Murder Story of Tarnopol Jews at the Tarnopol Brick Factory

…[T]he Jews had to be in touch with the German authorities through representatives. This was to be carried out by the establishment of a "Judenrat." The Geheime Staats Polizei [Geheime Staatspolizei], better known as the Gestapo, ordered the high school teacher Marek Gottfried to select for this purpose the elite of the Jewish intelligentsia, which he did. One hundred people were selected and sent to the Gestapo. We never saw them again. They were taken out of town to the nearby brick works and shot on the spot….

… Gottfired, the teacher of Jewish religion at the high school, on order of the SS general, started to organize a Jewish committee…. On July 7 [1941], in the morning, two Jewish doctors arrived at [the office of] SS-Untersturmfuehrer Unters. "What do you gentlemen want?" - the German asked them. "We came as representatives of the Jewish population to ask for permission to organize a Jewish committee" they replied. The German answered with a smile: "Well, you can do that, but how many you are?" "Twelve, Mr. Unters." "What? So few? 120-150 persons are needed. Tomorrow you will receive permits to walk the streets without fear." "Thank you very much. Tomorrow we will come to get further instructions." There was excitement in the city that afternoon. People went from house to house seeking candidates for the committee. To provide a model and to demonstrate their sincerity, the people who were seeking candidates brought their own sons and relatives. The lawyer Shvartsman [brought] his brother. There were people who believed that it would be safer for them as a committee member than not. On Tuesday morning about 130 people gathered at the market, lined up in fours, and went to the high school building on Konarski Street, where the offices of police and SS were located. The same two doctors who had visited the SS officer the previous day appeared again before the same officer. But this time when they announced their arrival, they heard from the adjacent room his voice with a different tone: "What? Again these two damned pigs? Let them in!" The doctors entered. When they saw the facial expression of the officer, they understood that something bad was going to happen. "What is all this pile of rubbish outside?" the SS officer asked. "These are the people who will be on the Jewish committee" the doctors answered. "Well, get out of here, I am coming" the German said. The Jews went out, sensing an approaching catastrophe. The Jews stood outside as if frozen, in total silence, apprehensive about a serious situation. After half an hour, the officer appeared riding a horse, followed by about 40 armed Germans, policemen of the Schutzpolizei [urban police]. The Jews needed no further explanation -t hey understood that they were lost. The Germans surrounded the group of Jews, who were ordered to start moving. The group stopped at the district [administration] building on Listopad Street. The doctors were given a coil of barbed wire and ordered to carry it, by means of a rope, on their shoulders. [From there] they continued on their way: the mounted SS officer was followed by two doctors and a group of Jews surrounded by armed Germans behind them. They walked silently, without uttering a complaint or a cry even though the faces of the Jews expressed awareness of the fact that they were going to their death. They reached the brickwork near the road that was a continuation of Tarnow Street and that lead to Podwołoczyska and Zbaraż, outside the city. The SS officer, a real sadist, devised an especially cruel death for the members of the supposed committee. The Jews were taken to an open field and were ordered to strip off their clothing. Naked, they were ordered to dig graves for themselves. Afterward, some Jews were forced to bury the other Jews alive. During [this] work they were forced to sing. Fathers and sons or two brothers were tied together with barbed wire. The Jews tied up [were forced to tie up] each other. They bade farewell to each other, shaking hands before death - fathers with sons, brothers with brothers, with tears in their eyes.… During their last moments they lost faith in the world and in humankind. There were some Germans who could not stand this sight. But it made no impression whatsoever on the SS man Unters. He was standing aside with a cigarette in his mouth and looking with satisfaction at the horrible scene. He approached the last two surviving Jews, smiled, patted them on the shoulder, and then pulled out his pistol and shot them. The [bodies of those] two remained unburied for two weeks.