.m. the Jewish police announced throughout Ghetto B that everyone had to proceed to the town market, though no one knew what was going to happen an hour later. Some, however, had bad premonitions, and instead of going to the market, tried to escape via fields outside te town and reach the forest. However, they found that all the ways to flee had Ukrainian and Polish police acccomplices, together with Jewish policemen, pushing everyone out of the houses, attics, and cellars toward the city market, under the watch of German police on horseback. Then they took the boots of the Jews, their coats, and any valuables the women had with them, and even struck a few people on the head with the butts of their guns. The Jews then realized what was happening to them, and started to mournfully recite [the prayers] “Hear O Israel” [Shema Yisrael] and “God, have pity!” The "aktsia" [operation] lasted for seven hours. The Jewish police zealously pulled people out of hiding, and took them to the market area, from which they were herded to the train station. Along the way, Chaim Ber Altvarg, the watchmaker, was killed, as were Pesach Lev, the tailor, and a few others. At the end of the operation, the Germans found that approximately 100 men of those “worthless Jews” whose names appeared on the Judenrat list were missing so, as a punishment, they took a few hundred Jews from Ghetto A, the Jewish police, and the Judenrat. On Sunday all of them, a total of 1,700 people, were taken by train to Brona Gora (17 kilometers from Kartuz-Bereza), and forced into open ditches, where they were all blown up. ... Of the Judenrat, only three people remained alive after that operation. Two of them were in hiding but they were killed later. My God, whoever heard the awesome recitation of “Hear O Israel” from the people driven out of Ghetto B, and saw and experienced what I saw and experienced would never forget this and never know any peace. The most fiendish thing about it all was how Jews took other Jews to be sacrificed. A Jewish policeman and a lawyer led their own parents to the extermination spot. Another dragged Jews from attics straight to their deaths; other such events took place on a regular basis.