Murder Story of Janów Jews in Borowica

Around 10-11 AM, German soldiers and policemen blocked off all exits from the town. SS men, some of them on horseback and some on motorcycles, appeared in the streets. Jewish men over the age of 16 were rounded up. The SS men and policemen combed through the houses in search of Jews. The victims were dragged out and convoyed off to the central square. Within 3-4 hours, about 400 men were assembled there, including middle-aged men, elderly individuals, and teenagers. Already during the round-up, a married couple that was found hiding in their attic was murdered. An elderly man named Pinya Garbar managed to hide with his daughter in a nearby field, but someone gave away their location. Mounted SS men rode up to the site and shot Pinya and his 18-year-old daughter Rokhl on the spot. Unfortunately, a resident of the Nakło village said that there was a Jewish family working in the field near the mansion [sic]. Two mounted SS men showed up unexpectedly and seized my father and our lodger right in front of my mother and sisters. These murderous horsemen forced them to run, undressed and barefoot, through the village of Nakło toward the square in the center of Janów. Those herded into the square were marched off, under reinforced guard, along the road leading to Pinsk. They were shot in Borowica, 5 kilometers from Janów. Only a single young man miraculously survived. Despite his injuries, he managed to extricate himself from the pile of bodies during the night, and secretly came back to Janów. This was the first mass shooting of the Jews. Most of the local families were affected by that tragedy.