In August 1941 the Germans shot 38 young Jewish men (according to another source – 36 men and a woman) at the Jewish cemetery. Rumors circulated in the town that the Germans had a list of the people they were going to execute. The Germans selected their victims, took them to the Jewish cemetery, forced them to dig pits, and then shot them in the pits.
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ChGK Soviet Reports
Mikhail Burak, who lived in Wiszniew during the war years, testified:
... Concerning the question asked, I can relate the following: during the German occupation, in 1941, in August, 40 Jews were shot by the Germans at the Jewish cemetery in the town of Vishniovo [Wiszniew], Volozhin District, Molodechno Region. [Members of] the civilian population submitted a list to the Germans, but I do not know who [specifically] did this. They released three Jews, who themselves told me all this. They [the Germans] took them [the rest of those rounded up] to the Jewish cemetery, forced the Jews to dig a pit [grave] for themselves, made them descend into the pit alive, and then shot them with rifles. Those who remained alive but were wounded were covered over with earth while still alive....