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Murder story of Stepań Jews in the Gendarmerie Building in Stepań
Murder Site
Gendarmerie Building in Stepań
Poland
In late August (apparently on August 21 or 24) 1942, Beckmann, chief of the Gendarmerie (German rural police) of Stepań, came from Kostopol to Stepań. In the evening after his arrival, he took the pharmacist Josef Vaks, the head of the Judenrat; his family, and some other Jews (about 10 people in total), and shot them personally near the Gendarmerie building. The bodies of the victims were buried outside the town.
After the liquidation of the ghetto inmates near the villages of Korczewie and Kolonia in August-September 1942, the Gendarmerie, under Beckmann's leadership, caught some 50-100 Jews who were hiding. They were taken to the Gendarmerie post in Stepań – where, according to a ChGK document, some of them were shot by Beckmann, his deputies Franz and Enchke, and the landwirte (senior German official of Stepań) Gempel.
Related Resources
ChGK Soviet Reports
Alexander Khait, who was born in 1928 in Stepań and lived there during the war years, testifies:
…In August [1942], Beckmann [the chief of the Gendarmerie] apparently received an order from Gebietskommissar [Heinz] Löhnert about the annihilation of the Jewish residents [of Stepań]. Four SS Gestapo [SD] soldiers came with him. In the evening, near the Gendarmerie [building], Beckmann personally killed the pharmacist Josef Vaks [the head of the Judenrat], [his] wife and children, and some others, [a total of] about 10 people….
GARF, MOSCOW R-7021-71-71 copy YVA M.33 / JM/19976
ChGK Soviet Reports from Stepań
…Afterward in 1942, Beckmann, chief of the Gendarmerie [of Stepań], came [to Stepań] from [the town of] Kostopol…, took 10 Jewish residents out of the ghetto, and shot them singlehandedly near the Gendarmerie building.…
…Beckmann [the head of the Gendarmerie] organized a raid against those Jews who had fled during their stay in the ghetto, or while being convoyed to the village of Korczewie.… Thus, a total of 50-60 people were found and taken to the Gendarmerie post in the town of Stepań. Some of them were shot directly by Beckmann, Franz [sic?], Enchke [sic?], and Gempel [sic?], … [apparently near the Gendarmerie building]….
GARF, MOSCOW R-7021-71-71 copy YVA M.33 / JM/19976
Kiril Pinchuk, who was born in 1908, testifies:
…In August [1942], Beckmann, upon his return from Kostopol, apparently [received] an order from Gebietskommissar [Heinz] Löhnert about the annihilation of the Jewish residents [of Stepań]. He was accompanied by four soldiers from the SS [SD]…. In the evening, near the Gendarmerie [building], Beckmann personally carried out the killing of the pharmacist Josef Vaks [the head of the Judenrat], [apparently his] wife and children, and others - about 10 people [in total].…
GARF, MOSCOW R-7021-71-71 copy YVA M.33 / JM/19976
Manuil Matulyak, who was born in 1893 and lived in Stepań during the war years, testifies:
…In late August 1942, Gendarmerie chief Beckmann came [to Stepań] from Kostopol – and right away, in the evening, he personally shot the head of the "ghetto" [i.e., of the Judenrat], the pharmacist [Josef] Waks, his wife…, and some others. I don't know the exact number of the murdered [victims].…
GARF, MOSCOW R-7021-71-71 copy YVA M.33 / JM/19976
Phylyp Shirko, who was born in 1893 in Stepań and lived there during the war years, testifies:
…One evening in late August 1942, [Gendarmerie chief] Beckmann arrived from the [town of] Kostopol and ordered carts to be assembled near the ghetto. He… personally took the head of the Council of Jewish residents [i.e., the head of the Judenrat], the pharmacist Josef Vaks, [his] wife, and some other Jews, about 10 people in total. He then shot them singlehandedly at the Gendarmerie [building], and these [victims] were buried beyond Stepań….
GARF, MOSCOW R-7021-71-71 copy YVA M.33 / JM/19976
Gendarmerie Building in Stepań
building
Murder Site
Poland
51.133;26.306