Murder Story of Bălți Jews at the Ioffe Windmill

… All the Jews [of Bǎlți] had been collected in the area of the windmill…. And [then] an order was issued for them to hand over [to the military authorities] all their valuables. This [order] was immediately carried out. People took off their rings, [and handed over] everything that they had; there was a table that was soon overloaded with valuables … and then those people [i.e., members of the Jewish committee] who were proficient in the German language began to shout: "Women and children can leave [the collection point], [but] the men have to remain." All [the women and children] began to walk [through the town].… I went [to the collection point], my mother went, we took my brother, my aunt, while [after they left] the men … [including] my father, remained…. The people began to walk in a crowd [through the town], they didn't know where to, but they kept walking. There was a fire on both sides [of the crowd], electric wires were scattered [all over], the people in the crowd were burning their feet, but that wasn't the worst thing – shots were heard [from the area of the windmill] and we understood that our fathers, brothers, and husbands were being shot to death. Shortly afterward, the [surviving] men appeared, … those who had remained alive joined our group. … My father returned to us… my uncle too… after about two hours. He told us that every 21th [man] was shot to death – 20 men were counted, and the 21th was shot to death… there were only Jews there….