Murder story of Derazne Jews in the Bechalskiy Forest

…In fall 1943 [sic for 1942], I don't remember the exact month, the head of the local rural administration, Mikita Pisarets, came to my house and told me that, upon the orders of Commandant [Landwirte – the senior German official of Deraźne] Kulik, I had to take a shovel and ax and go to the Bechalskiy Forest to dig a pit. However, he didn't specify the purpose for which this pit had to be dug. I took a shovel and went to the road leading into the Bechalskiy Forest. On the road, I saw several of my fellow villagers, including Vasiliy Sinitsa… [and some others]. We were all led by the head of the rural administration… into the Bechalskiy Forest. He ordered us to dig a pit that was approximately 6-7 meters long, 4-5 meters wide, and 2 meters deep. While digging, I climbed out of the pit and sat down on the ground. After sitting there for a while, I saw a group of some 70-80 Jews being led [to the shooting site] from the village of Deraźne. They were guarded by schutzmen [i.e., Ukrainian auxiliary policemen], and Commandant Kulik was following them in a cart. All these Jewish people were brought to the pit and ordered to strip naked. This done, they were forced to climb down into the pit in [groups of] several people, and were then shot dead. In this way, the entire group – which included men, women, and children – was annihilated. I know that this group of people had been caught [hiding] after the killing of all the other Jews from the… Deraźne Ghetto, a total of 1,000 people, who had been taken to the town of Kostopol and shot. These Jews, who were shot in the Bechalskiy Forest, had somehow managed to hide when all [the other] Jews were sent to the town of Kostopol. I know of two further shootings of Jews that took place at the same site in the Bechalskiy Forest after this massacre, but I don't know the number of victims or the circumstances [in which they were shot]….

We, the [ChGK] committee…, have exhumed the bodies from three mass graves located 4 kilometers north of the town of Deraźne, in the Bechalskiy Forest, and have determined the following: 1. There are three mass graves [at the site]….. 2. They contain a total of 152 bodies, including many women and children. 3. The bodies are lying in a disorderly fashion, most of them facing down. 4. No clothes have been found on the bodies, although the bodies themselves have been well preserved. 5. It has been established that the victims were murdered with an automatic weapon. 6. It has been established that some of the people were killed by a blow with a [rifle] butt in the region of the head, as could be seen in numerous skulls. Also, non-mortal wounds have been found on some of the bodies, indicating that [some] of the people were buried alive. 7. The bodies had lain in the mass graves for approximately 2.5 years….

…In 1943 [sic for 1942], at the end of the summer, I was forced by the head of the rural administration [of Deraźne], Mikita Pisarets, to take a shovel and go to the Bechalskiy Forest to dig a pit, but I didn't know the purpose of this pit while I went to dig it. Later, after I and my fellow villagers had dug it, the German interpreter Peter Adolf told us that this pit was designated for the shooting of Jews, and that we should dig a second pit for ourselves – i.e., for the diggers of the first pit. When I heard this, I tried to run away from the site, so I was not present during the shooting of the Jews, and I can't tell you the circumstances in which it took place….