Murder Story of Sakhnovshchina Jews at the Sakhnovshchina Mill

…In February 1942, our troops drove the German occupiers out of the village of Sakhnovshchina, and Soviet rule was restored for several days. Afterward, German troops reentered the village, and the Red Army troops retreated. After the reestablishment of German rule, I personally witnessed the shooting of Soviet citizens 400-500 meters northwest of the mill, in pits that had previously been used for the storage of bombs. Of course, I do not know the exact number of Soviet citizens who were shot there, but it was about 100. I personally saw auxiliary policemen from the town of Sakhnovshchina lead groups of Soviet citizens away to be shot. I saw this on three occasions. The first time, the auxiliary policemen Ivan Pavlovich Sheyka, Kishinets (I do not know his first name or patronymic), and Rezinkin (I do not know his first name and patronymic) took away three men whose names are unknown to me. The second time, the auxiliary policemen Sheyko, Rezinkin, and Kishinets – along with another 10-11 auxiliary policemen whom I failed to recognize – led about seven plainly dressed individuals, whose names are unknown to me, away to be shot. The third time, I saw about 5-6 people, including a woman (I do not know any of their names), being taken to the pits to be shot; they were led by the very same policemen. In each case, the citizens taken away to be shot were running, and German gendarmes were watching the [process] from the kitchen gardens. I did not see the shootings themselves, but the sound of gunfire was clearly audible….

…I do not know exactly how many Soviet citizens were shot and buried in the anti-tank trench… beyond the mill, but [it was] over 200 people.… In… May [1942], I personally watched 19 Soviet citizens being shot there.… They were shot at sunset. I was grazing my cow at the time, and was able to see it all from the ruins of a smithy. The shooting took place at a distance of about 300 meters from me, and they [the victims] were led along the road about 150 meters away. I personally saw that these citizens were shot by the auxiliary policeman Roman Semenets, himself a resident of the town of Sakhnovshchina. I did not recognize the second auxiliary policeman – but, judging by his height and gait, it probably was Redko (I do not know his first name), another auxiliary policeman from the town of Sakhnovshchina. When the shooting was over, a German approached them. I could not hear what they were saying among themselves. The shooting was carried out with rifles. The 19 people were shot in two groups – nine and ten, respectively. No cries were heard, since I stood upwind from them, and it was raining all the time, so that they did not see me at all….