Murder Story of Równe Jews in Janowa Dolina

…The final extermination during the liquidation of the Równe Ghetto began on July 12, 1942.… On the day before, a heavy guard of Ukrainian [auxiliary policemen] had been posted around the ghetto, and powerful spotlights had been set up inside it. At daybreak, people began to be rounded up [and loaded] onto the freight cars that were standing on the railroad tracks in the Belaia quarter. The cars were full of people – women, children, and elderly individuals – who were taken northward toward Kostopol, to a place known as "Janowa Dolina." When the train stopped, the people were forced out of the cars and lined up in rows in front of the open pits. They were then machine-gunned, and [fell] straight into the pits….

…In early June [1942], the Jews of the ghetto watched Soviet POWs being taken to dig ditches in the ghetto under German supervision, laying an electric cable [in the ditches]. It was strange, as there had been no electricity in Równe since the beginning of the German occupation. Why was it suddenly so urgent [for the Germans] to supply electricity to the ghetto? There was rampant guessing; everyone was agitated, and our hearts were dreading yet another tragedy.… Our mood gradually darkened over a period of 4-5 weeks, until July 12, 1942 rolled around.… On July 12, the electricity came on…, and it was not turned off for the rest of the day. This looked very suspicious to us, and there were fears that we were in for a nasty surprise.… On July 13, the ghetto was surrounded by policemen and soldiers. Prior to that, the streets of the ghetto had been illuminated with strong electrical lights, which evoked a sense of wonder. Policemen went from house to house, taking all the people outside. In several instances, when Jews dug themselves in and tried to resist, the policemen used force and weapons to overcome the opposition. They gathered them [the Jews], loaded them onto big cars, and took them to Biala Street, where a freight car was waiting for them. They were then transported to Janowa Dolina, toward the granite quarries, [where] pits had been dug. All those who came – young and old alike – were murdered on the spot and thrown into the [pits]. At sunset, the murder operation was over, and the remaining Jews of Równe had been annihilated….

In early July 1942, rumors began to circulate about another murder operation.… The electrical grid in the ghetto was repaired. Cattle cars appeared on the railroad that passed near the ghetto. Those rumors caused a lot of unrest.… People were… whispering that all this [was done] in preparation for the annihilation of the people of Równe. And indeed, on the night of July 12-13 (Monday-Tuesday), 1942, the ghetto was surrounded by the Germans. They broke in and herded the Jews toward the cars. Many [Jews] planned not to fall into the Germans' hands alive. [They] went down into the cellars with the meager food provisions that they had. For example, my parents had a quarter of a loaf of bread, which they took with them into the cellar. They posted guards in the courtyard, thinking that, no matter what, they would not be taken alive.… At the time, I was [hiding] in the apartment of Dr. Bergman from Warsaw.… Dr. Segal [also visited Dr. Bergman]. He was a prominent surgeon in Równe. His father had also been a doctor, a general practitioner. Young Dr. Segal was a gifted surgeon. He had his own clinic. During the German occupation, he had to work at the German hospital. No one could imagine that Dr. Segal – who was so indispensable to the Germans, and who had been an assimilated Jew for many years – no one could imagine that a man like him would also be killed without any consideration. Dr. Bergman's patients told how [the Germans] had come for Dr. Segal. Dr. Segal went into his room and injected himself with a poison. We then realized that this was the end [of the ghetto], that we could not wait until the murder operation was over, and that it was time to leave Równe….

…There were all sorts of rumors about the execution of the Jews here and there, in this town and in that one. And one evening, electric lighting was installed all over the Jewish quarter [i.e., the ghetto]. It was very suspicious, but no one gave a thought to it. And at night, we heard the screaming: "Juden raus, Juden raus!" (Jews get out!). We – I, my father, and my little brother – got dressed. We left the house in haste, and didn’t take anything with us. The house where we lived was near the Catholic cemetery. It was a large building, separated from the cemetery by a ditch. We got into this ditch and sat there all through the night. In the morning, the Germans found us and raised a great cry: "Eine ganze Kompanie ist hier!" (There is a whole group [of Jews] here!). We bolted away. I ran toward the deserted street, and there was a German there pointing a rifle at me. Having no alternative, I threw my hands up, and was then taken to the gathering point in the Jewish quarter, the ghetto. There, I was reunited with my father and little brother. I remember that my father was severely beaten – I don't know why, but they needed no special reason.… We were sitting on the ground with our hands behind our backs. Later, when more people had been assembled, [the Germans] took us to the railway station – not to the passengers' side, but rather to the freight side – and began to load us into the cars, separating the women from the men. We felt utterly dejected.… I remember what I said then. I told a man [named] Jsod: "I must survive until the end of the Germans." And he replied: "Yes, you are young and without a family, but I am a family man. What am I to do?" A crowd of onlookers gathered around us; they were local non-Jews, [as well as] Germans who were not taking part in the murder operation.… We began to move. We didn't know where we were being taken. I was in the same car with my father and brother. We headed toward Kostopol. When the train began to move, one young Jewish man from Warsaw said he wanted to escape. I told him that, in my opinion, we were still too close to the city, and that he shouldn't try. He didn't heed my advice, and stuck a leg out. He was immediately shot at, and his leg was almost torn to shreds. I pulled him back into [the car].… When we were 15 kilometers away from Równe, in the forest, I asked my father: "Father, what do you say – should I run away?" And he said: "Do as you see fit." Of course, it was hard for me to leave my father. But he said: "Your staying here won't help me in any way." [At this moment], feeling angry and resentful, I lifted myself up and got out through the window – the windows in the freight car were unbarred. At that moment, the train made a half turn. I stuck my legs out, hung onto the sill with my hands, and then let go. I rolled away from the railroad embankment, and [the Germans] began to shoot at me. Several shots were fired.… I stood up: Apart from a little scratch on my leg, I was unharmed. I was only in my shirt and pants, since it was summer. As I started talking, there was a ringing in my ears, and I couldn't hear what I was saying. I began to walk away from the train, since I was afraid that the [Germans] might stop it….

…We woke up in the middle of the night; it turned out that the ghetto had been surrounded by Germans and Ukrainian [auxiliary] policemen. They began to round up [the ghetto inmates]. It [the gathering point] was in front of the house where we lived in the ghetto. We saw the [Germans] begin to collect the Jews and take them toward the railroad tracks that passed [near the ghetto].… There was a large plot of land there. I saw that the path leading to the railroad tracks was lined up with Ukrainian policemen and Germans, who were hurrying up the inmates walking toward the plot of land near the tracks.… [The Germans and Ukrainian auxiliary policemen] did it with shouts and screams. I even recall that some of the Ukrainian policemen held leashed dogs, but didn't release them. When my grandfather saw that we couldn't escape by going out into the street through the front door, he took out an ax and managed to break a hole in the back wall. We all went out – i.e., my grandfather, grandmother, me, my sister, and a nephew who was living with us – and got up to the attic by climbing a ladder that stood against the outside wall. Unfortunately, grandfather was unable to raise the ladder in time, and, shortly afterward, we were caught [in hiding]. [The Germans and Ukrainian policemen] forced us down [from the attic] and led us by the same road that all the other Jews had taken. By then, few people were moving about, since most of the Jews had already been loaded onto the freight cars. On the plot of land where the Jews had been assembled, the Germans separated the men from the women and children. The men were taken to other cars in the front section of the train, while I, my grandmother, and sister were led to the last car (apparently, that was my luck at work). The truth is that I didn't like this situation one bit. I tried to escape before entering the car.… [Prior to that], at the collection point,… people had opened their bags and wallets and presented certificates. But the Germans took them [the certificates] together with the bags, threw them all into a huge pile, poured gasoline on it…, and set fire to it. Thus, all the bags and certificates went up in flames.… I tried to escape [before being taken to the car], but was caught. I was beaten a little, and they threw me, like a package, into the rearmost car. The car slowly filled up, like a tin of sardines. There was no room for sitting; most of the people were crowded cheek by jowl. The air was stuffy, since the doors had already been closed. There was one window in the upper part of the car. It was protected with crisscrossing lines of barbed wire. It was difficult to get close to this window, since everyone wanted to stand near it to get some air. At some point, I made up my mind that, after the train began to move, I would make my way [toward the window] and try to escape through it. I barely managed to get near the window and saw the barbed wire around it. It was difficult for me to get up, since it [i.e., the window] was [set] high in the wall. However, two young women who were standing nearby helped me up, and I managed to loosen the barbed wire that blocked the window with my bare hands. Perhaps it was my luck, or else the nails had not been driven very deep into [the window frame]. I slipped out and jumped away from the train. As I was extricating myself, shots were fired.… I suppose they [were aimed] at me. The guards were firing, but, fortunately, their bullets missed me. The train moved on, and I found myself on the ground, bleeding profusely from a head wound [incurred during the fall from the train]….