Murder Story of Szumsk Jews on the Viliya River Bank in Szumsk

… On August 14, 1942 [the Germans] took people out of the ghetto in groups of five, on the pretext that they were going to be relocated to some safe place. Those who left [the ghetto] were collected near the Great Synagogue and, from there, were taken on foot [in groups of] five … toward the [mass] grave. This mass grave was located beyond the Christian [Ukrainian] cemetery … in the hills [of the village of] Krilitz [Kruholets]. The pits had been dug two-three days before....

… After midnight, shortly before sunrise, [the Germans] surrounded the ghetto and began to shoot. [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen did not allow the Jews to leave their homes. [Meanwhile] three Germans entered the ghetto and ordered the chairman of the Judenrat and, perhaps someone else, to appear [before them]. Then they [the Germans] read out to them some false accusation and told them that the ghetto had been surrounded. They [also] said that it was forbidden [for the inmates] to enter or leave [the ghetto]. When some Jews had been killed due to the shooting, the Germans did not allow [the other Jews] to bury them in the [Jewish] cemetery, but only in the ghetto. Jews, [watching] from their attics, noticed that non-Jews were coming with shovels from [nearby] villages, apparently to dig pits. All this occurred during the month of Elul [August], 1942. On the third day the Germans came, turned to the Judenrat, [ordering them] to collect the Jews near the synagogue. The [Ukrainian auxiliary] policemen, together with [the members of] Judenrat, collected the Jews outside [the synagogue] and, from there, they [the Jews were taken] via the gate [of the ghetto] toward the pits [located outside of town]. …

… One evening the Germans surrounded the ghetto, [assisted by] Ukrainian [auxiliary] police who had been recruited for this purpose. They [the Germans] came to the Judnerat and told [its members] that the Jews had shot from one of the roofs [of the ghetto] at [members of] the Ukrainian [auxiliary] police [who were positioned] behind the ghetto. The Germans summoned the chairman of the Judenrat [to report] to them and issued some orders to him and sent him back to the ghetto that had been surrounded by the [Ukrainian auxiliary] police and [German] soldiers, [warning him] that those [inmates] who approached the [ghetto] fence would be shot to death. The [next] morning the Jews were no longer allowed to leave for work outside the ghetto. We were kept [inside the ghetto] for three days and three nights…. In the meantime, we prepared for the hideouts [that had been constructed] food, water, [and] some other items. Every family remained near its hideout, waiting for the fateful moment. During the three days of our restriction to the ghetto, pits were dug, mass-graves for the Jews who were [still] alive. The pit diggers were farmers from nearby villages who had been rounded up by the Germans, [while] we, inside the ghetto, knew nothing about what was happening outside. On that [fourth] dreadful day I still had the opportunity to grind some grain for flour and my mother, Khenzi, of blessed memory, succeeded in baking some cakes during this time and we put them all into the hideout that my father had prepared. We also prepared some water. I went up to the attic of the house and lifted up several roof tiles to see what was going on beyond the [ghetto] fence. Our house was close to the [ghetto] gate and we could see what was going on outside. I stood [there] for about an hour and watched: there was increased traffic [outside the ghetto], trucks were approaching and turning around. Suddenly several motorcycles arrived with Germans and entered the [ghetto] gate. When I saw this, I returned the roof tiles to their place, jumped down, and began to shout [to my family members] to enter our hideout. We just had enough time to get inside the hideout, we didn't even manage to close the door properly when we heard horrible screaming voices: "Damned Jews … you want to destroy the German Army!" and some other curses. We were sitting [in our hideout], pale as chalk, not uttering a word. Some minutes later we heard Jews being taken out [of their houses]: elderly people, men, women, and children, and ill ones who had been lying in their beds. They [the Germans] made everyone sit on the ground, on a bit of land near the gate; those who attempted to stand up were shot to death [on the spot]. A small group of [German] soldiers was busy taking Jews by the hundred from the ghetto, one hundred after another. The Jews were afraid and went out. Afterward, they were lined up in rows, every row guarded by several soldiers or policemen holding rifles ready to fire, who were [standing] in front of the Jews who were being taken to the slaughter without knowing where they were being taken. It was impossible to escape. Even those who tried not to take a wrong step received a bullet immediately and were thrown out of the line, lying bleeding and wounded until a truck came and took them to the field where mass-graves had been dug. While the first [group] of one hundred Jews was being shot to death near the pits by a German firing squad, the second [group of] one hundred [standing] not far away from the pits, was forced to get undressed and to get ready, and the third [group] of one hundred was marching [from the town] toward the pit, while the [fourth] group was just leaving the ghetto. The rest, who remained sitting on the ground, did not know what had happened to their predecessors. The Germans were telling the people in the ghetto that all of them were going to be taken to another town for work. The people believed this or simply wanted to be distracted from the worst possibility. On that Wednesday, on the evening of Rosh Chodesh [the first day of the month of] Elul [i.e. August] 1942, the majority of our town's holy Jews – elderly people, men, women, children, and infants - were killed. Among the first ones murdered were the members of the Judenrat. The Jewish Order Police, together with the Ukrainian [auxiliary] police, were ordered to persuade the [remaining] ghetto inmates to emerge from their bunkers … there were some who were tricked and left their hiding places, while there were others who remained in their [hiding] places. Those who remained in the bunkers remained alive for a while. The killing lasted until evening and, then, a strong wind began blowing and everything was quiet. Toward evening the [non-Jewish] residents of the area snuck into the ghetto and looted everything that they could lay their hands on. The next day the Germans also came to the ghetto, with trucks, and loaded [onto them] valuables, clothing, bedclothes, etc…. [Then] everything became quiet: the ghetto resembled a cemetery, without a word or a sound, one could only hear the noise of the trucks coming and leaving [the ghetto] with the plunder. From time to time we heard a single shot being fired in order to frighten some Ukrainian who had entered [the ghetto] to loot. That is how our town died…. [On the following] mornings [in August] Ukrainian auxiliary policemen were wandering around [the ghetto], searching for Jews [hiding] on the roof or in hideouts, and every day they would find several dozen Jews and take them to be shot at the mass-grave pits. Two Germans did the shooting.… … [After the mass murder operation, those Jews who had been caught in hiding were held in the town's prison]. Early in the morning the doors of the prison were opened and we were taken out to the yard in front of the prison. We were lined up in rows, four people to a row; the children were put aside; later also the old people and the weak ones. [Then] we were taken back to the ghetto - to work. The children, old people, and weak ones were taken back down to the [prison] basement. Toward evening they were taken [from the prison] to a field, where they were killed [shot to death], with their bodies being thrown into pits. During the minutes [of the selection] I saw tragedies deeper than an abyss. I saw a mother who wanted to be saved from death leave behind her little children. I saw also a mother who chose to go to her death with her children even though she had been selected for work. There were husbands who went to be killed with their wives and children, to be buried together with them in one grave…. [Some three weeks later], early in the morning, on one of the last days of Elul 1942, the Germans and Ukrainian auxiliary police came [to the synagogue located in the former ghetto, where about 100 Jews had been kept alive to work] and we were ordered to line up in rows. We went out of the synagogue and lined up [in rows]. One German was reading aloud a first list, of those who had been chosen for work while we were still in prison so we were set aside. The rest [mainly those who were illegal, i.e. those who had left their hideouts and illegally joined these Jewish workers] were surrounded by the [Ukrainian auxiliary] police with drawn weapons. These people understood very well where they were going to be taken. This time as well an order was given [for the Jews] to move forward, but this time the Jews resisted [the Germans] and began to break through the cordon and to attack the guards. Seeing this sight, the Germans gave the order to shoot the people. The [Ukrainian auxiliary] police, together with the Germans, shot the people, some of whom fell on the spot, floundering in their own blood, while others continued to run away even though they were wounded. However, the Germans gained control of the situation and took those people from the ghetto. Then the same terrible scene was repeated, The people were shot to death. A truck collected the dead bodies [of the victims], which were thrown into the mass-grave, while those [who were still] alive were [forced to] strip naked, to stand in front of the mass-grave, and [then] a volley of bullets killed them and their bodies fell into the mass-grave.… [Several days afterward], on one day, the Germans came to the ghetto [again], ordered us to line up and then put to the side all those who were standing there, the 15 people who were working at carpentry, tailoring, etc. The rest were taken to the [same mass] graves and killed.…