Murder story of Ozdziutycze Jews in the Ozdiutycze Area

… Before the capture by the German-Fascist occupiers [of Ozdiutycze] a unit of the Red Army intercepted a German aircraft near the village of Woronczyn and captured its German pilot. Afterwards he [was killed and buried] near the road [on the outskirts of the town]. With the capture by the German occupation authorities of the village of Ozdiutycze, a Gestapo squad, it is not known under whose command, … interrogated the Jewish residents of Ozdiutycze since the Jews had supposedly killed the German pilot. When this interrogation came to nothing, the commander and his Gestapo unit rounded up the Jews, forcing them into a single group. Realizing that this would lead to their being killed, those Jews who were able to fled the [collection point], but the Gestapo men pursued them and, when they [the Gestapo men] found them [the Jews], they shot them. Thus, 20-25 [Jews] were shot to death.…

… on the same day [of the murder operation] also shot to death were about 25 Jews who had avoided appearing [at the collecting point] as ordered by the Gestapo and had hidden wherever they could. The last 25 [Jews] were murdered by the Fascists in different places [in the town], i.e. where they had been found.

… and another 20 [Jews] were shot to death in the village of Ozdiutycze. …

On the fourth day of the [Soviet-German] war, with the arrival of the German authorities the massacre of Jewish civilians living in Ozdiutycze began. This happened as follows: A German airplane … was intercepted by Soviet troops, the German pilot- a captain -- was captured and taken to Ozdiutycze, where Soviet troops were located. I don't know whether he was killed or died of natural causes, but with the arrival of the Germans in our village, they arrested 81 Jews on the grounds that they had killed the German pilot. Before the round-up, those Jews who were able to flee [the collection point] did so, but when the Germans found them [the Jews in hiding], the latter were shot to death on the spot.

…before the [German] capture of the village of Ozdiutycze, Red Army troops were staying in the village of Ozdiutycze. Several kilometers from this village was located Woronczyn village, where were stationed the Soviet anti-aircraft gunners who had shot down the German aircraft flying over the village of Woronczyn, while the German pilot-captain was taken to the NKVD unit in Ozdiutycze. Afterwards [the dead] pilot was buried near the road. I don't know whether he died naturally or was killed. Four days later German units, including of the Gestapo, [wearing] a swastika on their sleeves and a skull emblem [on their hats] arrived [in our town]. I don't know the last name of their commander … . Under the command of the above-mentioned [commander], the Jewish residents had been collected for interrogation in regard to the death of this pilot. … after learning nothing from the Jewish residents, the Gestapo men forced the Jews into a single group. Many [sic] of the Jews [succeeded] in fleeing [the site]. However, among the latter, those who were caught [in hiding] by the Gestapo men were shot on the spot. Thus, 20-25 of them were shot to death. …