Murder Story of Liublin Jews in Liublin Square

…In 1941, I was a shepherd, pasturing the flocks of my fellow villagers. On either the first or the second day of the occupation [of the villages of Nimereuca and Liuiblin] by the German-Romanian forces – I don't remember the exact date – I was with my flock about 200 meters from the village of Luiblin, on… a hill. From there, I personally saw several familiar individuals (Semyon Povaluk, Pyotr Tofan, Ivan Tzopahow), who were armed with rifles,… go through the Jewish residences [of Liuiblin] and take the Jews to the square. Afterward, they shot a whole group [of Jews] in the square, but I don't know the exact number of victims….

On the day Nemirovka was occupied, I was at home. When I learned that the Romanians had entered Nemirovka, I hurried to the bank of the Dniester to take down the identification marks (i.e., the flags that I had hung there a year earlier), in order to avoid persecution by the Romanians. While taking down the flags in the vicinity of the village of Liublin (about 140 meters from the village), I heard noises and the sounds of speech in the village streets. Taking a closer look, I saw about 15-20 Jews standing in the square of Liublin. Approximately 10 meters from them stood [the following] Gendarmerie men; Semyon Povaluk … [and others]. When I saw all this, I wanted to come closer, to a spot about 30 meters from the square. [However, at that moment] the [Gendarmerie men] who stood there, rifles at the ready, fired a volley, and several people dropped to the ground. I became frightened and ran back to the [bank of] the Dniester River, wishing to return to the village of Nemirovka along the [river] bank….

…On the second day after the occupation of the village of Nemirovka (Nimereuca) by the German-Romanian forces, on the evening of the first day I was informed by Konstantin Sikarskyi, a resident of Nemirovka, that I should report with a shovel at the [former] local school [where the Romanian Gendarmerie post was located]. Early in the morning, I went to the school with my shovel. On the way, I encountered a cart that was carrying the local resident Semyon Povaluk [and others].… [Semyon] Povaluk asked me where I was going, and, hearing that I was on my way to the school, he offered me a ride in the cart, which I accepted. Shortly afterward, [some other men with shovels]… were put in the cart in the same way.… When we had all been assembled [at the former school building in Nemorivka], Semyon Povaluk told us that we were going to [the village of] Luiblin.… When we arrived in Liublin,… we were told to get off the cart and led [on foot into] the village, while the cart remained at the site.… Before reaching the bodies [of the Jews] lying in the square, we were all taken to dig a pit on the outskirts of the village, while I and the Jew [Avrum] Kitanaru were forced by Pyotr Tofan and Semyon Povaluk to load the bodies of the murdered Jews onto the cart that had arrived. After loading 6 bodies, I was also sent to dig the pit, while the cart remained [at the shooting site].… A short while later, the same cart arrived at [the freshly-dug pit], and I, together with [Avrum] Kitanaru, was once again forced by Semyon Povaluk, who was present there at the time, to dump the bodies [from the cart into the pit]. After piling up the bodies at the edge of the unfinished pit, [Pyotr] Tofan and [Semyon] Povaluk forced me to drive back to the shooting site to take some other bodies. [Avrum] Kitanaru was also sent there. Tofan and Povaluk were walking behind us, holding rifles. After loading the remaining bodies [onto the cart], I, the driver… [Avrum] Kitanaru, and [Pyotr] Tofan returned to the mass grave. After reaching the pit, Kitanaru [and I] put the dead bodies into it, since the bodies lying at the edge of the pit had been already put inside it. Afterward, the cart left [the site], while we – i.e. I, Pyotr Tofan, and Kitanaru, along with some other persons who had dug the mass grave – remained at the site. When everything was ready, Pyotr Tofan told [Avrum] Kitanaru: "Lie down [over the bodies] in the fashion prescribed by our [Christian Orthodox] law; I am going to shoot you right now." When we heard this… we told him [Tofan] that we would move away. He laughed to hear it. We moved about 30 meters away from the grave and lay down with our faces pressed to the ground. A short while later, we heard a shot. [Pyotr] Tofan told us that everything was ready [for the burial], and that we should approach [the grave]. When we reached [the pit], Kitanaru was lying inside it on his left side, facing Tofan. He was still alive. Tofan laughed again, saying that we were cowards, being too afraid [to watch this execution]. He proceeded to fire three shots into Kitanaru's chest in our presence. Afterward, on the orders of Pyotr Tofan, we covered the grave and went home….

…In 1941, I was working in the fields, pasturing the flocks of my fellow villagers.… On the [first] day of the occupation of the village of Nemirovka (Nimereuca) by the German-Romanian forces, I was with my flock near the village of Liublin. There, I personally saw a cart with several people travel along the Nemirovka-Liublin road.… When this cart reached the village of Liublin, I was about 100-150 meters from the village. I then saw the cart passengers, [such as] S. Panaide [and others], go toward [Jewish] residences and take the Jews to the square. When Panaide saw me, he called me over. When I arrived in the square, where he was also present, I clearly saw the Jews being taken from their homes and gathered in the square, where they were lined up in a single row, [arranged in groups of] four, [so that] the elderly people stood in the front [row], while the young men and women stood behind them. I saw a total of about 15-20 people, whose last names are known to me.… Realizing the gravity of the situation,… I left the square and went to the hill beyond the village, where my sheep were grazing. From this vantage point, I began to observe [what was going on in the square].… The place where I stood was about 100 meters from the square.… [Meanwhile], the killers began to shoot all the Jews who had been assembled…. The Jews were falling to the ground.… Several days later, as I was driving the sheep back to the village of Liublin, I saw the grave containing the remains of the murdered Jews. Afterward, I learned from Mitrofan Graur that the grave had been dug by residents of the village of Nemirovka, and that he, Mitrofan Graur, had been one of the diggers….

…On the same day, after being assigned to the Gendarmerie, [Semyon] Povaluk, together with his fellow villagers Pyotr Tofan… [and others], [as well as] the [Romanian] Gendarmerie men, took part in the mass shooting of the Soviet Jewish civilians residing in the village of Liublin.… A total of 19 people were shot dead….