Current view of the murder site area
Sergei Shvardovskii (Ukraine), Copy YVA 14616559
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Murder Story of Beresteczko Jews at the Renczina Machine Tractor Station
Murder Site
Renczina Machine and Tractor Station
Poland
On one day in early September 1942, several hundred Gendarmerie (German rural order police) men and Ukrainian auxiliary policemen surrounded the ghetto and also the quarters in which the Jewish craftsmen were living. For three days the Jews were not allowed to leave their homes. During this time the German authorities ordered local non-Jews to dig two large pits north of the town, near the Renczina Machine and Tractor Station, on the way to Smolyawa village. On the fourth day the Jews were taken to the murder site. Upon their arrival there, the adults were made to undress and forced to lie face down in the pits. Then they were shot to death by Sipo and SD units from Łuck and members of the Gendarmerie. The small children were thrown alive into the pits. After the murder the property of the Jews was collected. The Germans kept the more valuable items, while the clothing of the victims was sold to the local population.
Related Resources
Written Testimonies
Written Accounts
From the letter of Melech Goldenberg, who lived in Beresteczko during the war years, written to his sister and brother-in-law in 1943 (in Yiddish):
On one day in September (I don't remember the exact day, it was on a Saturday evening) of 1942, 200 [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen surrounded the quarters of the artisans and the ghetto. There was no possibility of escaping from there. Until Wednesday it was forbidden [for Jews] to leave their homes. Outside of Renczina, on the road [leading] to [the village of] Smolyawa, during that time 400 non-Jews dug two large pits, each one 18 meters long, 8 meters wide, and 4 meters deep. On Wednesday they [the Germans] began to take the people [Jews] there and to shoot them. Each one had to strip naked, enter a pit, and lie down in it. In that position all of them were shot to death. The clothing of the people and their belongings, if they were in good condition, were sent to Germany, while items that were quite used were sold to the local residents. Thus the Jewish question was solved. ….
Mendel Singer, ed.: There Was a Town: Memorial Volume for the Communities of Beresteczko, Beremelyah, and the Surrounding Area (Irgun yotsei Beresteczko be-Yisrael, Haifa, 1961), p. 21 (Hebrew).
Leah Lerner-Berger, who lived in Beresteczko during the war years, testified:
Afterwards, on one dark morning at the end [sic] of September 1942, the end of [the Jewish month] of Elul … the Gestapo ordered two large pits to be dug in fields near Renczina; they broke into the ghetto and took people away. On Tuesday, the 25th of Elul [i.e. September 7] the massacre began. A great disturbance took place in the ghetto: the inmates tried to escape, running back and forth. They were breaking walls, doors and windows, and during all that time the shooting did not cease. There were some people who succeeded in hiding and were hard to find. Three days passed until all the Jews of the ghetto were killed. Approximately 2,000 people were buried in the two pits that had been dug. The children were thrown into the pits while still alive, while the adults were ordered to strip naked and lie down in the pits; then they were shot to death. …
Mendel Singer, ed.: There Was a Town: Memorial Volume for the Communities of Beresteczko, Beremelyah, and the Surrounding Area (Irgun yotsei Beresteczko be-Yisrael, Haifa, 1961), p. 40, (Hebrew).
Moshe Belfer, who was living in Beresteczko during the war years, testified:
The final destruction of the Beresteczko Jews occurred a day before Rosh Hashanah [the Jewish New Year]. The burial place of the Jews was in a field near Renczina, all of them [the victims] were buried together in a large, deep pit. It was hard to escape from the murderers. Those who hid in cellars were found and taken to the [same] killing site. ….
Mendel Singer, ed.: There Was a Town: Memorial Volume for the Communities of Beresteczko, Beremelyah, and the Surrounding Area (Irgun yotsei Beresteczko be-Yisrael, Haifa, 1961), p. 38, (Hebrew).
Renczina Machine and Tractor Station
Murder Site
Poland
50.350;25.116
Photos
Current view of the murder site area
Sergei Shvardovskii (Ukraine), Copy YVA 14616559