Murder Story of Minsk Jews at the Novinki Mental Asylum

...It was on September 18 [1941]. Upon arriving at the area of the colony [Novinki hospital], I noticed something unusual. The yard, which used to be full of people, was completely deserted, and several trucks and cars were parked near the offices and in the area of the colony. I crossed the deserted space and saw the second physician of the colony, Dr. Kitaevich, near the ward for patients suffering from light chronic illnesses. He was terribly agitated, and told me that, about half an hour before my return, an SS [and] police officer, accompanied by a chemist, had come to the colony and ordered Dr. Kitaevich to provide 20 patients to serve as test subjects to study the effects of some gas. The patients were to be brought to the colony washroom, while all the other residents of the colony had to be taken to their rooms. I went with Dr. Kitaevich to the bathhouse, near which trucks and cars were parked. A German, who claimed to be a chemist, was fiddling with something near the vehicles. A hose led from one of the vehicles to the doors of the bathhouse. Another hose led from the bathhouse window to the motor of the second vehicle. The bath was hermetically sealed, and several patients were inside. After half an hour, the Germans opened the doors of the bathhouse and began to throw the bodies into the vehicles. When I returned to the ward, I encountered the officer who was in charge of gassing the patients. He rushed toward me and asked me angrily (in Russian) why I was loitering in the [hospital] area. I replied that I was making the rounds of the colony, because, as chief physician, I wanted to know how my patients were doing. He replied that it was none of my business and demanded that I leave immediately. Nevertheless, I went to the ward for patients suffering from grave chronic illnesses, intending to sort out the less serious cases and send them to the labor ward, thereby saving their lives. No sooner had I selected several patients than that officer, accompanied by the local police chief, began to bang on the window, ordering me to leave immediately and threatening: "If you don't leave instantly, we will arrest you." I tried to explain to him that I was here in my capacity as a physician, and that it was my duty to tend to the sick. He told me that he did not care and that, if I persisted in my disobedience, he would have me taken away along with the patients. I was thus compelled to leave. On that day, 120 chronically ill patients were murdered.... The patients who were not gassed were shot by the Germans....